Cooking With Cannabis: Why Is Decarboxylation Important?

Decarboxylation or "Decarbing" is an important step when cooking with cannabis and is often overlooked. HEALTHC is here to shed some light on its importance.

What IS Decarboxylation?

If you are new to medical marijuana or have just begun cooking with it, decarboxylation is one of the best ways to ensure your cannabis is potent. Decarboxylation is the process of essentially activating your medical marijuana with heat by turning THCA into THC. Heat is needed to get the benefits of medical marijuana, which is why most people do not simply eat raw cannabis, but convert it into oils, edibles, or smoke it.

Decarboxylation: How Do I Do It?

It's simple! Most people use their oven for decarboxylation and it only takes about 45 minutes, but is well worth it. The heat from cooking alone isn't enough to fully "activate" the THC compounds in cannabis which can leave your edibles without any effects. Luckily, most households have everything you need for this process!

What you are going to need:

- baking sheet

- aluminum foil (parchment paper works as well)

- cannabis

Decarboxylation Steps

1. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees fahrenheit

2. Cut a section of aluminium foil or parchment paper to line your baking sheet

3. Break up your cannabis into small pieces (not too small or you risk burning it!). Spread the small pieces of cannabis evenly over your baking sheet.

4. Bake for 45 minutes and watch occasionally to make sure the cannabis is not burning. After the 45 minutes the cannabis should be a golden brown or lightly toasted color.

5. Let cannabis cool then store for baking or use it in a recipe!