Written by Joshua Sosin

Smoking weed is the classic way to enjoy the psychoactive effects of cannabis, but it’s far from your only option.

You can also experience an incredible high by including cannabis-infused ingredients in one of your favorite recipes.

Cannabis cooking is a simple, fun means of switching up your weed routine. Below, we’ll give you five helpful tips for getting started with adding cannabis products to your meals.

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Table of Contents

• Cannabis Cooking: A Quick Beginner’s Guide

• 5 Tips for Successful Cannabis Cooking

• Are Cannabis Edibles Legal?

• FAQs About Cooking With Cannabis

• High-Quality Edibles From the Mood Shop: Our Picks

Cannabis Cooking: A Quick Beginner’s Guide

If you’re new to edibles — or cannabis in general — this is the perfect place to start.

Here are some of the basics that you need to know about making edibles before you get in the kitchen yourself:

• Edibles can sneak up on you. Be conscious of the levels of every ingredient, especially hemp-derived ones, the next time you whip up a batch.

• Infused oil or butter will give your creation its boost. Be mindful to source quality ingredients for your own edibles, or you can always order expertly made treats from our online dispensary.

  • You can use all varieties of cooking oils — i.e., olive oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil.

• Low heat is key when making your own cannabis-infused oil or butter. Burning the ingredients too early in the process can ruin the flavor and power when you're making edibles.

Learn more about cannabinoids like THC from the Mood Blog.

5 Tips for Cooking with Cannabis

Now that you know the basics, let’s take a look at some specific steps to take for tastier, more flavorful cannabis-infused treats.

1. Fine-Tune Your Process

Making infused oil is an art.

You need a precise amount of time and heat. If you drain the flower too soon, you might not make the most of that low heat.

If you leave it too long, you could burn and even ruin your cannabis product.

2. Making Cannabutter

Infused oil is certainly an option when making edibles, and you can use it to make cannabutter.

Making cannabutter is also easily done by cooking flower directly with butter.

Follow these steps to make cannabutter for the first time:

• In general, a 1:1 ratio of ground cannabis flower and unsalted butter works best.

  • You can start with one cup of butter and one cup of flower for a small batch.

• Melt your butter with a cup of water to avoid scorching it.

  • Heating butter in a saucepan on its own doesn’t always work well.

  • An equal amount of water will prevent burning and give your cannabis-infused butter a more even consistency.

• Grind or break up your cannabis before using it to make cannabutter.

  • Unground cannabis flower will make your cannabutter clumpy, which can mess with the texture of the snacks and meals that you make with it.

  • Aim for pieces that aren’t too small to filter through cheesecloth or a mesh strainer.

• Simmer your cannabutter for 2-3 hours for the best results.

  • This timeframe gives the cannabis time to fully infuse with the butter without using too much heat. Keep your stove on low heat for the entire time.

• Strain butter to sift out all flower residue for a pure, spreadable delight.

3. Experiment With Sweet and Savory

When you think about edibles, you probably picture brownies, cookies, and other sweet treats. These yummy baked goods can be a fantastic starting point for your at-home cannabis cooking, but they’re far from your only options.

While experimenting with sweet cannabis-infused treats can be fun and rewarding, we recommend making at least one savory dish using cannabutter or canna-oil.

You saute your veggies, sear your meats, and sub in these potent delights anywhere you'd normally use butter or oil.

If you’re not the most confident cook, consider simply drizzling some cannabis-infused olive oil over a plate of spaghetti with some parmesan cheese. It doesn’t need to be fancy.

4. Store Unused Flower Properly

Your cannabis can lose its potency over time when it’s stored improperly, so it’s worth it to take the time to seal up your flower so that it’s ready to use later.

Cooking with old, poorly stored weed is a common mistake when making edibles.

Airtight storage protects the cannabinoids and terpenes in your flower from degradation, leading to longer-lasting and more powerful psychoactive effects.

When storing weed, opt for a dry, cool place without too much direct sunlight.

Humidity and temperature changes can make your flower vulnerable to mold growth, which makes it unsafe to use for cooking or smoking.

Always chuck moldy weed in the trash right away — never try to cut off the affected bits and use the rest.

You can tell if your weed is moldy based on changes to its color, texture, and smell. Moldy weed has a fuzzy texture and a grayish color, and its scent is usually damp and musty.

You only want to use fresh, healthy hemp when making anything cannabis-infused.

5. Try Making CBD Edibles

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, which means it won’t get you high.

If you’re not interested in getting high from using edibles, try adding a serving from our CBD tincture to some baked goods or a savory recipe for your desired effects.

You can pick up a tincture from a local dispensary, but they’re also available online in the Mood Shop.

Are Cannabis Edibles Legal?

Before you start cooking with cannabis at home, it’s worth knowing the legal status of homemade edibles — and storebought options like gummies and tinctures.

In 2018, the Farm Bill changed the way that cannabis products (including edibles) are regulated.

Under this bill, any products that contain no more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC by dry weight are classified as hemp, while anything above this threshold falls into the marijuana category.

Post-Farm Bill, marijuana is still federally illegal across the US. However, hemp products are now available at local dispensaries and online in many parts of the country.

That means that depending on where you live, you can pick up high-quality hemp from a dispensary or get it shipped directly to your door from the Mood Shop.

All of the cannabis goods in the Mood Shop meet the Farm Bill’s standards for hemp and are third-party tested for quality, consistency, and safety.

Learn more about the legal status of cannabis from the Mood Blog.

FAQs About Cooking With Cannabis

Q: Do you need a weed grinder to make edibles?

A: The size of your cannabis pieces makes a big difference when making infusions like cannabutter and cannaoil.

A weed grinder can help you fine-tune the consistency of your flower, but you don’t necessarily need one; breaking up the cannabis with your hands can work too.

Q: My edibles aren’t working for me. What’s going on?

A: If you aren’t noticing any psychoactive effects after enjoying homemade edibles, there was an error in the prep process.

Check back on your process and make sure you cooked on low heat and followed all directions perfectly.

If you're unsure if it's working, take a look at this breakdown to see if the edible kicked in.

Q: How do I make my edibles stronger?

A: If you are getting high using homemade edibles but want a more intense experience, we recommend upping the amount of cannabutter (or another cannabis infusion) that you use in your cooking or baking.

When upping the potency of your edibles, increase the amount of cannabutter that you use in small increments to avoid overdoing it. A little bit of cannabutter goes a long way, especially when you’re relatively new to cannabis.

Looking for something else? Visit the Mood Shop to find premium cannabis based on your mood and desired potency.

Prices subject to change.