Mistakes to Avoid When Making and Using Edibles

Making a joint or a spliff is pretty simple, but the same cannot always be said for edibles. There are many things that can go wrong while preparing your pot snack, thus ending up with something that's either disgusting to eat, smells horrible, or doesn't generate the desired effect. 

Keep reading to learn where to pay attention to when preparing cannabis edibles and to make sure that the end product is pleasant to consume and can get you high after you munch it. 

Decarboxylation 

Decarboxylation is usually the first step in most weed recipes. You must decarb your weed before proceeding with anything else said in that recipe. 

Decarboxylation is the fancy name for when you heat cannabis to activate the cannabinoids and unlock their effect. Without doing this, if you put weed as a raw dried flower, the end product, whatever it is, will be pretty bad and will not get you high. 

Luckily, it's not rocket science to decarb your weed. Here's how to go about it:

• Preheat the oven to around 220 degrees Fahrenheit
• Sprinkle the ground weed evenly on a baking tray and heat it for an hour
• Stir the buds every 15 minutes to prevent them from burning

If you are preparing cannabutter, switch to lower temperatures and a slow cooker. 

Over grinding 

This common mistake happens as you prepare and process the weed before decarboxylation. Making a powder out of it is not what you aim at for your canna cookies and pies. Powdery consistency changes the taste and flavor of the edible, making it more grassy. So, don't grind the weed with a food processor. Instead, use a regular grinder where you don't press too hard, or even better, do it old-school by hand. The weed crumbs need to look like sea salt as they are laid on the baking tray. 

Overcooking

Baking at extra high temperatures could destroy the weed-infused cookie or cake. To be on the safe side when preparing weed snacks, it's always better to stick with doing things slowly and at lower temperatures. For example, if you are baking and use cannabis concentrate in the butter, cook at a maximum 350 degrees Fahrenheit or even less. This will prevent the food from getting too hot and breaking down all the THC it contains. 

Not stirring well enough

If you stir well while cooking, the cannabutter will stay evenly distributed, and all cannabinoids go everywhere on the snack that you're making. Which is preferable for a consistent and potent product. When you don't mix well, some pieces might get super strong, while others won't generate nearly the same effect. 

Dosing Mistakes to Avoid

Adding too much

The other word for that is overmedicating. Putting too much weed for your edibles isn't going to generate the best results. Eating too strong a brownie or other edible might make you feel sick. When there's too much THC in the edible, it's similar to eating too many gummies or cookies before giving them time to digest in the body and generate the high. 

Adding too little

Using too little is not good either. Because, in most cases, you will feel almost nothing.
If you are not sure how much weed you should add, do a test. For example, if it's cannabis-infused oil that you're using, add half a teaspoon of the oil to a drink or food, then give it an hour to see how that makes you feel. The test will give you an idea of the appropriate dose. 

In general, when you cook with Cannabis, it's easier to use oils and concentrates where you know the exact percentage of THC. If you are following a recipe in a cannabis cookbook, stick with the recipe and don't deviate from the dosages. 

How to Use Edibles?

You've prepared the perfect snack, the perfect cookie, or the perfect cake, and now it's time to have some fun. Here are what mistakes to avoid when consuming edibles and how to help yourself better enjoy the experience. 

1. Start slowly with small doses, and don't rush the experience. Edibles take more time to digest in the body, so give it some time to work. Taking more too early, a second dose within the same hour after the first one, that could be a huge mistake. Overdoing it with edibles is a common reason why people never want to try edibles again. 

2. Don't mix with alcohol. Especially not if you are about to munch strong potency THC product. The combination of the two will likely lead to a terrible experience often accompanied with vomit or headache. If you have already been drinking, stop immediately. 

3. Do not eat edibles on an empty stomach. It's the same advice as with alcohol. You have to have something in you. An empty stomach will intensify the experience and it can get too hard to handle that cookie. 

4. Don't do it alone. Unless you are medicating with CBD gummies or something like that, there's really no point in taking edibles by yourself. Edibles are a social experience where the greater idea is to never stop laughing with your friend when the good high hits. Correct me if I am wrong. 

5. Don't use it for work. Edibles will probably hinder your productivity. Of course, you can always make the effort and look for that kind of edible that you can take throughout the day to boost your focus and inspiration. But that may take a lot of trial and error, and honestly, it's easier to take some nice sativa and smoke it if focus and inspiration is your higher aspiration.