Cannabis Cuisine Part One

Hey folks! Welcome back to another smorgasbord of cannabis information courtesy of your one and only locally owned cannabis retailer, Circa 1818!

                Anyone who knows me knows I love to cook. I get unreasonably excited about a well-made risotto and practically get the vapors if presented with a quality ceviche. So, with that in mind, join me and my stomach for the next couple of weeks as we run through some amazing cannabis infused meal ideas that will send you to space with a smile on your face!

But First: Butter

                Before we get into the meal ideas themselves, let’s first talk about butter. Infusing butter with cannabis is probably the best way to inject a bit of psychedelic magic into your food thanks to the wide variety of recipes that call for butter as a base ingredient.

First things first, select 7 grams of a strain of weed that has the potency that matches your ambitions. If you want your cannabis dish to get you so high they need a ladder to get you down, go for a high THC strain. If you would prefer a milder high, go for a milder THC option. Pretty straightforward and entirely up to the chef. One thing I suggest though is the use of quality cannabis as opposed to shoddily grown weed or shake (The leafy bits left over in a bag after the buds are all consumed). While many people make butter out of their leftover shake, the quality of the butter will suffer for it. This is one of those times when quality in, quality out applies. However, if shake is all you have, then shake will work in a pinch.

Next up we need to get a hold of some butter, preferably unsalted. I say unsalted because I’m a firm believer that when it comes to seasoning, maintaining a degree of control is good. Also, it’s just better for everyone to manage their salt intake to better facilitate a healthy lifestyle.

Aside from those two critical items, you’ll also need a cheese cloth or mesh strainer, a glass or ceramic jar, a baking sheet, parchment paper, a saucepan or small pot, one cup of water and access to an oven with stove top elements.

Now that you have all of your tools and ingredients, it’s time to start! You’re going to want to pre-heat your oven to around 245 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, you’re going to take the cannabis bud that you’re going to be using to infuse your butter and break it down to small, pea sized chunks. Once the oven is done pre-heating, lay some parchment paper on the baking sheet, line it with your cannabis bits then go ahead and pop those bits of bud into the oven for about 30 minutes, pausing every ten minutes to gently move the cannabis chunks around to make sure it all gets exposed to open heat.  This process is known as decarboxylation and allows the cannabinoids in the flower to activate through the introduction of heat as a catalyst. Without the addition of heat, cannabis is basically just stinky broccoli and can’t get you high. Yes, Super Troopers lied to you. Anyway.

Once your 30 minutes of oven time is up, remove your toasty warm weed and let it cool down before using your hands or a grinder to break down your cannabis into smaller pieces. Note: Don’t grind your cannabis too fine as you don’t want any actual plant matter to pass through the cheese cloth or mesh strainer. Gauge how fine your cannabis should be by the type of strainer you’re using.

            Now that your cannabis is ready to go, it’s time to melt some butter. In a saucepan or pot, melt down 1 cup of unsalted butter on low heat. Add 1 cup of room temperature water to the butter once it starts to melt in order to prevent scorching and maintain a more uniform temperature as it melts.

                Once your butter has melted completely, it’s time to add your cannabis! Slowly stir in your busted up weed into your butter concoction and let it simmer on low heat for about 2 hours, gently stirring from time to time to prevent any clumping or scorching.

                It’s time to strain the plant matter from our butter. Take your glass/ceramic jar (a mason jar is ideal) and either place your cheese cloth over it or place your strainer on top of it. Take your pot filled butter, and pour it into the jar, letting the strainer catch the loose chunks of broken-down cannabis so that it doesn’t ruin the texture of your butter.

                With your butter safe in it’s container, slap a lid on that bad-boy and toss it in the fridge. You’re going to want to ideally let it set overnight, checking periodically to see if any liquid is gathering at the bottom. If you see an excess of water sitting at the bottom of the jar, transfer the setting butter to another container and drain the liquid out to prevent the consistency of your butter being ruined.

And that’s it! Congratulations, you have made your first batch of cannabutter. You’re officially on your way to being a culinary mastermind of the stoner variety! Stay tuned for our next blog post where we’re going to help you use that butter to elevate your favorite foods.

Hungry now and don’t want to wait a week? There are A TON of great recipes for cooking with cannabutter that are just a quick internet search away! Or, if you prefer to let someone else do the work, check out our edibles menu and get your fix of gummies, chocolates and more!