How to Make Cannabis-Infused Cooking Oil

Cooking oil is practically used in every recipe. Therefore by using this guide, you can now turn your favourite meals into cannabis-infused delicacies! Exciting right? Now you can bring your cooking to a whole new level 🙂

Cannabis-infused oil is one of the most adaptable cooking mediums on the planet. Used in all areas of cooking; from baking dessert treats, cooking up your favourite sauces, drizzling it over your pasta, or when your just frying up some early morning eggs, cannabis-infused cooking oil fits your needs.

If you’re just skimming the post, the recipe is at the very bottom of the article!

Cannabis oil in a glass mason jar with cannabis leafs laying beside it. A cannabis cookbook is behind the cutting board on a black table.

Bon Appetite. Any meal becomes a delicacy when you add cannabis-infused cooking oil!

Ever wanted to make edibles but don’t know where to start? Did you think edibles were just too tricky to make? I did too… until I made this beginner’s guide!

I always wondered how to calculate the edible potency. After a lot of trial and error, I stopped guessing. The Canna School has an edible dosage calculator so you can be more accurate with your potency levels.

In this blog, we teach you how to make cannabis-infused cooking oil and have a dosage calculator to help improve your knowledge of the oil! We also have a comprehensive guide for this in our cannabis cookbook, along with over 130 other edible recipes, you can learn more about our cookbook here!

Cannabis-Infused Coconut Oil

Cannabis coconut oil in a mason jar with cannabis leafs beside it on a wooden cutting board. A induction cooker, cannabis cookbook, levo infusion machine, and coconut oil are behind it on a black table.

When making cannabis-infused coconut oil, we use refined organic coconut oil when we make our infusions. That is because it does not have any distinct coconut taste or aroma, making it a good cooking medium. Here’s the brand we have been using and that has proven to work well for us to this date! Here’s a link to the refined coconut oil that we use.

organic coconut oil used to make infused cannabis oil.

Organic Refined Coconut Oil

Dosage Guide to Cannabis Oil

The dosage guide to making cannabis oil tends to be a little tricky. You’re going to have a hard time finding the exact potency of the oil that you’re making. It’s also worth noting that since some recipes are going to require more oil than others, you’re going to want to add the recommended amount of oil into the mix (so it’s not too potent). But, it’s up to you.

Cannabis oil inside a mason jar on a wooden cutting board. Cannabis leafs are placed on top of the cutting board and a cannabis cookbook is behind.

The Problem

It’s not always easy to know the exact potency of the cannabis that you’re using. Especially since you have activated the cannabis. You should have a rough idea of the THC percentage, but there is still lots of room for error. You also have to keep in mind that if there is a small error in your calculations at the beginning, this error is going to be carried throughout, and it will make your final potency percentage off by quite a bit.

The Solution

We have a great dosage calculator to help you when you’re cooking cannabis oil. Keep in mind, since you won’t have an exact percentage it’s going to be off by a little bit. This tool should help you get a rough estimate for the potency of your oil.

This dosage calculator will automatically update when you fill out your own values. It will work for both kief and cannabis flowers.

Enter the amount of cannabis you are using to infuse butter, oil, milk, etc.

%

If your cannabis has a THC content of 25%, type 25

How much of the activated ingredient will you use in your infusion?

-
mg

This is the amount of mg of THC in the entire extract.

Enter the amount of infused tablespoons your recipe calls for (1 cup = 16 tablespoons)

serv

Enter the total number of pieces or portions your recipe will make (e.g., 12 brownies, 8 cookies)

-
THC mg per Serv

Decarboxylation doesn't have 100% efficiency and it typically 70-90%. This means about 10-30% of potential THC is lost. This is a rough estimate on your edible potency.

Want to embed this on your website? Click here.

The Importance of Decarboxylation When Making Cannabis Oil

If you want to learn more in-depth about decarboxylation – click here to read our comprehensive article on how to decarboxylate cannabis!

For your weed edibles to work the way you want them to, there is a very important step. That step is decarboxylation. All this means is that you need to activate the THC, that way you get the psychoactive effects you intended for. The literal definition of decarboxylation is: “a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO2)” When it comes to cannabis, Decarboxylation removes the COOH group from the THC-A molecule by releasing H2O and CO2, turning it into the psychoactive THC. This step is crucial because it will turn the THC-A molecule into the psychoactive THC molecule. If you were to smoke cannabis this would already be happening naturally when you burn it. But, since in this case, there is no cannabis being burned we need to do this extra step.

How to Decarboxylate

Cannabis trim decarboxylating in a oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

We’re going to be heating the cannabis up to a certain temperature. This is the same thing that vaping cannabis does. It’s possible to use vaped cannabis inside of your weed edibles, and there will be psychoactive effects. However, if you have already vaped that cannabis, you will have already used a substantial amount of THC. Consequently, you will have to use much more cannabis in the edible If you are using kief, follow the same process as buds, just skip the grinding step. If you’re using cannabis flower, the first step is to grind your cannabis buds. Once you have ground the cannabis, get an oven-safe tray, and cover it in parchment paper. Next, spread the cannabis evenly over the sheet.

What Temperature to Activate The Cannabis?

The temperature that you should be heating the cannabis to is a bit of a debate. There might be better temperatures out there, and you will have no trouble finding people that claim theirs is the best. To their defence, they might be right. But, the temperatures that we have here are backed by some scientific evidence. At the end of the day, you’re going to have a hard time finding temperatures with a noticeably different effect than these. In other words, these temperatures will do the job! 240 degrees Fahrenheit is the number that I’ve had success with. There has also been some good research done by our friends over at Marijuana Growers HQ. They did an amazing decarboxylation experiment and noted their results:

Below are two decarboxylation charts to help give you a reference to the conversion of THCA to THC and CBDA to CBD. You will want to decarboxylate your cannabis anywhere between 30 and 60 minutes.

Cannabis Decarboxylation Chart

Chart of cannabis trim decarb temperatures at 240 degrees farenheit

trim decarb at 240 degress farenheit

Chart of kief decarb temperatures at 240 degrees farenheit

Equipment Needed to Make Cannabis Oil

Materials Needed:

Infusion Machines Make Edibles For You!

cannabis-infused oil in a levo infusion machine, beside a cannabis cookbook on a black table.

Levo Infusion Machine

Decarboxylating and infusing your cannabis edibles can take a lot of time and effort. Luckily, there are great infusion devices to make this process as easy and seamless as possible. Cannabis-infusion machines are countertop devices that decarboxylate and infuse your butter, oils, and other ingredients for you. With just a few clicks you will have cannabis edibles at your disposal!

We recommend the LEVO Infusion Machine which is the best infusion device on the market. Use code CANNASCHOOL at checkout for 10% OFF!

Recipe for Cannabis-Infused Cooking Oil

Cannabis-Infused Cooking Oil

A versatile edible medium that is simple to make.

Jake Randall
By Jake Randall
4.64 from 11 votes
Prep time45 minutesCook time0 minutesTotal time480 minutesCuisineAmericanCategoryAppetizer, Main Course, SnackServings16

Equipment

  • Either a Double-Boiler, Slow Cooker, or Saucepan
  • Oven
  • Baking Tray
  • Parchment Paper
  • Grinder or Scissors
  • Cheesecloth or Strainer

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1Step 1

    Grind up the cannabis. Preferably grind up the flower/bud as it’s the most potent and will get you a more accurate measurement, but you can include the whole plant. Make sure that it is large enough to not fall through the cloth/strainer. Anything fine enough will end up in the final product.

  2. 2Step 2

    Decarboxylate your cannabis by spreading the cannabis evenly on a baking tray and putting it in the oven for 45 minutes at 240 degrees Fahrenheit. (If you are using trichomes/kief scroll down to image at bottom)

  3. 3Step 3

    With the cheesecloth wrap the ground cannabis and tie it together.

  4. 4Step 4

    Add oil and cannabis into either a slow cooker, double-boiler, or saucepan. For a slow cooker cook on low for 4-6 hours, and stirring it occasionally. Using a double-boiler, cook on low for 6-8 hours ( 8 hours is recommended), and stirring occasionally. Finally using a saucepan, cook on low for 3 hours and stir it frequently, as the saucepan is susceptible to scorching..Tip* You can add a bit of water to the mixture to help prevent burning.Note: The temperature of the oil should not exceed 240 F no matter which method is used.

  5. 5Step 5

    Strain and capture the oil. If using a cheesecloth do not squeeze, this adds more unnecessary chlorophyll to the oil. Leftover plant materials can be discarded.

  6. 6Step 6

    Finished ! The oils shelf life is at least 2 months! And can be extended by keeping it refrigerated.

Nutrition

    calories:118 kcal
Keywords
cannabis ediblescannabis-infused cooking oilcooking oil

How to Store Cannabis Oil

We recommend storing your cannabis-infused oil in an airtight jar, such as a glass mason jar. This will extend the shelf life and preserve the cannabis coconut oil for longer, along with keeping it safe from contaminents. We also recommend keeping it refrigerated to extend the shelf life even further. Oil that is both refrigerated and kept in an airtight jar can last up to 2 months!

After the cannabis oil cools down, it will harden up again and become a light green shade as seen in the picture below. The potency and color will be dependant on how much cannabis you use to infuse the oil.

If you liked this recipe and are looking to learn/ read more – check out our cook cannabis category! Lot’s of edible recipes there and new ones are being uploaded daily! Click here to learn more!

Jake Randall is a journalist, author, and University of Guelph Alumni with expertise in all things cannabis, along with knowledge in economics, the environment, and everything in between. Originally from just outside Toronto Canada, Jake has taken on the role of a senior cannabis correspondent at The Cannabis School.

Comments

  1. Kristie
    Created at·0 Replies

    Thanks for the informative article! Having made oil that is two weeks, is there anyway I can increase its potency when making gummies? Thank you. : )

  2. Vanessa
    Created at·1 Reply

    After grinding trim do you also take the Kief and spread it out on the baking sheet or just keep it separate?

    1. Ryan Mogk Replying to Vanessa
      Created at·1 Reply

      Hi Vanessa, You can if you'd like. I usually just use a two-piece grinder or the top half of a 4 piece. That way the kief and flower does not separate. But it's up to you.

      1. Ryan Replying to Ryan Mogk
        Created at·0 Replies

        Just put ground up flower in a mason jar decarb in oven ...shake jar every 15 minutes...then add oil to jar put lid back on and simmer in jar in pot if water 8 hrs (same instructions and idea as double boiler) this way it's no smell no loss of product ..its all in same jar from beginning.

  3. Evelyn
    Created at·0 Replies

    You started the process with 1 cup of oil. How much oil did you have at the end of the process?

  4. Diane Dennison
    Created at·1 Reply

    I have grown my own pot so how can I guess the THC levels?

    1. Ryan Mogk Replying to Diane Dennison
      Created at·0 Replies

      Hi Diane, Usually, when you buy seeds it will tell you the THC percentage of the plant but this is not always accurate. I would estimate that it is in the 10%-20% THC range but you're going to have a hard time knowing the potency of your oil with those numbers. You could take a tbsp and estimate the potency based on the effects you feel but this is only going to work if you're experienced with edibles.

  5. jeffrey M. cook
    Created at·0 Replies

    Nice informative site.

  6. Liza Shay
    Created at·0 Replies

    This CBD oil is healthier than the normal high calorie oil that we use and it's benefits extend to reducing inflammation and anxiety. Thank you for sharing.

Add a comment

This will be publicly visible.

Your email address will not be published.

Your comment will be reviewed by the admin before it is published.

Other posts you might like