How to cook CBD
Our Tips and recipes to start cooking CBD
With cannabidiol-based edibles flooding the market, more and more of you are asking how to cook CBD - and not just to make the sacred space cake...
But before diving in, it is always better to know what we are talking about. A CBD food is simply a food that contains the famous molecule. And that's good, because it is very easy to incorporate it into your food. This is a very good way to take CBD without vaping. Not only can it be added to almost any type of recipe, but it is also easy to adjust its potency thanks to dosage.
But to get the best effects of CBD, you must first activate the CBD present in the flower. Stay put, we’re about to talk about decarboxylation and fat!
CBD cooking’s two essential steps
Decarboxylation: does baking CBD ruin it?
This may come as a surprise to you, but you won't get the best effects by eating CBD flowers directly.
In fact, the cannabinoids present in the plant must be converted so they can act on the body. And for that, you have to heat it. It even has a name: decarboxylation. When you smoke CBD, decarboxylation takes place thanks to the heat of combustion.
But to cook with CBD, you’re gonna have to drop the lighter. It is necessary to heat the flower. We said heat, not burn: to be able to use it afterwards, the flower must be preserved, so we prefer a long cooking at low temperature: a hundred degrees in the oven, for at least 45 minutes.
Infusion in fat
Another important characteristic of cannabidiol: it is liposoluble. To be absorbed by the body, the molecule must pass through a fatty substance. After heating it, we advise you to infuse your hemp flower in fat (oil, whole milk, butter, honey, etc.) for about ten minutes before adding it to your preparation. Moreover, the higher the fat content, the more effective the CBD will be. After that, you can use the infused fat like in any recipe.
What about CBD oil?
Mais la fleur n’est pas le seul produit au CBD que l’on peut cuisiner ! L’huile de cannabidiol But the flower is not the only CBD product that can be cooked! Cannabidiol oil is a very good alternative, since it is already fat, and was manufactured from decarboxylated flowers. To incorporate it into your recipes, nothing could be more simple: add a few drops to the preparation, and all that's left to do is enjoy the effects of CBD!
There’s only one requirement: it is better to high quality oil. For that, nothing better than our CBD oils, which penetrate effectively in the body thanks to their MCT base.
Dosing a CBD cooking recipe
How to choose the right amount of CBD to cook
To know how to cook CBD, it’s always better to know How to find the perfect CBD dose. As we explained in this article, the "ideal" dose is different for everyone. So it's up to you to find the dosage that suits you best by adjusting the quantities over time, and above all, by listening to yourself
In the kitchen, as with any other way of consumption, the number one rule is start low, go slow.
But if you're just starting to get interested in our favorite molecule and you're afraid you'll get confused, we're giving you a starting range. It is generally recommended to start with 10 to 20 mg of CBD and to take it once or twice a day. It's up to you to convert this dose according to the number of servings you prepare.
And since we at Cakespace are really amazing people, we even prepared a little chart for you to choose your starting dose.
If you don't feel any effect within an hour, maybe you haven't eaten enough food. In this case, do not hesitate to take a small snack to activate the digestion and thus the absorption of CBD by your body.
Some people who start CBD may need 2 to 3 doses before they feel anything. If this is the case, try the same dosage again - and wait 8 to 24 hours between each dose - before increasing it.
And if in the long run and despite the dosage, you really do not feel any effect, it may be that consuming CBD orally is not for you. Don't panic, you can always turn to a sublingual oil or a CBD vape!
Cooking CBD using oil or butter
Since CBD needs to be infused in fat, the easiest way is to prepare cannabis butter or oil. And you'll soon realize that it's really not that complicated, so get your apron out and let's get started!
Our CBD butter recipe
A staple ingredient in baking recipes, our CBD butter is perfect for all your sweet dishes.
Let’s start with the essential step: decarboxylation. After preheating theoven to 120°C, you wanna put your flowers on a plate covered with baking paper - to prevent them from sticking, for about forty minutes. A figure which you can slightly lower for older and drier cannabis. If you are in a hurry, you can cook them at 150°C for 10 to 20 minutes, but to preserve the cannabinoids, it is always better to take your time and cook them at low temperature. For a homogeneous cooking, we advise you to stir gently the tray every 10 minutes.
Then, simply run your decarboxylated cannabis roughly through a grinder and mix it with melted butter.
After that, you can let your mixture simmer for two to three hours. This is enough time to watch several episodes on Netflix, provided you come back to stir it from time to time and make sure that it is not boiling.
All that's left is to strain the mixture with a cloth and let it cool for at least an hour. You can then use your CBD butter like any other butter!
Our CBD oil recipe
Preparing CBD oil is just as simple.
This time, you will start by putting your cannabidiol flower in the grinder before mixing it with the oil you want to use.
The mixture is then left to cook over low heat for several hours. You can count 3 hours in a saucepan, 4 to 6 hours in a slow cooker, and up to 6 to 8 hours in a water bath. This long cooking time will allow the decarboxylation to take place. Just like the butter, don't forget to stir the mixture from time to time.
Once filtered, your CBD oil can be kept for up to 2 months in your cupboard, and even longer in the fridge. You can then use it in all your dishes, as long as it is not heated to high temperatures, otherwise it could lose its properties. In this case, you can add some oil to the dish just before eating it.
Keeping your CBD food fresh
How to enjoy CBD effects for the longest time?
As for CBD recipes, it's much simpler than you might think: the presence of CBD in a food will not change its shelf life. Especially since CBD is a fairly stable cannabinoid, which does not degrade so easily, let alone quickly. The main problem is the degradation of the food itself. So there is no need to change your habits!
When in doubt, it is best to keep your CBD food out of reach of children, and especially of your roommates when you do not want to share ...
As you may have noticed, cooking with CBD is not that complicated, when you master the basics ... all you have to do is get behind the stove and share your creations by tagging us on social networks! By the way, we hear that CBD edibles will soon be available on the Cakespace shop... just saying...
Cake it easy,
Cakespace Team