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As an Arkansas marijuana patient you have the freedom to visit any one of the state’s 32 operational dispensaries and leave with a goodie bag full of edibles. While purchasing cannabis edibles at an Arkansas dispensary means you can get a precise dosage, highly regulated oversight and flawless processing, you can also make your own edibles at home very easily.
One of the biggest benefits of making homemade edibles is that there is no limit to what you can create. You can make almost all of your favorite meals or savory dishes just by adding cannabutter to the recipe, allowing you to reap the benefits of edibles with the culinary experience of your homemade favorites.
Making edibles takes a little practice to get just right, but it can be a lot of fun and it’s really easy. In this article we’ll cover how to make your own cannabutter, and teach you how to make your own Arkansas Edibles!
How to Make the Best Cannabis Edibles in Arkansas
Homemade edibles can be tricky. Sprinkling dried cannabis flower into your cookie batter or as an herb atop dishes like pasta won’t do the trick.
Cannabis flower has to go through an extra step before it’s cooked, and that’s called decarboxylation.
Decarboxylation
Decarboxylation is just a process of molecular change. All cannabinoids undergo decarboxylation in order to be activated by your endocannabinoid system, the network of receptors found throughout your body that interact with cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids like THCA become THC when decarboxylated.
THC is psychoactive and THCA is not psychoactive.
Very simply, THCA is too large to fit into the appropriate receptors in your body, so it needs to get a little smaller. Decarboxylation makes that happen with heat and light, and voila!
THCA becomes THC, and is now ready for consumption.
Decarboxylating your cannabis is critical to getting THC into your edibles, and fortunately it’s very simple and easy to do.
To decarboxylate your buds and convert the highest quantity of THC into its active form, it only needs to be exposed to prolonged low heat. This will effectively decarboxylate your cannabis.
Next, the herb must be combined with fats to extract THC and other compounds from the bud.
A favorite way to do this is by making cannabis-infused butter (known as cannabutter) on the stovetop. Once you make a batch, you can store it in your fridge and use it in place of butter or oil in multiple recipes.
How to Make Cannabutter From Arkansas Cannabis
Step 1: Pick Your Strain
Before you begin your at-home chemistry experiment, choose your favorite strain of cannabis. You may have one that provides you with just a bit of energy for use during the day, or another that calms your mind and body, allowing you to get a good night’s rest.
Perhaps you want a specific flavor or terpene profile (Cherry Pie goes great in cherry pie, Eleven Roses is great in cheesy pastas). The sky's the limit, choose any strain you want!
A typical cannabutter recipe calls for an equal ratio of butter to bud.
Try using 1 cup of your favorite butter or butter substitute with 1 cup of cannabis flower (roughly 7-10 grams).
Step 2: Decarboxylate Your Flower
Next, you will need to oven-roast your cannabis flower. This is the step needed to activate a good percentage of the THC.
1. Preheat your oven to 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Lightly break apart your cannabis and spread it in an even layer on your parchment-lined baking sheet.
4. Heat for a total of 30-40 minutes, mixing and shaking the pan every 10 minutes. 30 minutes is best for older, drier flower and 40 minutes for fresh, sticky flower.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool until it is easy to handle.
6. Further break apart your cannabis until the flower is in a coarse grind (you don’t want to grind it too fine or it will be hard to filter out of the butter later). We like to use a few pulses of a food processor.
Step 3: Make the Cannabutter
1. Add 1 cup of butter and 1 cup of water to a medium-sized saucepan.
2. Set the saucepan on the stovetop at low heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
3. Once hot, add your cannabis flower from step 2 and stir together.
4. Keep mixture on low heat for three hours, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the mixture to reach a boil.
5. Strain the cannabis flower out of the butter using a cheesecloth. You can do this over a mason jar or any other container that you want to store the cannabutter in.
Once your cannabutter is complete, be sure to keep it refrigerated. Excess water may pool at the bottom, if this happens you can drain the water once the butter is completely cool.
How to Dose Cannabutter
The biggest challenge of homemade edibles is that there is no way to confidently know how strong your edibles are. Every batch can differ based on slight variations in oven or stovetop temperature, or by what strain of cannabis you use.
Our advice is to first experiment with the cannabutter to find the right dose for you.
Start with ¼ teaspoon of cannabutter on something like a slice of bread. Give it some time and wait a minimum of an hour and a half before you decide to take more. If you feel like you need more, add another ¼ teaspoon.
Take note of how much you eat and how you feel so you can find the best dose for you. It can take a few times of experimenting before you find the best dose, and everyone is different so it’s best to start small and increase gradually.
Cooking With Cannabutter Made From Arkansas Strains
Once you find the correct dosage, you can use this knowledge to help direct you in how much cannabutter to use in your recipes. We recommend using 1 dose of cannabutter per serving.
For example, if you find that a ½ teaspoon is a good dose and you are making a batch of 12 cookies, use 6 teaspoons of cannabutter in the recipe. Simply replace 6 teaspoons of the butter or oil called for in the recipe with the cannabutter. This is the best way to avoid accidentally becoming uncomfortably high.
Cannabutter can be used as a replacement for any recipe that calls for butter! Cookies, cakes, pastas, even steaks can all be made using cannabutter.
The possibilities are endless, give our cannabutter recipe a try and send us photos of your cannabis dishes at @arkansas_marijuana on Instagram!
Get Your Arkansas Marijuana Card
Arkansas marijuana patients are free to purchase their edibles at dispensaries. But if you’re looking to go the DIY route or have a lazy weekend to bake some special brownies, making your own edibles can be a lot of fun.
It can also be a great way to conserve cost, because flower is traditionally cheaper than edibles in Arkansas. If you’re looking to save a little extra money, making your own edibles might keep a few more dollars in the bank.
The Arkansas Medical Marijuana program is available for anyone with a qualifying condition, and getting your card is fast and easy with Arkansas Marijuana Card.
We’re dedicated to helping patients every step of the way, feel free to give us a call at 844-249-8714, and we can answer your questions about getting medical marijuana in Arkansas.
Doctors Who Care. Relief You Can Trust.
Helping everyone achieve wellness safely and conveniently through increased access to medical marijuana. Our focus on education, inclusion, and acceptance will reduce stigma for our patients by providing equal access to timely information and compassionate care.
If you have any questions, call us at 844-249-8714, or simply book a medical marijuana evaluation to start getting relief you can trust today!
Check out Arkansas Marijuana Card’s Blog to keep up to date on the latest medical marijuana news, tips, and information. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to join the medical marijuana conversation in Arkansas.
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