Don’t overbake

The trick to homemade cannabis edibles is getting a proper low dosage. Edibles take as long as two hours to kick in, and discovering that you ate too much THC can cause paranoia, anxiety or panic. But by taking the steps to infuse cannabis into butter or cooking oils, the measurements are more accurate, which allows home cooks to get creative with endless possibilities of stoney recipes. Here are some tested and reliable steps for making edibles at home:

First decarboxylate: Decarboxylation, or decarbing, is a warming process that activates the THC and increases potency. This first step is optional, but recommended. Prebake finely ground cannabis at 225 degrees on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes or until brown.

Green butter: Warm 4 ounces of butter, 1/4 cup of water and 7 grams (1/4 ounce) of decarbed cannabis in a saucepan. Stir well, then let it simmer on the lowest heat setting for three hours. Separate the cannabutter from plant matter by straining it through a cheesecloth, then refrigerate. Once cool, divide the butter into seven sections. Each one should weigh .57 ounces and contain 1,000 milligrams of cannabis.

I used a homegrown Alien Tarantula strain for my batch and relied on a tCheck2 testing device to determine its potency. With just drops of butter, oils or alcohol it accurately measures the strength of the cannabis infusion in less than a minute. Needless to say, it’s highly helpful. Although this home test kit is expensive (nearly $300), it’s portable and works well. My canna-butter batch tested at 18.2 percent potency.

For something savory, I put 1/4 teaspoon of leftover decarbed cannabis onto water crackers with cheese slices and sour cream and toasted them. A whiff of cannabis scent was there, but the taste and texture got lost in the blend.

(Butter recipe from a Dutch medicinal cannabis forum: tinyurl.com/cannabutterrecipe.)

Fresh canna oil: Dispensary-bought concentrates are already measured and tested. I used 1 gram of Opus Nectar live resin, labeled 70.7 percent THC, and 707 milligrams. After decarbing at 225 for 10 minutes, the liquefied resin could be blended directly into hot cooking oil.

I added a 0.5 grams of live resin to a half-cup of vegetable oil, and used it for a batch of Betty Crocker brownies (yield: 30 canna-brownies, each containing 11.8 milligrams of THC).

I blended the remaining 0.5 grams of live resin into 8 ounces of olive oil, infusing 44.18 milligrams of THC into each fluid ounce (which can be further diluted as needed). With infused olive oil, the culinary possibilities are vast: roasted potatoes, sauteed veggies and marinated meats. As always, be mindful. (Infused oil recipe sourced from The Cannabist magazine.)

Feel-good advice: It’s not a good idea to give homemade edibles to others, as tolerance differs greatly from person to person. And store any tempting sweets away from children.

Also, it’s important to remember that milligrams and potency percentages are two different measurements. So determine your proper dosage by micro-dosing and start low and slow (no more than 5-10 milligrams over two hours). The popular cannabis site Leafly has a comprehensive dosing guide (search: “dosing chart”) that is very helpful. Happy baking!