How to cook with cannabutter and cannabis infused oil

With so many edibles recipes everywhere you look these days it can be difficult to determine precisely what kinds of products should be used when making different kinds of edibles. Though all cannabis infused products will contain THC, CBD, or both, they all serve very different purposes in making edibles creations. Since the most common mistake that newbies producing edible at home will experience is using the wrong type of base for infusion, it is essential to understand how and why each of them works before you begin.

What is cannabutter?

Cannabutter is a semi-solid marijuana concentrate that is made using a regular butter that is infused using THC of CBD laden weed strains.

What is cannabis infused cooking oil?

Cannabis infused cooking oil is a liquid marijuana concentrate that is created by heating an edible oil like olive, sunflower seed, or vegetable oil along with cannabis plant materials to extract the cannabinoids and move them into the oil.

Cooking with cannabutter or cannabis infused oil

The primary reason it is so important to understand the type of marijuana product you are cooking with is safety. Many kinds of cooking oils are combustible if used at the wrong temperatures, and most of them will be compromised quality wise if added to a recipe at the wrong time. Cannabutter is relatively straightforward where cannabis infused oils will depend on the kind of oil they are made with.

Cannabutter

Cannabutter can be used almost any way that traditional butter is in recipes, with one important caveat, and that is higher temperatures can degrade its potency. If you are wanting to fry something like a grilled cheese sandwich using cannabutter. It is entirely possible to do, and often even recommended in some recipes, but the high heat will quickly break down the cannabinoids within the butter if it is used this way. Instead, it should be mostly added to the inside of something like for instance, a thin layer inside of a grilled cheese sandwich. Luckily, there are few cooking restrictions beyond that, and cannabutter can make an excellent cannabis infused base in cookies, brownies, cakes, coffee, tea, toast, and more.

Cannabis infused oil

Cannabis oil is much more difficult to work with. It should never meet a surface that is too hot like directly on a frying pan or in the open in an oven. Cannabis oil should be heated to no higher than 185 F no matter how it is used. Marijuana oils always work better in savory or sweet recipes that contain fatty ingredients. Fats like gee, butter, shortening, lard, vegetable oil, and other nut-based oils can be made into cannabis infused oil.

Tips and tricks for cooking with marijuana concentrates

• Do not use high temperature recipes whenever possible. Most of your favorite dishes can be made using a slow cooker. Lower heat will allow the cannabinoids to stay intact during the process of cooking them, resulting in a more potent product. 185 F and below are the safest temperatures to work within.
• Don’t use too much! One of the most common mistakes people make when using concentrates to make marijuana edibles is overdosing. We don’t mean that in a scary or necessarily dangerous way. However, taking too much can lead to discomfort, lethargy, confusion, panic, anxiety attacks, and heart palpitations when taken in excess.
• Use the right marijuana concentrate. Especially in the case of liquid recipes, it is important that you use a cannabis infused ingredient that suits the dish you are making. Oils are called for because of their velvety texture that is maintained after they cool. Cannabutter will solidify in chunks under the same conditions which can quickly ruin any dip, sauce, cold serve, or drink type recipes.
• Warm the butter before you need to use it to cook. Fresh out of the fridge cannabutter will be solid and difficult to combine evenly with other ingredients. The best way to prepare cannabutter is to leave it to sit for 3 hours or more at room temperature to soften.