Cooking with Cannabis

last month

A while back, I posted a thread about baking edibles. Since cooking with cannabis has become a thing, I thought I'd share some of my experiences with the magical herb.

First and foremost, it's important to keep in mind that whatever you cook with cannabis is going to taste like the plant. Cannabis is not a delicate herb and the flavors are easily overpowering. Of course, the aftereffects are also quite striking, but that's not really the goal of cooking with weed. (Although it's an honorable one.)

If you're a regular cannabis smoker or edible consumer, I would not recommend wasting your valuable product on soups and sauces. The amount of THC you'll ingest will probably be far less than your usual dosage and you'll be less than pleased with the results. On the other hand, if you're a casual, infrequent user, you'll definitely get a buzz. I had hoped that as more states granted legalizing that the prices would come down. Sadly, greed is still a factor and if you're cooking on a budget, spending the extra cash for some herb is not the best use of your money.

Use ONLY flower. Lots of cooks on television and the internet are all about the terpines and the flavor you get from the leaves. To my ancient tastebuds, that flavor is no different than chewing on lawn clippings. And grind the flower to a fine powder to get the maximum return on both flavor and THC.

Cannabis fails as a dry rub and even as a standalone ingredient. It's best used in a sauce where low heat, time, and fat will bring out the power and the essence. Butter, oil, or any kind of animal fat in a skillet with ground cannabis is the beginning. To it, add whatever you like. Strain the mixture through fine cheese cloth when the sauce is done. It also works quite well in soup and gravy. Again, prepare the ground flower in a sauce pan and then add it the soup or gravy. If you've ever wondered what to do with bacon grease, now you have an answer. If your sauce calls for solids - mushrooms for example - add them after you strain the mixture and put it back in the sauce pan.

For meat and fish, make the butter sauce and brush it on either while the food is cooking or serve it in a gravy boat. The more fat in the meat, the more THC it will absorb. High heat will destroy much of the potency, so if you're looking for a high, add the sauce at the very end of the cooking process while the meat is resting. I've smoked dozens of racks of ribs with cannabutter in the final glaze. Lamb chops and venison are especially good meats for a cannabis sauce to temper the gaminess.

Salad dressing has been epic fail. Yuk, is the only word that comes to mind. Cooked veggies take the flavors well. I've made Hollandaise sauce with cannabis that enhances asparagus. Eggplant baked with cannabutter and parmesean cheese is wonderful. Mashed potatoes are terrible but a baked potato with a chive and cannabutter topping is superb. This kind of experimentation comes with a price, but it rarely fails with cooked vegetables.

How much cannabis you use is going to be a matter of trial and error. Everyone's tastes and tolerance are different. If you are a regular stoner, then use as much as you like. For the newbies, go light. An eighth of an ounce of quality herb will be plenty to experiment with on that rack of lamb and side dishes for a party of six adults.

Some things to keep in mind: most people won't feel any effect from the THC for at least a hour. Some will take several hours to feel anything. If you host a dinner where cannabis is going to be infused, make sure you have room for overnight guests. If someone gets too high, give them a big glass of orange juice to drink, put them in a quiet place, and make sure they have someone to hang with until the buzz stabilizes. It's never a good idea to mix alcohol with cannabis as they are antagonistic to each other.

Hope this answers a bunch of questions and inspires you to try something new. As we say in Jamaica, full joy!

Featured Answer

claudia valentine

last month

I wouldnt waste the pot to cook with it. Keep your food ready for the munchies. There is no reason to bend over backwards to find a culinary use for it when there is not really any much to be found.

I am so slap happy that this destructive and punitive ideas, laws and attitudes are changing. What a travesty imposed on the population for so long! So many lives ruined and so much profit made by others on both sides of the law. Drug dealers, cartels and those who run prisons made a killing, literally.

Now, those same cartels are peddling opoids.

Cant cook with those.

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Comments (11)

LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
last month
Thanks for the info Ricky! My wife has had her medical MJ card for a few years now. I bought her a Levo infusion machine that we use to infuse ghee and MCT oil. I also use the crock pot to infuse regular butter. We usually just make cookies with the butter and gummies with the oil but she'll put some of the ghee on toast or oil in here tea now and then. You can't taste the MJ as much when you use the Levo machine to infuse compared to ground buds added directly.

Now that Missouri passed the recreational MJ law we are going to try our hand a growing our own. Move over tomatoes and peppers and make room for the new guy in town.
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
last month
Thank you so much for that. I saved, and printed so i can share this.

So much information is confusing. I have a few friends confused. One is PTSD having suddenly lost his wife to Covid. My SIL is dealing with long Covid in the worst way. She has lost her balance...went from daily bike rides to now a painful walk around the block with a cane. Not sure i'm qualified to recommend but so much is unknown and she is not getting much help medically. I need to learn more so please inform all you have time for.

Or link to the best information.
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fawnridge (Ricky)
Original Author
last month
Using cannabis to treat long COVID
plllog
last month
last modified: last month
I have no association with said herb, but I still find your posts informative and interesting. I did know about fats being ideal, but that's about it.

Here's where I'm lost. Why exactly are we making buzzy meats and sauces? I get the cookies, and the easier to ingest than smoke, especially for many people who are ill. But after reading your previous posts about dosage control and all that, I wonder how that happens with meat. So...this is purely on the recreational side? Fine, less precision needed to get high. But how is culinary weed superior to other modalities? Or is it just a "why not?" situation?
Sooz
last month
last modified: last month
Thanks for this helpful input. A dear dear friend of mine is dealing with pain from when he was hit by a car. His legs were mangled & the bones have been replaced with a lot of steel or steel attachments, and he was in a coma and as expected, ended up with a mild to moderate traumatic brain injury. I'll share your post with him.
fawnridge (Ricky)
Original Author
last month
last modified: last month
plllog - Purely recreational when it comes to cooking with cannabis. The medical side of its value, which I deal with, is all done with edibles where dosage can be controlled.

As far as cannabis being superior to other modalities...just look at the damage caused by pain medication. Look at how many people have become addicted and then died from opioids. Cannabis is natural. It's a plant. No one has ever died from it. Many have had amazing results from its application toward pain, stress, and debilitating conditions. It was a "why not" situation for many years until people started using it seriously to treat illness. Now, it's become the first choice.
plllog
last month
last modified: last month
Thanks, Ricky, what I meant was eating cannabis hollandaise rather than a dosage controlled cookie or candy, or even (bad for the lungs) smoking modalities, not why cannabis. I understand and admire the usage of cannabis for all those things you mentioned. I was just asking about the dinner party aspect. It sounds like a lot of trouble for an uncertain outcome, and it's not like it makes the food taste good (operationally--I know it can stimulate appetite and affect perceptions) the way a (not enough to get any kind of buzz before cooking even burns off a little of the alcohol) splash of sherry or madeira can.

As to "natural" and "plant", can I interest you in tomato cousins (deadly nightshade), pennyroyal, the cousin of the delicious sumac commonly called poison sumac, oleander, hemlock.... Not to mention, whiskey is made from plants. ;)
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9b
last month
For recreation, it's basically for fun, but for dealing with pain and disease management, people can have dietary restrictions or other medications/conditions that make sweets a no-no.

And even if it's for fun, the same restrictions might still be in play for some.
fawnridge (Ricky)
Original Author
last month
carol - We have plenty of folks that we bake gluten free and/or sugar free cookies for on request.
LoneJack Zn 6a, KC
last month
Carol - the infused MCT (coconut) oil can be added to just about anything. My wife adds it to her hot or iced tea.

Cooking with Cannabis

claudia valentine

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