Consuming Edibles: A Beginners Guide
Beginner's Guide to Edibles: Where to buy Them & How to Make Them
Cannabis edibles are a healthy, delicious and safe way to enjoy marijuana without the risk of your clothes smelling like a half-burnt joint.
Healthy, definitely. Delicious, maybe. But safe?
‘Blasphemy!’
We promise you that we haven’t eaten a whole pot brownie as we write this blog post. Although that best describes our maiden outing with edibles. Like most first timers to marijuana edibles, we couldn’t stop ourselves from gorging more than we should. And we were sure that we’d waft all the way to heaven on a weedy cloud by morning.
Since that day, we have exercised more restrain. Portion control has helped us enjoy weed in one of the easiest and most discreet ways.
If you are just curious about edibles but do not have the faintest idea on how to source them, then you’ve come to the right place. We are also going to be sharing with you some really easy ways to cook your own edibles right at home.
What is an edible?
For the uninitiated, edibles are food, beverages and even oils that have been blended with activated marijuana. Activated marijuana has been processed, making it easier for the human body to break it down and absorb the cannabinoids.
While it’s the sweeter variety of edibles, like gummies and candy that gets more attention, almost anything edible can be infused with marijuana. That includes your favorite soda, pizza, bacon and even pasta sauce.
What makes edibles so popular is that you can ingest CBD or THC almost anywhere and anytime without drawing attention or inviting glares. There’s no smoke, no soot. So, it’s healthier and a great choice for anyone who hates smoking.
However, the herb has to be metabolized by your liver which might take a while. So, you might not get the instant gratification that you do when you smoke weed. Nevertheless, the psychoactive effects of edibles are known to last much longer than smoking marijuana.
Typically, you can feel the high (THC edibles only) for up to 6-8 hours with complete changes in perception of space, memory and time, whereas the effect of a joint is not nearly as potent and doesn’t last for more than 3-4 hours.
How much should you consume?
One of the reasons why a lot of users shy away from using edibles is because it is extremely difficult to figure out the right dosage. Unlike marijuana, you cannot use the potency of the strain to determine how high you’ll get.
Instead, it’s the percentage of THC that determines the potency of the edible. A 50mg edible will be stronger than a 25mg one. Similarly, the percentage of CBD in the edible will determine how much you need to consume for therapeutic benefits.
Having said that, cannabis affects people differently. A 5mg gummy might be enough to give your friend a potent hit. But you might not even feel it for a while and might be tempted to consume more and more until you start to float in space.
Always start slow and wait for an hour at least between doses, especially if you are a cannabis novice. Buy edibles with clear dosages mentioned on the product label as it will reduce the risk of miscalculating the dose.
You can experiment with higher doses once you build a tolerance towards it.
Where can you buy high quality edibles?
You are in luck if you live in a state where recreational or medical marijuana is legalized. Just walk into a head store and you will find a wide range of edibles to choose from.
Cookies, soda, popcorn, candies, jerkies, rice-crispy treats, chews, drinks and a lot more. Some of the popular brands are Korova, KIVA, Cheeba and Love’s Oven.
As a legal alternative, consider checking out CBD-infused edibles. CBD is legal in all 50 states and won’t have you worrying about snooping law enforcement agents breathing down your neck. While CBD won’t get you “high”, it is purported to have a myriad of health benefits and has been known to help with a range of health conditions, anxiety, inflammation, sleep, pain and more.
How to make your own edibles right at home
While most cannabis cooks like to attribute an air of mystery to their recipes, cooking edibles is simpler than what people believe. In fact, with some practice, you can infuse marijuana into almost anything you consume.
Today, we will share with you a way to make cannabis-infused oil which can be swapped for any cooking oil. Bingo! You have a weed-infused edible.
Here’s a list of things that you will need.
- At least an ounce of Marijuana. Less will do. But an ounce allows you to dose it to perfection which reduces the likelihood of a miscalculated hit.
- Any fatty cooking substance, like oil or butter.
- A frying pan or a slow cooker
- A cheesecloth
The method: Start off by grinding the marijuana to a fine powder. We recommend using a coffee grinder if possible. But if that’s not an option, then a mortar and pestle will do just fine. As we mentioned earlier, we will be making calculated doses. A good ratio to go by is one cup of oil for an ounce of Marijuana.
Similarly, you can use four butter sticks for an ounce.
The fastest method: Just warm the oil at an extremely low temperature. Add the ground cannabis and keep stirring to 20-30 minutes to ensure that the herb doesn’t burn. This is the fastest method of extracting cannabis oil but will produce the least potent mixture of all the methods. You can check out our collection of Decarboxlators to make the process extremely simple and easy.
The slowest method: Fill a jar with the oil and the ground herb and keep it in a slow cooker that’s half-filled with water. Cook slowly for up to 6-8 hours and you will have the most potent cannabis-infused oil. You can also use a Dutch oven for this method. Just ensure that you use an oven-safe jar.
That’s it. You have just made cannabis-infused oil that can be used to make a wide range of edibles. Just strain out the remaining plant matter using a cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.
