Cooking with Hash

 Cooking with cannabis Flower is economical, allowing you to use up all your trim as you can decarboxylate everything, not just the buds! It's also an excellent way to use any older or less favourable product that you otherwise would not use. 

Using the plant material means receiving as much of the "entourage" effect as possible from your edibles. When using Flower, you can choose a strain based on its full cannabinoid or terpene profile or the Indica/Sativa effects that you want to achieve. There is also a strain for every occasion and one that will pair nicely with every food type, similarly to how wine is paired with food. Many people cook with Flower as they prefer the authentic taste it imparts.

Using Flower does have some disadvantages, however. It is challenging to predict THC and dosage size accurately. Unlike Hash, you work with all the plant material and not just the THC rich trichomes. While you can add Flower straight to your dishes, it will significantly alter the texture and taste. I would strongly recommend that you make a butter or oil infusion that will taste better, be easier to use and contain no excess plant material.

Compared to Flower, it is easier to estimate the THC content and serving size dosages with Hash. Hash also has an earthy, complex flavour than Flower, pairing well with meat or mushroom-based sauces and chocolate and caramel flavours.

Gram for gram, hashish edibles have a higher THC concentration than their Flower counterparts and a longer lifespan. You may be missing some of the entourage effects; however, your edibles will make up for this by kicking your ass with THC. 

Hash requires less time to Decarboxylate than Flower, 10-20 mins at 115C should do it. Infusions are less messy to prepare, too, with no need to strain the plant material out of the final product.

Good quality dry-sift Hash is the easiest to work with. Blondish-brown, dry and crumbly, it has a distinctive taste without being overpowering. It can be easily ground up and added to recipes or made into an infusion.

Dry ice hash or Kief is an excellent choice also. It is easy to work with and has a mild flavour that blends well with most foods.

Hand-rubbed Hash is much darker, rigid, shinier and stickier due to being heavily pressed. An overly sticky hash may have had extra oil added to increase weight, negatively impacting quality. Due to its texture, Hand-rubbed Hash is best used in an infusion.

If you are still unsure what form to use, have fun experimenting until you find the best fit.