
Cooking With CBD Oil for Dummies
Cooking with CBD oil for the first time?
Here’s what you need to know:
CBD, short for cannabidiol, is a non-psychoactive compound of the cannabis plant.
Thoroughly examined for its wide range of health benefits, CBD is also becoming more popular among recreational users for its relaxing effects.
In fact, this cannabinoid helps achieve relaxation without the “high” effect you’re usually getting from THC.
Although there are many ways to consume cannabidiol, from ingesting capsules and oils to vaping CBD, you can also infuse this cannabinoid into any meal you desire. Just like people make edibles with regular cannabis in legal states, you can also cook with CBD to enjoy a new, discreet way to take your cannabidiol.
In this article, you’ll find out everything you need to know about cooking with CBD oil: from making your own CBD oil to the best tips on cooking with CBD.
Here we go!
Cooking With CBD Oil: Where to Start
Cannabidiol is a fat-soluble cannabinoid, which means it’s easy to incorporate to any recipe that calls for butter, oil, or any other fatty base ingredient. Thus, if you want to start cooking with CBD oil, you should first prepare a fat-based infusion.
Keep in mind that cooking with CBD oil doesn’t mean simply adding it on top of your meal. There is a simple process you need to follow in order to achieve desired effects.
Preparing your own CBD cooking oil is an easy process and once you have your oil ready, it’s extremely easy to use it to prepare any meal you desire: from cakes and brownies to even more complex and sophisticated dishes and beverages.
Here is our simple guide to making CBD cooking oil:
1. Activate the CBD
Start with decarboxylating (activating) your CBD, as the ingredients found in raw cannabis plants come in their inactive forms.
To decarboxylate your CBD flower, you should heat the buds in the oven to a certain point in order to activate the cannabinoids.
If you want to activate your raw CBD bud, grind it into small bits. It’s recommended not to grind your buds into a fine powder, as it may cause the taste of cannabis to overpower your edibles. Instead, grind the buds into small chunks to bring more balanced experience when eating your CBD infused meal.
Now put your cannabis chunks on a baking paper and place them in the oven at 230 – 248 F. Let them bake for one hour.
2. Be Patient
When preparing CBD cooking oil, you should be patient, as all the ingredients need time to mix at a proper temperature.
Take a pot and fill it with your fatty basic ingredient before mixing it with your baked buds. Now bring it to a light simmer until your CBD infusion reaches around 160 – 200 C.
3. Add more water
If you want to enhance the quality of your CBD infusion, simply add more water to it. Pouring water into your cannabidiol infused oil will make it look and taste better.
Once the water boils off during simmering, the infusion will become less green, giving a more smooth end product.
Additionally, water helps to keep the CBD infusion from burning, which is extremely important for protecting the cannabinoids in your infusion.
4. Remove the fibrous parts
If you don’t want to ingest parts of the plant material with your meal, you need to remove the fibrous parts from your infusion by filtering it. Prepare a coffee filter or cheesecloth to run the mixture through it.
Let the mixture slowly dip through the filter into the prepared container without speeding the process by squeezing the filter. You don’t want to push the fibrous parts into the cooking oil through the filter.
Can I Buy CBD Cooking Oil Somewhere?
If you don’t feel like making CBD cooking oil at home, you can easily find one in stores, both locally and online. In fact, CBD oil is now a growing trend and there are many different commercial cooking fats infused with cannabidiol, such as butter, olive oil, or coconut oil.
You can find these CBD cooking oils in organic food stores on the shelves with other healthy cooking oils.
How to Cook With CBD Oil: Pro Tips
Now that you know how to prepare your CBD cooking oil and how to use it in the kitchen, it’s time to talk for a bit about the best tips for cooking with CBD oil.
Although it may seem easy to cook with cannabidiol, there are some things you should keep in mind to get the most of your CBD and prepare a proper meal with your infusion.
Here are our handy tips for cooking with CBD oil:
1. Be careful when dosing CBD
Our number one rule when using CBD oil in the kitchen – less is more.
Keep in mind not to use too much of your cannabidiol, as it’s extremely easy to go overboard with the amount of infusion added to a meal. You don’t want to end up eating something with overpowering hemp flavor and too much of CBD’s effects.
It’s always better to start with smaller doses to check the final taste of your dish. You can increase the amount of CBD oil in the next batch if the current one doesn’t live up to your expectations.
2. High-Quality Ingredients Are Crucial for a Successful Infusion
Cooking with CBD oil usually means turning your regular diet into a healthier one with the use of plant-based supplementation. Most CBD oils available on the market are made with the finest ingredients. Thus, it’s essential to hold on to this rule by cooking with top-notch quality products.
We recommend cooking with the freshest meats, finest spices and organic veggies. Invest your time in finding the best ingredients for your CBD cooking session, we’re sure you will find the best ingredients at great prices at surprising places.
3. Control the Heat When Cooking With CBD Oil
When cooking with CBD oil, you should always keep precise control over heat. Cannabidiol starts to evaporate at 350 Fahrenheit degrees, so it’s best not to treat your CBD-infused oil with direct heat — so as not to interfere with the effectiveness of your oil.
Keep in mind high temperatures can damage terpenes found in cannabis and bring out the more bitter taste in the final meal.
4. Use CBD for Both Sweet & Savory Foods
When thinking about incorporating cannabis into your meal, brownies are probably the first thing that comes to your mind. However, you can use your CBD oil for both sweet and savory dishes.
We recommend mixing the herb with spices like garlic, thyme, ginger, pepper, rosemary, and marjoram.
5. Stir Your Oil
Although you may think you stir your dish frequently, try to stir your soup or cookies even more often. You want to distribute the cannabidiol evenly throughout the dish to end up with the perfect potency in each bite.
Cooking With CBD Oil: Final Word
If you’re a newbie when it comes to cooking with cannabis, we hope our guide will help you get through the process smoothly.
Cooking with CBD oil can be an amazing adventure where you can enjoy cannabinoid-rich meals full of flavor and healthy ingredients.
Do you have any questions about cooking with CBD oil? Have you ever tried cooking with cannabis in your kitchen?
Share your experience in the comment section below!