CBD Cannabutter – Cooking with Hemp FLOWER

One of the questions we get most often is how to cook with CBD hemp flower. We’ve worked with Jeff Danzer, one of the world’s top cannabis chefs, Jeff The 420 Chef to create a light-tasting CBD cannabutter recipe for anyone interested in cooking with hemp flower and cannabis. We’re also super excited to work with Mary McDonald from Pixels and Crumbs on photo instructions for this amazing recipe. The “light tasting hemp oil” steps can be skipped if you are OK having a stronger cannabis taste in your recipe, then go straight to the “Simple Steeping Method”.

A great flower to use for this concoction is our Merlot or Bordeaux buds as they have a strong nose that will really come out with a good taste and floral scent in your cooking.

fWith dosage, everyone is different and you’ll be using various different CBD flowers, so we suggest experimenting and see what works best for you. The grams of hemp flower per ounces of oil or butter in the recipe below are meant as a guide to starting with and can be adjusted up or down at your discretion. For more help with dosages, Jeff The 420 Chef has a calculator for you to check dosages.

by JeffThe420Chef (Chef Jeff Danzer) – Copyright Cascadia Blooms Direct

As you begin your journey cooking with Hemp, it’s essential to know and understand the herb you are working with. Knowledge of hemp itself is a good place to start, along with details about the various strains and their purported effects. Having a handle on this information will allow you to have a safe, enjoyable edible experience.

Hemp like the cannabis plant is a complex herb. The taste is noticeably herbaceous, somewhat bitter, and peppery. It’s also a superfood that contains various important elements and compounds you need to consider when cooking with it. The most important of these elements are the beautiful crystal-like resin glands called trichomes. Trichomes are hydrophobic and cannot be washed off the plant—and that’s lucky for us because this is where the hemp plant stores all of its CBD and a minuscule amount of THC-A. Neither CBD nor THC-A is psychoactive. However, heat and time can cause THC-A to decarboxylate (lose its acid molecule) and transform into the psychoactive compound we know as THC. The amount of THC-A in hemp is so low that even if decarboxylated, any psychoactive effect from the activated THC will most probably not be noticeable.

Like cannabis, hemp also contains terpenes and flavonoids which are responsible for variations in the plant’s smell and flavor profile, and they also have certain medicinal properties of their own. Along with CBD and THC-A, terpenes and flavonoids contribute to the overall effect of a strain. But there is a time and place for everything and not everyone likes the flavor.

The easiest way to cook with hemp is to create a CBD rich cooking oil. There are various ways to infuse cooking oil, ranging from simple to complicated. The end result you are trying to achieve will determine which method is best for you. Here are 2 recipes. The first is a simple traditional hemp oil recipe. The second is my Light Tasting hemp oil recipe. Choose whichever suits you best.

Hemp CBD Infused Cooking Oil (Simple Steeping method)

4g Hemp Flower

8oz. Olive or Coconut Oil

What You’ll Need:

French Press (4 cup capacity or larger)

Pot of boiling water

Pick buds off of stem (do not grind) Place bud into French Press and add oil. Cover. Fill a pot ¼ – ½ way with water and bring to a boil. NOTE: Your water line should not be much higher than the oil level in the French Press. Stand French Press in a pot of boiling water and let steep for 2 hours. Strain oil through French Press into a sterile jar or container.

“Light Tasting” Hemp CBD Cooking Oil

Start with clean ingredients. The same way you need to wash your herbs, fruits, and vegetables prior to eating or cooking with them, you need to clean your hemp. Hemp very much like its sister cannabis is an aggregator plant meaning that it absorbs everything from its environment. So how do you clean your hemp? I’m glad you asked. Cleaning your hemp takes a little time, but it’s time well spent. It’s fairly simple but takes a few days.

PREP

Break larger hemp flowers into popcorn size pieces as shown below.

SOAK

Pick the buds off the stem. In a French Press Completely immerse the buds and stems in distilled water and soak for up to 3 days. Change the water twice a day until the water in the French press is clear.

Fully immerse and Change the water twice a day until the water in the French press is clear.

RINSE

Remove the herb from the French Press and place in a salad spinner.

Spin for about 30 seconds to remove excess water.

DRY AND DECARB

Preheat oven to 240º F.

Spread the hemp evenly over a large baking sheet and place a large piece of light aluminum foil loosely over the top of it. Crimp the edges to keep in any odor.

Bake for 60 to 90 minutes until completely dry.

Your Hemp is now clean and ready for infusion into your butter, oil, alcohol or vegetable glycerin.

INFUSE

Now you are ready to infuse your clean hemp into cooking oil or butter, just follow the Simple Steeping infusion method.

We hope this recipe is helpful and look forward to seeing what creations you come up with there. Thanks! -Cascadia Blooms

Get some flowers to use for your recipe from our store!

follow JeffThe420Chef and check out his website here.

follow Mary at PixelsandCrumbs and check out her website here.