How To Decarboxylate Your Weed in a Few Easy Steps

‘Make your own Edibles’ ‘Cooking with Cannabis’ and ‘Cannabutter in Everything.’ You may have seen these headlines on the front cover of books, on recipes, or even at your local dispensary. With easy access to marijuana in so many areas of the country, more and more people are interested in turning it into more than just a smoke session. That being said, it’s important to understand exactly what cannabis decarboxylation means and why you should ever even try to pronounce that word. 

Cannabis Decarboxylation

Why decarboxylate cannabis? Why do most of us enjoy weed? We like the feeling of being stoned! The main psychoactive component in cannabis is THC and it’s THC that is responsible for the high feeling associated with marijuana. If you actually just ate a bud of cannabis without heating it first it would not get you high.THC Acid (THCA) converts into THC through the process of decarboxylation – activation by heat. When cooking with cannabis, we recommend decarboxylating your cannabis before doing any sort of cooking or baking. Outside of cooking, when making tinctures, only a tiny amount of THCA is converted to THC…even more reason to make sure you decarboxylate cannabis.

In addition to activating the THC for digestion via your edibles, there are other benefits of decarboxylating marijuana. If you don’t add heat to your operation, the moisture in your cannabis can cause dangerous bacteria to grow inside of your tinctures and cannabutter. We can safely assume nobody wants that…especially when thinking about consuming those products. Now that you know what it is and why decarboxylation is important, you probably need to know how to do it. We’ve put together a step by step guide on exactly how to decarboxylate marijuana.

Steps for Decarboxylating Cannabis

Before you get started, we’ve compiled an ingredients list:

• Finely ground cannabis, nugs, or Kief of your choosing
• Wax/parchment paper
• Aluminum foil
• Baking Tray

Now onto the details…exactly how to decarboxylate marijuana…

1. Preheat the oven to 225 F. This temperature is ideal for cooking time and temperature. It the heat is too low, it might not be able to convert all of the THCA to THC and if it is too high, you could burn your bud. If you’re a novice, prevent any potential cannabis catastrophes, stick with 225 degrees.
2. Grab your baking tray or cookie sheet and line it with the wax paper.
3. Get your weed ready. Make sure you spread your bud evenly so that the heat can evenly distribute.
4. Pop your cannabis into the pre-heated oven for a total of 50 minutes. If you want to be a rule breaker and speed up the process, you can go up to 250 degrees for 30 minutes. On the opposite side, if you want to take your time to retain as many terpenes as you can, bake it for 75 minutes at 200 degrees. In case you are sampling any other products while in the kitchen, we highly recommend setting a timer to ensure you don’t forget your freshly decarboxylated bud.
5. After the buzzer, remove your cannabis from the oven and let it cool. It is normal if the color has changed.
6. Take your brownish buds and get your recipe book out – these guys are ready to be put into cannabis oil, cannabutter or tinctures. A lightly toasted nug is full of THC and flavor.

Get Cooking with Cannabis

Now that your cannabis has been decarboxylated, you’re ready to go! Get creative with your products and recipes. Make sure you stop into The Spot 420 to stock up on the best bud around. Our friendly Budtenders are waiting to chat about your experience and provide more tips on the decarboxylation process. And remember…if you get caught up in the process and decide you’d rather just buy some ready-to-go edibles, we’re here with a full inventory of products.