Cooking and baking with CBD-infused oil is becoming an increasingly popular trend because of its many benefits. CBD oil can be added into both sweet and savory dishes like cookies, brownies, or even salads – making it a versatile go-to in your pantry. 

CBD offers a lot of benefits that can range from stabilizing mood, alleviating pain and cancer-related symptoms, and even helping regulate sleep patterns. Many people are becoming aware of the advantages of CBD but not sure how they can incorporate it into their life. Well here’s some good news, adding CBD oil to your food is a great way.

THC vs CBD Oil: What’s the Difference?

There’s one main difference between CBD and THC oil. CBD-infused oil doesn’t get you high the way THC oil would, but still delivers healing properties such as pain relief, anxiety and lower high blood pressure. 

Because CBD is not psychoactive, it’s a great option for anyone who wants to experience the health benefits of cannabis without the mind-altering effects that come with THC. 

While CBD oil can be purchased at your local dispensary, some may opt to make their own at home.  Making your own CBD oil gives you the freedom to customize flavour while controlling the potency.

What Are the Benefits of Making CBD Oil at Home?

Making your own cannabis-infused oil allows you to control the type of oil you would like to use as a carrier. Depending on your taste, you may want to use avocado oil, coconut, sunflower or olive oil as your base.

Making your own CBD cooking oil gives you control over the quality of products while managing the potency of the CBD in the oil.

What Kind of Dishes Can I Make With CBD Oil?

Different kinds of recipes call for certain types of oil. For instance, salads and savory dishes would pair well with olive, avocado and coconut oil. If you’re baking, vegetable oil or canola oil can be used in place of butter. Whichever base you choose, CBD-infused oil is a great way to add an extra touch when you’re whipping up your favourite recipes.

Making Your Own CBD-Infused Oil: The Recipe

Step 1: Decarb Your Cannabis

Before you make CBD cooking oil, you need to decarb your CBD-rich cannabis flower. If you are not sure which bud you should choose, check out our Pure Sun CBD favourite. 

Decarbing your flower will allow the heat to activate the cannabinoids (CBD in this case) within the plant, so you can get the full benefits and feel the CBD effects, like anxiety relief. 

Equipment

You’ll only need four things to decarb your cannabis:

1. Baking tray
2. Parchment Paper 
3. Aluminum Foil
4. Oven

Ingredients

It’s always best to get as high quality of cannabis as you can, ask our local bud tender and let them know what you’re making at home. They can steer you toward a strain or brand that is best suited for you.

• 10 grams of CBD hemp flower

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 220℉/104°C.
2. While the oven is preheating, grind the cannabis. Preferably, use the bud of the flower as it’s more potent. 
3. Spread the cannabis evenly on the baking tray lined with parchment paper. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and put it in the oven for 45 minutes at 220℉ to decarboxylate. 
4. Gently shake the buds every 10 minutes to make sure they are baked evenly. Please note that fresh cannabis may bake up to an hour.

Step 2: Infusing Oil with CBD

Now that you have decarbed the cannabis, you can get started on making your CBD-infused cooking oil. 

Keep in mind that coconut oil and sunflower oil are good for sweet dishes, and olive oil and avocado oils are good for savoury dishes.

All you need is:

Equipment

1. Strainer
2. Cheese cloth
3. Baking paper
4. Double boiler

Ingredients

• 1 cup of coconut oil

• 5 grams of decarbed CBD-flower

Instructions

1. Wrap the ground cannabis with a cheesecloth and tie it together. 
2. Add both the cannabis and coconut oil (or whichever type you’re using) into a double-boiler, slow cooker, or saucepan. 
   1. If using a double-cooker: Cook for 6-8 hours on low heat while stirring it occasionally. 
   2. If using a saucepan: Cook for 3 hours on low heat while stirring it frequently to avoid scorching. 
   3. If using a slow cooker: Cook for 4-6 hours on low heat. You should note that the oil’s temperature should not be more than 220℉/104°C. To avoid burning, you can also add a little bit of water to the mixture.
3. When the oil is finished cooking, let it cool. Once cooled, strain it with a cheesecloth. Do not squeeze if you are using a cheesecloth because that’ll add more unnecessary chlorophyll to the oil. 
4. And voila! You can store your CBD-oil in a cool place for up to two months, or 6 months if you keep it in the fridge.

It’s important to note this process requires a lot of patience and time in order to achieve the best results possible. With anything, experience with different oils to achieve unique flavours. The sky’s the limit in dishes and recipes you can your CBD oil to.

How To Dose CBD Oil

There are a number of things to consider when deciding how much CBD oil you should consume. Consider things like: 

• Your body weight
• Your body chemistry
• The concentration of the CBD in your oil
• What results you’re hoping to achieve 

We recommend you start off slow and only increase the dosage after waiting a couple of hours. Keep in mind that you can either increase or decrease the dosage depending on what your desired effect is.

You can also get your dosage calculated here – all you need to do is answer a few questions.

Bon Appetit!

With CBD-infused oil, you can say goodbye to dull moments in the kitchen.  If you want to get the best CBD flower for your CBD oil, make sure to visit us and explore our collection.

At Leaf Lab, your experience is our top priority. Whether it’s through our dispensary locations or our online store, you can count on us to provide excellent service and quality products. Get in touch with us on 416-488-8239 or email us at info@leaflabcannabis.com.