Edibles are a versatile way to begin testing the waters of how THC may benefit you. With dispensaries opening up around Illinois, many people may be wondering if they should try the edibles that are listed on menus. Consuming edibles is different from smoking marijuana. While both acts can produce the effect of feeling high, the highs are usually very different. When one consumes an edible, what they are really consuming is highly concentrated cannabis extract within a food or beverage. Here’s everything you need to know about edibles before deciding to try one!
Edibles are dosed differently than marijuana flower or wax that may be smoked. Because they are dosed differently, it’s important to be aware of how much you are consuming. For this reason, home-made edibles can be a bit tricky. In many dispensaries, the serving size for a single edible is 10 mg of THC. It’s difficult to accurately gauge how much THC is going into each edible, but consuming too much or too little will hinder the experience. Being informed on all of these factors is essential to safely enjoying your edible experience. For reference, according to The Cannabist, “Every 1 gram of cannabis bud has 1,000mg of dry weight. If a strain has about 10 percent THC, 10 percent of 1,000mg would be 100mg. So for cooking or baking at home, it’s safe to assume that a gram of cannabis contains at least 100mg of THC.” So, if you use one gram of marijuana to bake a batch of 10 evenly portioned cookies, you can assume that each cookie will have about 10mg of THC, but in order to be safe, users should take one bite and wait at least 45 minutes before taking another bite.
Not only are edibles dosed differently, but they are also metabolized differently. Eating marijuana in an edible form means it is being absorbed through your liver rather than through your blood when it is smoked. This means it takes about 30 minutes to an hour and a half for effects to begin. The number one mistake first-time edible consumers make is not being patient! Eating numerous edibles in a row without spacing them out can lead to a much stronger high than anticipated. Wait to see how your body reacts before consuming more.
One great thing about edibles is that there are so many different and delicious ways to consume them. Marijuana can be made into just about anything, but first it needs to be prepared properly. In order to prepare the marijuana, preheat your oven to 240 degrees fahrenheit, break the marijuana down onto a baking tray so that pieces are not on top of each other, bake the marijuana for about 40 minutes, checking on it frequently, and finally remove the marijuana from the oven and let it cool before grinding it up in a food processor or blender. Once all of this is achieved, it can be made into butter by simply bringing a quart of water to a boil, adding butter to the water, allowing the butter to melt, and adding the marijuana to the mixture. Reduce the heat to low to simmer your concoction for about three hours. From there, allow your mixture to cool and then use your marijuana-infused butter to bake whatever you’d like to taste!
Be safe, do your research, and reach out to us here at Sunny Cultivation with any questions you may have! As always, we’re here to educate and inform.