Cooking with cannabis is a fun way to spice up dinner parties, to surprise friends and family with meaningful gifts, and to incorporate wellness practices into your daily food rituals. We're talking more than just pot brownies here. Cannabis infused edibles can make medical marijuana even more approachable and enjoyable.

As they say... Bong Appetit!

Decarboxylation & Cooking with Weed

Decarboxylation is the process of converting THCA and CBDA into their active, bioavailable forms, THC and CBD. This process occurs when plant material is heated carefully under precise temperatures and over a certain period of time. The Ardent Nova decarboxylator is a precision "oven" decarbing plant materials like flower, kief, shake, sugar leaf, concentrates, stems, and more, without burning off cannabinoids and precious terpenes. We tested other methods of decarboxylation like the oven, toaster oven, and even a slow cooker. These methods didn't come close to full activation: they either failed to fully activate all of the cannabinoids in the material, or burned some cannabinoids off in the decarb process. The Nova activates more than 97% each time.

Once fully decarboxylated, your plant materials can now become a psychoactive base for canna-oils and cannabis butters, making them bioavailable and turning infused meals and treats into dispensary quality products. Infusing without decarbing first will greatly limit the potency you are able to achieve, meaning most of that precious THC or CBD will simply go to waste.

How to Cook with Cannabis in 3 Different Ways

1. Cooking with Cannabis Oil (cannaoil)
2. Infusing Butter with Cannabis to make cannabutter
3. Making Cannabis Flour

1. Cooking with Cannabis Oil

1. Decarb your cannabis using the Nova.
2. Select your cooking oil
   Choose between options like olive oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, walnut oil, and more.
3. Break up the bigger nugs
   Breaking up your cannnabis into popcorn sized nugs is best when infusing. Although you can grind the flower first, it isn't recommended. Traditionally some people will place the cannabis in a cheesecloth to prep it for infusion, but skipping the grinding allows you to skip this unnecessary step.
4. Mix Oil & Cannabis
   Place the infusion sleeve in the Ardent Nova with the silicone infusion sleeve and add your oil of choice. As we mentioned earlier, some will instead place the cheesecloth inside with the oil of their choice or add the oil and the cheesecloth to a crockpot if they are not using the Nova.
5. Heat Oil & Cannabis Mixture
   Run the Ardent Nova for a full cycle with the cannabis-oil mixture, or if you're infusing sans-Nova, let your materials infuse over low heat in the crockpot for about 2 hours.
6. Strain & Store the Oil
   Remove the oil from heat and let the mixture cool, or simply let the unit cool if using the Nova. Use the hybrid Ardent Frainer for the easiest straining, or use a strainer and a funnel open and strain the materials inside the cheesecloth into your container of choice, squeezing to get every drop of infused oil from the cloth before disposing of it. Store the infused oil in an airtight container in a cool, dark place (the fridge works great) or use right away.

2. Infusing Butter with Cannabis

1. Decarb your cannabis using the Nova.
2. Prep your butter
   Heat the Butter if using a crock pot. No need to heat if infusing in the Nova. If melting your butter, put in the microwave for about 30 seconds.
3. Break up the bigger nugs
   Breaking up your cannnabis into popcorn sized nugs is best when infusing. Although you can grind the flower first, it isn't recommended. Traditionally some people will place the cannabis in a cheesecloth to prep it for infusion, but skipping the grinding allows you to skip this unnecessary step.
4. Stir & Mix Cannabis and Butter
   There are some old school methods that advise placing your cannabis cheesecloth in a crockpot with softened butter and 4 cups of water, but you will inevitably have additional loss with the water-butter separation and a mess to clean up. For the easiest infusions mix the butter and decarbed cannabis in the infusion sleeve and put through a full cycle in the Nova.
5. Strain & Refrigerate the Infused Butter
   While the mixture is still warm and liquidy, using a funnel and strainer or the hybrid Ardent Frainer, strain the cannabutter (straining the cheesecloth if that method was used) and dispose of the used plant materials afterwards. Place the cannabis-butter inside an airtight container and refrigerate.

If you're making cannabis edibles for the first time, there are cannabuttter alternatives such as creating and using infused coconut oil, tinctures, oils, ghee, and more.

3. Cooking With Cannabis Flour

Whether using your decarbed flower to make instant edibles by simply sprinkling it on your finished food, or mixing the decarbed cannabis into your recipe before cooking, cooking with cannabis flower

1. Decarb your cannabis using the Nova.
2. Remove Stems and Seeds From the Cannabis Buds
   By hand, pick apart your decarboxylated cannabis for any undesirable pieces that might negatively impact your munchies.
3. Grind the Cannabis Flowers
   Using a coffee grinder, grind your cannabis flowers very finely.
4. Now Sift Through the Ground Flowers for Unground Parts
   Be sure there are no large pieces of cannabis leftover.
5. Regrind the Unground Parts
   Place any remaining large pieces of cannabis back in the coffee grinder until fully ground. Mix with all purpose flour by hand or with the help of a Kitchen Aid or standard food processor.
6. Store Cannabis flour in an Airtight Container
   Just as you would store regular flour, place your mixture in an airtight container for safe keeping. This method has a very long shelf life, especially when stored away from sunlight.
7. Replace Cannabis Flour for a Portion of Your Recipe's Requirement.
   Following your cookbooks and recipes of choice, replace cannabis infused flour with regular flour, as needed.

Our Favorite Cannabis Recipes

• Infused Za’atar Hummus
  A Middle Eastern favorite, this hummus recipe is a great vegan medicated staple.
• Roasted Eggplant Dip
  Another vegan favorite, this roasted eggplant dip is perfect for parties and get-togethers.
• Nutty Hemp Energy Balls
  Using raw ingredients like hemp hearts, chia seeds, and cacao powder, these cannabis energy balls provide all the medicated protein with none of the guilt.
• Cannabis Ice Cream
  A pool party couldn't be complete without our cannabis ice cream recipe. Treat your guests to an icy, sweet edible beyond their wildest dreams.
• Movie Night Infused Potcorn
  Bring the movie theatre to you. Next time you Netflix and chill, learn how to make weed popcorn so you can munch on a healthy snack that was built for seconds and thirds.
• Chocolate Canna-Bananas
  Potassium has never tasted better. This chocolate dipped canna banana recipe makes great frozen treats to enjoy on your own or serve microdosed to your pals on a relaxing night indoors. For the tastiest version, use the chocolate from our Magic Shell Kit.
• Cannabis Pizza
  If you've never tried weed infused pizza before, this is the perfect opportunity. Too much work? You can simplify the process by drizzling some infused olive oil on top of your favorite delivery or frozen pie or for the very easiest simply sprinkle some decarbed bud on your slice and enjoy!
• Infused Buckeye Cookies
  Cannabis infused buckeyes are delicious, and our recipe makes 40, so you can bring them to the tailgate with plenty to spare.
• Infused Bulletproof Cold Brew
  Perfect for on-the-go mornings when there's no time for breakfast. Bulletproof coffee will help you feel full while giving you your caffeine boost and a dose of cannabis medicine.

Things to Keep in Mind While Cooking with Cannabis

Stoner treats can be as easy as brownie mix and some cannabis-infused coconut oil, or as complex as a 5-course dinner party. When making weed edibles for yourself or others, be mindful of both standard kitchen hygiene practices, and be sure you know how to measure THC content before you begin.

Using Large Quantity of Cannabis Flower

When using the Ardent Nova, one gram of cannabis flower at 20% THCA decarboxylates into about 200 mg of activated THC. One strategy: make small batches of highly potent weed butter, and use one part cannabutter with one part regular butter in recipes to help manage doses.

Check out our THC Dosage Guidelines for more information on dosing for cooking and baking.

Not Decarbing the Flower

What happens if you don't decarboxylate your weed? Well, decarbing is a critical element in the edible making process. Since fats insulate cannabis, you will fail to fully convert all of the cannabinoids in your plant material if this crucial step is skipped, compromising the quality and strength of your edibles.

Heating & Decarbing at the wrong temperatures

Decarboxylation is an exact science. When THCA is heated for too long, or at temperatures that are too high, the cannabinoids can burn off completely or convert to another compound called CBN: otherwise known as the "sleepy cannabinoid."

Conclusion

Cooking with cannabis is always a fun way to play. Take a look at some more of our weed recipes and try out smoothies, appetizers, and infused caramels instead of just weed brownies, and really get creative with your favorite indica, sativa, and hybrid strains. Cooking something infused? Tag us on Instagram for your chance to be featured on our page.