Cooking with Cannabis - Learn Decarboxylation for Beginners

One of the biggest misconceptions about infusing cannabis into food and drinks is that you can just throw some marijuana nugs into a recipe and wah-lah, now you have an edible! Not the case. Raw cannabis will not give you the full psychoactive effects because it doesn’t naturally have THC but rather the acidic form of it, THCA which will not get you lifted or high.

“If you want to achieve the full psychoactive effects of your butters, fats, oils, sugars or alcohols, decarboxylating the plant material to convert the THCA to THC prior to infusion is essential,” according to Medical Jane.

How to Decarboxylate Cannabis

WARNING: There will be a strong odor of marijuana during this process. To avoid strong odor you can consider a DIY edible maker kitchen appliance. 

1. Preheat your oven to 225°F.
2. Line an oven-safe dish or a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Breaking up the cannabis buds into smaller nugs by hand, place the material in the dish close together but not stacked on one another (the less unused space the better).
4. When the oven is pre-heated, bake for about 20 minutes to remove the moisture (the amount of time truly depends on the freshness of the cannabis). Watch for the color to get darker (a light to medium brown shade).
5. Set plant material aside and wait until it is cool enough to handle. Turn oven up to 240°F and wait for it to pre-heat again.
6. When the cannabis is cooled, lightly grind up by hand and spread evenly over the bottom of the dish.
7. Cover dish with aluminum foil, crimping the edges tight to seal and return to the oven. Continue baking for another 45-60 minutes for higher THC and 60-90 minutes for higher CBD.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing the foil. Depending on the material you use, it may be fine enough and require no further processing. Be careful not to over grind the material, as you do not want a super fine powder.
9. Place in an airtight container (glass preferred) and store in a cool, dry place or use immediately in a recipe.