Homemade marijuana edibles are fast becoming the latest,
biggest trend. More and more people are putting their edible skills to the test
at home. With so many cannabis recipes available online, and so many
opportunities to create new ones, there is no doubt that with legalization
comes a great deal of kitchen mess. Gone are the days of just brownies and
gummies. Folks are adding cannabis to everything.
One of the biggest concerns for home cooks, and the most
common question put to expert cannachefs, is how to determine exactly the THC
content of a homemade edible. Dosing for edibles is truly complicated. THC
levels vary wildly between strains and products, so few even know the content
of their starting ingredients. After baking a batch, is it even possible to
know how much THC is in each serving?
Almost nobody gets dosing 100 percent right. Even commercial
edible companies get it wrong and often too. It is frankly impossible to get an
accurate measurement if you do not send your stash to a laboratory for testing
or if you buy untested marijuana in Fairfield. Precise dosing involves multiple
rounds of in-depth analysis at near every stage of the process.
However, even if you do not know the precise percentage of
THC and other cannabinoids, it is possible to get a close enough estimate. All
it requires is sticking to a very simple formula. If you are mathematically
inclined, your brain should be able to conquer it. If not, then there are
multitudes of online calculators that can help you make a fair guess.
Dosing Homemade Edibles
As just mentioned, if your mathematics is too much of a
challenge for you, then using an online calculator will work out the percentage
of THC for you. Simply Google “online THC calculator.” However, if your brain
can handle the formula, then it is rather simple in its workings. Start your
estimate with an average percentage of THC:
·
Trim or low-quality cannabis strains can contain
as miniscule as just three percent THC.
·
Top-shelf, premium-grade marijuana strains can
average as much as 25 percent THC, even more.
·
The national average, according to government
guidelines, puts the THC concentration at around 10 percent.
If you do not have a precise measurement from a laboratory
test, then let us assume, for example sakes, that your stash contains the
national average of 10 percent, which makes it easier to demonstrate the
formula using a rounded number anyway. The first step is to divide the 10 by
1,000. This will give you a per-milligram amount:
·
One gram of marijuana equals 1,000 milligrams.
·
Ten percent of 1,000 milligrams equals 100
milligrams.
In easy language, one gram, on average, has a THC content of
100 milligrams. The next step is to divide the quantity of THC in your recipe
by the number of servings. This will give you a per-serving dose. For example,
if you use one cup of butter and around seven grams of cannabis to make
cannabutter, then multiply seven by 100, which gives you a butter with 700
milligrams of THC in it.
If you make, say, 24 cookies and use only half the butter,
the entire batch would have 350 milligrams of THC. Then, you divide that number
by the number of servings, which in this case is 24, and you get a calculation
of approximately 14.5 milligrams of THC per cookie. That is about the easiest
formula you could use to get an estimated dosage for homemade edibles, but
laboratory testing improves accuracy.
Tips to Decrease Variation When Dosing for Edibles
The complexity of establishing the potency of edibles with
any accuracy is staggering, even for professionals. For this reason, it is not
surprising that dosing your own edibles with any precision at home is next to
impossible. Having said that, it is possible to get a close estimate, and you
can reduce the variances to make it easier. These tips can help you minimize
variance in potency:
· Check Labels before Extracting
Some manufacturers note the THC content on the packaging of
buds. However, others note the levels of THCA. Since THCA is non-psychoactive
and requires heat to convert into THC, their measurements are not the same. If
you see a percentage of THCA on the packaging, then use the 0.88 conversion
rate to establish the potential THC concentration.
· Portion Your Cannabutter Vertically
Gravity is everything when it comes to dosing cannabinoids.
Since each cannabinoid has a very different molecular weight, they will settle
in very different places. Butter from the bottom of the batch will not have the
same potency as butter scooped off the top. Once cooled and set, portion your
cannabutter vertically so that you can scrape it off evenly.
· Be Careful when Measuring
Many people get the dosing wrong because they do not take
the time to follow the recipe properly. Never scoop a large spoonful of
cannabutter and drop it into your batter, as you increase variance that way and
destroy any accuracy of your dosing. Rather do it right the first time: Fetch
the measuring cups from the kitchen cupboard, fill them accordingly, and level
them exactly.
· Stir Very Well
Stirring is imperative if you want to reduce variance.
Unless you actively and purposefully measured out exact same portions of
cannabutter into each serving, you have yet another potential error to
contribute to inaccurate dosing of the final product. Experts strongly
recommend stirring until you are unquestionably certain that the batter is
perfectly homogenous, and then stirring again, and then again.
· Make Portions Uniform
It is important to portion each serving uniformly, or some
will naturally contain a higher dose than others will. Do not just attack the
pan with a spoon. Instead, take the time to cut the batch
into exact and equal pieces. Use a ruler. It can really help with this. Cookies
are the most difficult, so use a kitchen scale before baking to weigh out equal
portions of dough.
Consider a Marijuana Delivery Service
It is much, much easier, and more convenient, to simply
order pre-tested buds online and have it delivered to your doorstep. Marijuana Fairfield can arrive at your home in 45 minutes or less, with the
cannabinoid measurements exact and tested in a laboratory for you already. A
marijuana delivery service can make dosing edibles much easier. Just ask any
home cannachef in California.
