November 20, 2020

How to Make Weed Edibles

Learning how to make weed edibles can seem overwhelming at first. But believe us, it is a lot easier than it seems. If this isn’t the first post you’ve clicked on, you’ve probably already seen some information on cannabis-infused butter, decarboxylation, and maybe even some other terms that can seem scary at first. This guide is going to show you everything you need to know before you cook cannabis and some tips to get you started. We’re also going to be explaining topics in our own words, that way it will not feel as if you are learning from textbook definitions.

How to Make Weed Edibles (Brief Explanation)

Cannabis nug on top of infused oreo cookies and chocolate cookies on a wooden table. Cannabis nug on top of infused oreo cookies and chocolate cookies on a wooden table.

The brief explanation on how to make weed edibles is by taking cannabis and heating it up in the oven to make it psychoactive when consumed in an edible. Next, we infuse an ingredient with the activated cannabis. Finally, we use that ingredient in a recipe to make weed edibles!

It is more complicated than that explanation but that is the gist on how to make weed edibles.

The First Step to Making Weed Edibles

This may seem obvious, but the first thing you will need to do is get some cannabis! How much? Well, it depends. The amount of cannabis you use in your weed edibles is going to depend on a few factors:

  • The dosage you are aiming for
  • The potency of your cannabis
  • The number of servings in your recipe (most important factor)

A stack of weed edible chocolate cookies. A stack of weed edible chocolate cookies.

So, depending on how potent you would like your weed edibles, you may want to use more or less cannabis in the cooking process. This is entirely up to you.

Next, the potency of your cannabis is very important when you’re making weed edibles. It’s common for cannabis edible potencies to be displayed in milligrams. Saying that, if you have two grams of cannabis with 15% THC, this means you have 300mg of THC.

And finally, the number of servings in the recipe you are trying to make is very important. Let’s again suppose that you have two grams of cannabis with 15% THC content which would be 300mg of THC total. Now, if you were to use all of that for a recipe with two servings, you would be getting 150mg of THC per serving. If that doesn’t scare you, it should. For a beginner, 150mg of THC is a tremendous dose. The next section of this post is a beginner’s guide to dosing weed edibles so don’t worry if this is all new to you.

There will be a calculator at the bottom of this page to help you calculate how much cannabis you will need to reach the desired potency. We recommend you continue to read this post from top to bottom so the calculator makes sense when you get there.

Weed Edibles Dosage Guide

home made weed edible gumy bears spread around on a table beside nugs of cannabis.home made weed edible gumy bears spread around on a table beside nugs of cannabis.

Dosing edibles is a subjective topic. What some consider to be low doses others may consider being high doses and vice versa. The dosages we recommend here are tailored for someone who is new to cannabis edibles. The THC amounts we have here, some would consider to be low. But if you are a beginner with cannabis, it’s better to start low and work your way up.

Dosage Type THC amount (mg)
Very low dosage 5-10
Low dosage 10-20
Moderate dosage 25
High dosage 25-50
Very high dosage 50+

If you have smoked cannabis before, but you have never had weed edibles, it would probably be best to start at either a low dosage or a very low dosage.

If you smoke cannabis a few times a week, it’s likely that you have built up a tolerance to it. This tolerance is going to have an effect when consuming edibles. However, if this is your first time taking edibles it’s still best to start at either a low dosage or a very low dosage.

And finally, if you have consumed edibles before, you probably know the THC amount that was in them. The problem with cannabis edibles is that there is so much room for error when calculating potency so even though a label may have said one number, the real number could be completely different. This is especially true with black market edibles. Most of the labels of black-market edibles vastly overstate the true THC content. It’s still best to start slow unless you have lots of experience with edibles.

cannabis leaf shaped chocolates on a white marble counter.cannabis leaf shaped chocolates on a white marble counter.

You should not take our dosage recommendations as a final opinion. Everyone’s tolerance to cannabis is different and weed edibles don’t have the same effect on everyone. There are many variables involved in determining how potent you should make your edibles.

Decarboxylation and What it Means

As I mentioned previously, decarboxylation is one of those overwhelming words that pop up when talking about cannabis edibles. Contrary to what the name may have you believe, it’s not very complicated.

The scientific explanation: Decarboxylation is the process of transforming the THCA molecule into the psychoactive THC molecule (and other cannabinoids) which can then be absorbed by the body. For cannabis to become bioavailable, it needs to be heated up before ingested which is already happening when cannabis is consumed through combustion.

In plain English: Cannabis will not have an effect if it is just eaten raw. The compounds in cannabis responsible for producing effects can not be consumed orally without decarboxylating. When cannabis is smoked or vaped, this process is happening naturally. Since we’re making edibles, we need to do this extra step.

Decarboxylated cannabis on a baking sheet in an oven.Decarboxylated cannabis on a baking sheet in an oven.

To decarboxylate cannabis, we need to grind the cannabis and put it in an oven. How long should we put cannabis in the oven? Our friends over at marijuana growers HQ did a great decarboxylating experiment and the following charts were their results:

Chart of cannabis trim decarb temperatures at 240 degrees farenheitChart of cannabis trim decarb temperatures at 240 degrees farenheitcannabis trim decarboxylation at 240 degrees Fahrenheit Chart of kief decarb temperatures at 240 degrees farenheitChart of kief decarb temperatures at 240 degrees farenheitChart of kief decarboxylation at 240 degrees Fahrenheit

As you can see from the charts, the most optimal time to decarboxylate cannabis trim is for 60 minutes at 240 degrees Fahrenheit and kief for 30 minutes at 240 degrees Fahrenheit. When it has finished decarboxylating the cannabis will no longer be green but light brownish in colour. We have a comprehensive decarboxylation guide here if you would like to read more about activating cannabis.

Weed Edibles Ingredient Selection

Now that you have decarboxylated cannabis, you’re ready to either add this directly into recipes or to create an activated ingredient. If this is your first time making cannabis edibles, it can seem tempting just to add cannabis directly into brownies, cookies, or other tasty recipes. However, the best way to make weed edibles is by creating an ingredient infused with cannabis.

Not every ingredient can be infused with cannabis. THC is soluble in fats and alcohol. The most popular activated ingredients are ingredients that are high in fat and are commonly found in recipes. The most popular is cannabis butter but there are a ton of other great options. Here are some of our favourites:

bowl with cannabis butter in it on a brown table with weed leaves spread around it on a table. bowl with cannabis butter in it on a brown table with weed leaves spread around it on a table.

Each one of the above links will take you to a step-by-step guide on making the selected activated ingredient. Before you start making one of these ingredients, make sure to check out how infusion works in the next section of this post.

Weed Edibles Infusion Explained

For weed edibles to have the intended effect, we need to properly infuse cannabis into the selected ingredient.

Near the beginning of this post, we mentioned how the recipe you are making is going to be the most important factor in determining how much cannabis you use. If you’re making a recipe with ten servings, you want to use lots of cannabis. If you’re making a recipe with one serving, you don’t want to use a lot of cannabis. However, there is a bit more to it.

Since making an activated ingredient is time-consuming, most people will make a large portion of an activated ingredient and use it for multiple recipes over the course of a couple of months. If this is what you plan to do, which is what we recommend, it’s best to make your activated ingredient potent.

4 weed edible lollipops in a milkshake that is infused with cannabis.4 weed edible lollipops in a milkshake that is infused with cannabis.

Having a potent activated ingredient gives you flexibility in the recipes you make. This is because you can always substitute portions of an activated ingredient with portions of a regular ingredient. Suppose a recipe has one serving and one cup of cannabis butter, you could always use one tablespoon of cannabis butter and 15 tablespoons of regular butter. But, if that same recipe results in ten servings, you will have a limit on the maximum amount of THC per serving. If you were to use cannabis butter in this situation that is not very potent, this edible recipe is not going to be very potent. This is why we recommend for people to make their activated ingredients to have approximately 500mg of THC per cup.

The chart below shows that if you have 14-grams of cannabis, you can follow the recommended amount of cups to use for the infusion depending on the THC percentage of your cannabis. This chart is to help get the desired potency for an activated ingredient which is approximately 500mg.

Amount of THC Amount of Cannabis Amount of ingredient used for infusion Total mg of
THC per cup
8% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 2 & 1/4 cups 497mg
11% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 3 cups 513mg
14% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 4 cups 490mg
17% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 4 & 3/4 cups 501mg
20% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 5 & 1/2 cups 509mg
23% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 6 & 1/2 cups 495mg
26% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 7 & 1/4 cups 502mg
29% 1/2 ounce (14 grams) 8 cups 507mg

If you don’t have 14-grams of cannabis you can still use this chart. Let’s suppose you only have 7-grams of cannabis that have 14% THC content. You can still achieve the 500mg goal for the infusion if you infuse it into two-cups of the ingredient. If you are halving the amount of cannabis, halve the amount of the ingredient used for the infusion. The same can also be said for if you would like to infuse more than 14-grams of cannabis. If you are doubling the amount of cannabis used, double the amount of the ingredient used for the infusion. There is also a calculator further down in this post which will help you calculate the potency more accurately.

Weed Edibles Potency Calculator

cannabis oils spread out on a marble table with a weed smoothie on the side of the counter. cannabis oils spread out on a marble table with a weed smoothie on the side of the counter.

This calculator will help you judge the potency of your weed edibles. Keep in mind that this is just a rough estimate as there is a lot of room for error when calculating potency.

Creating Weed Edibles Recipes

Now that you have decarboxylated your cannabis and infused it into an ingredient, you are ready to create some weed edible recipes. The truth about cannabis edibles is that almost any recipe can become infused.

If you have a recipe that uses butter, oil, milk etc. you can infuse it with cannabis! The only exception is some recipes require you to cook something on high temperatures for a long duration of time. Doing this is going to burn off some of the cannabinoids. Depending on the temperature and how long the recipe is intended to be cooked for, the amount of cannabinoids burned off could be very minimal or quite substantial.

How to Make Popular Weed Edible Recipes

We have compiled a list of some of the most popular cannabis edible recipes out there. Each of these links has a step-by-step guide on how to make the corresponding recipe.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is an old fashioned cookie recipe infused with cannabis. This is a great beginner recipe as it’s very quick and simple to make and can also be adjusted to fit the potency you desire. Furthermore this is a cannabis butter recipe.

Gummy Bears

Weed infused gummy bears stacked on top of eachotherWeed infused gummy bears stacked on top of eachotherCannabis-infused Gummy Bears

The famous gummy bear recipe is fairly simple to make and loved by everyone! This is a more advanced edible recipe due to the fact you need to be ready to move fast when making these. This is a cannabis coconut oil recipe.

Brownies

The weed brownie is one of the most famous edible recipes out there! It’s very easy to make and tastes awesome. If you are a beginner edible connoisseur this is a great option to start with. This brownie recipe is perfect for wowing guests! This is a cannabis butter recipe.

Rice Krispies

Delicious, quick, and easy edible recipe! Weed Rice Krispies might be the easiest cannabis edible to make. They only require 3 ingredients and are ready in 20 minutes. This is a cannabis butter recipe.

Our Favourite Weed Edible Recipes

Some of our favourite edible recipes are not the most popular. These hidden gems are handpicked by people who have made 100’s of edible recipes. Each of these links has a step-by-step guide on how to make the corresponding recipe.

Chocolate Bars

This recipe is great because it’s so easy! If you already have cannabis butter, making this recipe is a no-brainer.

Toffee

This toffee recipe does a fantastic job of covering the taste of cannabis. It also happens to take under 30 minutes from start to finish. This recipe uses cannabis butter.

Fruity Pebble Cereal Bars

a stack of weed fruity pebble bars on a blue wooden table with marshmallows and more fruity pebble bars in the backgrounda stack of weed fruity pebble bars on a blue wooden table with marshmallows and more fruity pebble bars in the background

Fruity pebble cereal bars are very similar to Rice Krispies, but we believe, these are the better option. This recipe uses cannabis butter.

Butter Tarts

Butter tarts are one of the tastiest edible recipes we’ve ever made. If you have the opportunity, definitely give these a shot. This recipe uses cannabis butter.

Common Mistakes When Making Edibles

It can be easy to make mistakes when cooking with cannabis. Here are some of the common mistakes that beginners make:

Cannabis infused cake on a plate with a cannabis leave leaned against itCannabis infused cake on a plate with a cannabis leave leaned against it

The number one mistake that beginners make is forgetting to activate the cannabis before using it in a recipe. Just remember that you must decarboxylate your cannabis before infusing it with your ingredient.

Another big mistake beginners make, is not testing the potency of their activated ingredient before they start cooking with it. This is a critical step to be able to properly dose each edible recipe. We recommend beginners test their infusion by consuming ¼ teaspoon, which would be roughly 2.5mg of THC if they followed our infusion guide. They can then base their proper dosage sizes based on the results of the test.

Finally, when consuming edibles, it is critical to know how potent they are. We recommend calculating the doses before you make the recipe. This allows you to adjust the amounts of activated ingredients being used, prior to adding it.

We have created over 100 edible recipes and posted them for free on this website. If you would like to check some of them out, click here.



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