Cannabis-Infused Cooking Oil and Butter
Cooking with cannabis is not a new concept but it is one that has been growing in popularity in the last couple of years. Eating cannabis-infused food is one of the many ways of ingesting the active ingredients in cannabis and availing of their benefits.
Cannabidiol or CBD, one of the active ingredients in cannabis, can be infused into oils and butter and used to create many delicious dishes.
Cannabis-infused cooking oil and cannabis-infused butter are sometimes known simply as canna-oil and canna-butter. And theyre quite easy to make if you know how!
Why cook with CBD?
As we said, there are many ways to reap the rewards of CBD and eating it is just one of them. It certainly becoming the most popular method, with many different edible options like tinctures, capsules, gummies, and even chocolate.
There are many wonderful benefits of making your own cannabis-infused cooking oil, and cannabis-infused butter at home too…
- Firstly, making your own CBD infused oils or butter can be the thrifty option. You can save money by making larger batches of butter rather than buying premade edibles.
- You have complete control over the potency of your oils and the dosage.
- Get creative with your CBD cooking! Using cannabis-infused oils and butter mean that you can add them to more of your favourite dishes.
- Making your own cannabis-infused butter is a fun new thing to try. Were all looking for new things to try at home, especially during lockdown.
How does it work?
Eating CBD infused oils or butter is different to vaping or taking drops on the tongue it a lot slower. Your body needs time to digest the food that youve consumed before the CBD is absorbed into your system.
This means that there is a slow-release effect that youll benefit from over a longer period of time. This could be why many people who use CBD to help with anxiety or to improve sleep choose this method.
Cannabis-infused cooking oil
What can cannabis-infused cooking oil be used for?
As you can use many different oils in this infusion, you have an array of dishes that you can use your canna-oil with.
For example, if you choose to infuse your CBD in coconut oil, it can be used to create delicious stir-fries and curry.
Similarly, you can use sesame or peanut oil. If you’ve chosen to use classic olive oil, you could add it to any pasta dish or drizzle over a salad. It would also make a wonderful addition to a cheese board, and used for dipping with crusty bread. Using CBD infused sunflower oil, one can make a range of condiments like mayo, ranch dressing, and aioli.
Let get cooking
To make your cannabis-infused cooking oil, you will need ground CBD cannabis flower and the cooking oil of your choosing.
Choosing only hemp flower means that the psychoactive chemical tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, isnt present. To make your canna-oil you should a 1:1 ratio of hemp to oil.
You will need a 1 cup/7-10 grams of CBD (hemp) flower and 1 cup of cooking oil. You will also need a strainer or cheesecloth, a saucepan, culinary thermometer, and a grinder.
- Firstly, youll need to roughly grind your hemp flower. No need to grind it to a fine powder as you dont want it making its way into the final product, through the strainer.
- Pop your cannabis flower and oil into the saucepan. Gently heat for 3 hours. Using the thermometer, keep the temperature under 120 °C. This slow and gentle cooking method allows decarboxylation takes place, without burning the cannabis. Burning of scorching the cannabis flower will destroy the active ingredient, CBD.
- Once your cooking oil has been infused, strain it using the cheesecloth. Store your oil in a clean container. Dont squeeze the cheesecloth when youre straining as it will only squeeze the chlorophyll from the plant, into the oil, giving it a green colour. Generally speaking, the oil will last for about 2 months and can be refrigerated.
How to prevent the smell from cannabis-infused oil
When making your cannabis-infused oil, you may notice a pungent smell whilst the flower decarboxylates. You may not notice it as first but as the process takes a few hours, the smell tends to get quite strong. There are a few ways to reduce odour.
If you have a crock-pot or slow cooker, you can use this to make your cooking oil or butter. Keeping the lid on the slow cooker can reduce the smell.
Similarly, making sure your kitchen vent is on will also help. If you are using a slow cooker to make your oil or butter, you will have to add 2 or 3 hours to the cooking time, as the temperature is a lot lower.
Cannabis-infused butter
What can cannabis-infused butter be used for?
Canna-butter can be used in many of the same ways than normal butter can be used.
Why not use your cannabis-infused butter in your baking?
Use it to make classic brownies, cookies, or pastries. You can even use it in pasta sauces, on baked potatoes, or simply spread on a bagel. You could even melt it and pour over popcorn to enjoy on a movie night perfect for cosy evenings in.
Let get cooking
Making cannabis-infused butter is slightly different from making cannabis-infused cooking oil.
In this recipe, we will decarboxylate, or decarb, the cannabis flower before adding it to the butter. You can decarb the cannabis flower in the hot butter directly but it isnt recommended as it will affect the taste.
For this recipe, you will need 1 cup/ 7-10 grams of CBD cannabis flower and 1 cup butter. You will also need a baking tray, parchment paper, saucepan, strainer, and a grinder.
- Place your cannabis flower on the parchment paper, on the baking tray. Bake at 120 °C. for 30-40 minutes. Every 10 minutes or so, give the tray a shake to expose every side of the buds.
- Once the buds have been decarboxylated, grind them coarsely. Again, no need to grind to a fine powder as you dont want it ending up in the final product.
- Add the butter and 1 cup of water to a saucepan. Heat gently to melt the butter. Adding the water helps to keep the butter from burning, which is quite easy to do.
- Add the ground cannabis and let to simmer on low heat. Ideally, you should leave it to infuse for 2 3 hours, at 70 °C to 90 °C.
- Allow the butter to cool and pour through the cheesecloth to strain. You should strain the product into a clean container and store it in the fridge. Again, avoid squeezing the cheesecloth as it will ruin the taste of your delicious butter.
CBD tinctures
Using cannabis-infused cooking oil and cannabis-infused butter isnt the only way to incorporating CBD into your cooking. Many use CBD tincture to make their homemade CBD edibles.
What the difference between cannabis-infused oil and butter, and CBD tincture?
As we know, cannabis-infused oils are exactly what they say on the tin. CBD is fat-soluble so it can be added to any oil or butter and used in cooking. CBD tinctures, however, use alcohol.
Tinctures are made using a water and alcohol solution to extract CBD. Using alcohol instead of oils as a carrier means that the CBD is absorbed into the system quite quickly, in comparison. CBD tinctures like these come in a variety of strengths and flavours.
Many choose to ingest tinctures by placing a few drops on or under the tongue but it can also be added to your favourite meals.
What can CBD tinctures be used for?
Making your own cannabis-infused cooking oil and cannabis-infused butter is a fun activity but theyre not suitable for every dish.
You probably dont want to add CBD-infused coconut oil to your morning coffee. That where CBD tinctures come in!
Using CBD tinctures, rather than cannabis-infused butter, lets you think outside the box when it comes to edibles. Of course, you can add a few drops to soups, smoothies, ice-cream and acai bowls.
But why not try adding it to cocktails? You can add a drop or two to your margaritas, or even the guac to accompany your nachos.
Benefits of CBD tinctures
Cooking with CBD tinctures are just so convenient! You can add a couple of drops to almost any meal or snack and youre good to go.
Adding a couple of drops of vanilla flavoured CBD tincture to your morning coffee not only tastes great but it means that you can enjoy the benefits of CBD with minimum effort.
Online stores like CBD Village store an array of ready-made CBD tinctures that you can choose from.
If youre new to CBD products, using CBD tinctures are an excellent way to try out the benefits of CBD without the hassle of making your own butter or oil. Using these ready-made products also give you more control over the dosage and potency.
CBD tinctures are a perfect way of integrating CBD into your everyday routine, particularly if you have a busy lifestyle. You can simply place a couple of drops under your tongue or add a few to your smoothie on the way out the door in the morning.
You enjoy all of the benefits with zero effort!
Remember
Placing a few drops of CBD tincture on or under the tongue will have very different effects than ingesting it in food.
Consuming CBD sublingually (under the tongue) is a very fast way of getting the CBD into your system as it is absorbed quickly. When you add the tincture to your food, your body will need time to digest the food and the CBD before the effects are felt.
As we mentioned earlier, this means that it a longer process. It also worth noting that by ingesting tinctures, you lose some of its potency.
Ingesting CBD by eating it means that youll feel the benefits of it later on in the day which many people prefer, particularly if theyre using it to help with symptoms of anxiety or to help improve their sleep.
All in all
As we know, there are many ways to enjoy the benefits of CBD. Even when it comes to ingesting CBD, you’re spoiled for choice.
Making your own cannabis-infused cooking oils and be extremely rewarding and it’s a fun activity to try out, especially during lockdown.
There are so many cooking oils that can be used, to give very different and interesting results. If you’re a foodie at heart, making cannabis-infused cooking oils could be your newest hobby.
Cannabis-infused butter can replace butter in baking, with wonderful results. One can try CBD-infused brownies, or branch out and add CBD-infused croissants to your continental breakfast.
For anyone new to CBD products or cooking, CBD tinctures are the perfect option. CBD tinctures can be bought ready-made from CBD village and can be used in several ways. One can take a few drops under the tongue, hold it for a minute or so, and swallow it. This is a very fast way of availing of the effects of CBD.
If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, you can add a couple of drops to almost any meal or snack! Why not try a couple of drops in chamomile tea to help improve your sleep?
