How to Prepare Weed-Infused Ingredients for Cooking
Estimated 5-minute read
Recently, while browsing through the cooking selection of books in my local library (yes, many libraries have cooking books, isn’t life amazing?) I came across this wonderful book called Bong Apétit!: Mastering the Art of Cooking With Weed by the Editors of Munchies with Elise McDonough. I was kind of expecting a simple book with recipes for things like special brownies and other treats, but boy was I wrong.
This fantastic cookbook brings cannabis cuisine to a new level, giving it a seat on the table of serious sophisticated culinary experiences. In this article, I’ll show you how to prepare three of their basic weed infused ingredients––butter, cream and oil–– to start your journey towards this highly (pun intended) delicious adventure.
Weed-Infused Butter (Cannabutter)
By MUNCHIES Test Kitchen
Makes: ¾ cup
Things to keep in mind:
- For the most efficient infusion, purchase European-style butter.
- You can store the finished butter in a jar, or you can also freeze it in an ice-cube tray, which makes it easy to measure consistent doses.
- They recommend using kief, as it tastes better and brings out a low dose of THC. If you use cannabis flower, the THC dose will be higher.
- You can use this recipe to bake things that require butter, but also for drizzling over popcorn, spreading on toast or whatever you come up with!
Equipment:
- 12-ounce canning jar with lid
- Stockpot
- Kitchen towel
- Silicone oven mitt or jar tongs
- Mesh strainer
- Cheesecloth
- Liquid measuring cup
- 1 cup unsalted European-style butter, melted
- 1 gram raw kief or 3 grams of cannabis flower
Pour the butter into the canning jar. Add the cannabis material you selected and stir to combine. Seal the jar tightly.
Stand the jar upright in the stockpot and add water until it is level with the top of the jar. Place the stockpot, uncovered, over high heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Let simmer for 2 hours, checking the water every now and again and adding more as needed to maintain the original level. Make sure it never reaches a full boil. After the first hour, "burbody" the jar by unsealing the lid to release any pressure buildup and then recap it.
After 2 hours, lay the kitchen towel on a heat proof work surface. Using the oven mitt, remove the jar from the water, set it on the towel, and let cool until it can be handled. Then, while the butter is still liquid, line the strainer with the cheesecloth and strain the butter into the measuring cup, squeezing any solids at the very end to extract all of the butter. Compost or discard the plant matter. If you used kief, you don't need to strain.
Use right away, or transfer to a clean jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Weed-Infused Cream
By MUNCHIES Test Kitchen
Makes: 1 cup
Things to keep in mind:
- Always use the best organic, full-fat cream you can find so there are enough lipids to support a potent cannabis infusion.
- Non-dairy creams can also be infused using this method, especially coconut cream, which has a high fat content.
- For milk alternatives made from almond, hemp, or soy, the fat content must be 4 grams per serving, at the very least, or you're just wasting weed.
- A good rule of thumb to know is that, if done properly, there usually are 11 milligrams of THC per teaspoon.
Equipment:
- Double boiler
- Mesh strainer
- Cheesecloth
- Liquid measuring cup
- 7 grams cannabis trim, ground and decarboxylated (Need some help grinding? Here's a great slicer for that job)
- 1 cup heavy cream
Set up the double boiler and bring the water to a simmer. Combine the trim and cream on the top of the double boiler and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Line the strainer with the cheesecloth and strain the cream into the measuring cup, squeezing the solids at the very end to extract all of the cream. Compost or discard the plant matter.
Use right away, or transfer to a clean jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
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Weed-Infused Oil
By MUNCHIES Test Kitchen
Makes: ¾ cup
Things to keep in mind:
- According to the Editors of Munchies, this is the simplest way to get cannabis into food and therefore into yourself. It’s clean and neat, and keeps the smells contained–– so your kitchen doesn’t smell like a college dorm.
- Weed-infused oils are typically used in marinades, sauces and dressings.
- As well as with the butter, for a more subtle and nicely flavored result, it’s best to use kief rather than flower.
- You can infuse different oils with this method,––olive oil being the most versatile option, in my opinion–– but don’t forget to label each jar to avoid confusion.
- If you plan to infuse coconut oil though, don’t forget to melt it first.
- Finally, as a nice rule of thumb, here’s how the amount of THC per teaspoon should turn out:
1 tsp =
Flower-infused oil - 3.5 milligrams of THC
Kief-infused oil - 2.8 milligrams of THC
Equipment:
- 12-ounce canning jar with lid
- Stockpot
- Kitchen towel
- Silicone oven mitt or jar tongs
- Mesh strainer
- Cheesecloth
- Liquid measuring cup
- 1 cup oil; such as olive, coconut, grapeseed, or canola
- 3 grams cannabis flower or 1 gram raw kief
Pour the oil into the canning jar. Add the cannabis material and stir to combine. Seal the jar tightly.
Stand the jar upright in the stockpot and add water until it is level with the top of the jar. Place the stockpot, uncovered, over high heat and bring to a low boil. Let boil for 2 hours, checking the water every now and again and adding more as needed to maintain the original level. After the first hour, "burbody" the jar by unsealing the lid to release any pressure buildup and then recap it.
After 2 hours, lay the kitchen towel on a heat proof work surface. Using the oven mitt, remove the jar from the water, set it on the towel, and let cool until it can be handled. Then, while the oil is still liquid, line the strainer with the cheesecloth and strain the oil into the measuring cup, squeezing any solids at the very end to extract all of the fat. Compost or discard the plant matter. If you used kief, there's no need to strain.
Use right away, or transfer to a clean jar and store in the refrigerator or freezer for up to 3 months.
So there you go! You can now start to make tons of recipes with these basic cannabis-infused ingredients! These recipes take time, yes. But you’ll find that they’re pretty simple, and they’ll take your food to a higher level!
For more amazing weed recipes, you can get Bong Apétit!: Mastering the Art of Cooking With Weed by the Editors of Munchies with Elise McDonough here!
Author: Haze
Editors of MUNCHIES. (2018). Bong Appétit. California: Ten Speed Press.
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