Learning how to calculate the amount of THC or CBD in your homemade edibles is important.
One question that often comes up when discussing cooking with cannabis and CBD is how to figure out the dose of each portion.
Everyone knows someone or has heard about someone who one time ate a brownie/cake/gummy/chocolate bar and ended being sooooo high that they went to the hospital or ended up sick for days on end.
No one wants to be that person.
If you don’t put some thought into your cannabis cooking then you may end up being the main person in someone else’s cautionary tale.
If you don’t want to be that person keep reading to find out about making sensibly dosed homemade edibles.
Sensibly dosed seems to have been tossed out the window for many of the recipes I see online. If you look around many of them call for dumping large amounts of cannabis flower directly into the cake batter. I’ve seen recipes calling for 3.5 grams or even a full ounce of flower to be added to a recipe.
Even if you were using an average quality flower to make a recipe with 16 servings of cake/brownies this would easily give you a piece that had anywhere from 32 mg up to 62 mg! For many this is an incredibly high dose. Then they end up eating more than one piece because, let’s face it, who really just eats one brownie?
If you don’t know how much THC or CBD your cannabis or hemp flowers contain then you are taking a chance on having a bad experience if you just toss in some amount that you’ve seen on a website. This is a sure way to get a much higher dose then intended and to regret ever wanting to try a cannabis infused cake or food item again.
To prevent this from happening it’s always best to do a bit of prep work before creating your edible.
Start By Decarbing Your Flower:
If you are planning on putting flower directly into the batter then you will first need to decarb it This is an important step to activate the THC/CBD present in the flower. This is done whether it is cannabis flower or hemp flower.
While food is often baked from 350 to 450 degrees the internal temperature will not get high enough to decarb the flower added to it. If you are looking for instructions on how to decarb your flower check out this post here.
How Many Servings In Your Edible?
Next you need to know about how many servings your dish or bakery item will make. Check your recipe to see if it says how many it makes and the serving size.
If your recipe says it makes 5 servings 1/2 cup each and you are splitting the recipe between two people then you are going to eat more than one serving. Keep this in mind when calculating your serving dose.
Sometimes I make a recipe without infusing it to see how many pieces I will get. The no bake energy balls showing above came from a recipe that said it made 15 pieces. I only got 12 pieces. This is good to know as I know can figure out how much flower to use so I don’t end up with too much or too little in each one.
What If You Don’t Know The Percent THC Or CBD?
If you don’t know the percentage or THC or CBD in the flower then the following estimates might be helpful:
5% to 10% – low quality cannabis and shake (cannabis stems and bits of broken off flowers)
10% to 15% – average quality home grown cannabis
15% to 25% – high quality home grown and dispensary cannabis
What’s an average cannabis or CBD edible dose?
Dosage amounts are very personal. There are charts online that say users with no tolerance should try up to 5mg per dose. Those who consume or smoke several times a week an average dose is up to 15 mg and those who use daily can tolerate 30 mg or more.
However this is not always the case.
I know regular users who find that 5 mg is more than enough to give them a nice relaxing feeling without leaving them wishing they had never eaten that edible. The best use suggestion for edibles is to start low and go slow. If you don’t know the best dose for you then start with the smallest amount and then wait 1 to 2 hours before eating more. Be smart and you will enjoy your edible without the fear of consuming too much.
CBD is another story as people can tolerate higher amounts to get a relaxing feeling and to help with pain reduction. The best part about CBD is you never have to worry about any psycho active effects. If you are looking to avoid psycho active effects then choose a full spectrum CBD oil or hemp flower.
The average amount of CBD that makes up your perfect dose depends on many factors including weight and personal reaction to CBD. Again it’s better to start low and go slow. You can choose your CBD dose based by one of the following:
Average CBD dose based on weight:
Try 1 to 6 mg per 10 pounds of body weight.
Start low and increase gradually:
Everyone is different and they will react differently to CBD. Start with a 5 to 10 mg dose daily. Wait 3 to 4 hours and then increase the dose by another 5 to 10 mg until you achieve the desired effects. This is your average daily dose. If you know this amount then you can figure out how much to add to your recipe.
Now…..it’s time to calculate how much flower to use in your recipe.
First calculate how much THC/CBD is present per gram of flower:
Start by using the percentage of THC/CBD in your flower in decimal form. 10% would be 0.10, 17% would be 0.17, 23% would be 0.23….you get the idea.
Multiply this by 1,000.
This will give you THC/CBD per gram in milligrams (mg).
Example: your flower has 17% THC/CBC. As a decimal this would be 0.17 multiplied by 1,000 gives you 170 mg.
Next, calculate the dose per serving:
Grams of flower used in the recipe multiplied by THC/CBD per gram (calculated above) equals dose for the entire recipe.
Example: if 1 gram of flower containing 17% THC/CBD was used then the entire recipe would contain 170 mg (1 X 170 mg = 170 mg)
If 3 grams of flower containing 17% THC/CBD was used then the entire recipe contains 510 mg (3 X 170 mg = 510 mg).
Finally calculate how much each piece or serving contains:
Total milligrams per recipes divided by number of servings or pieces.
Example: A cake recipe that makes 12 pieces in which 1 gram of flower containing 17% was used would have about 14 mg per piece (1 X 170 = 170 mg in whole recipes divided by 12 pieces = 14.1 mg)
A cookie recipe that makes 24 cookies in which 3 grams of flower containing 17% was used would have about 21.25 mg per cookie. (3 X 170 = 510 divided by 24 = 21.25 mg).
If the cookie recipe made 42 cookie in which 3 grams of flower containing 17% was used they each would have about 12 mg per cookie (3 X 170 = 510 divided by 42 = 12.1 mg).
Now you know how to calculate the dose of your edible if you choose to use whole flower in the recipe.
Disclaimer: This is information is not intended as medical advice. The information in this post is intended for those 21 and older who live in a state or country where medical or recreational use of cannabis is legal. If you plan to use a form of cannabis that intoxicates you please do not operate heavy machinery or drive a car. Please follow all local laws concerning cannabis. This website is informational and cannot diagnose or treat illness or disease. Medical marijuana should be used under the direction of a licensed healthcare provider. This site contains advertisements. If you click a link and make a purchase, CannabisNurseMA.com may receive a commission.
