Over the last few years we’ve brought you some tasty THC-packed recipes. These edibles are meant to satisfy your taste buds and provide strong medicinal or psychoactive effects. In our cooking section you’ll find cookies, brownies, lemonade and even some of the science behind how edibles are made. We figured it’s time to take a look behind the scenes and discuss some of the tools and equipment we use to perfect our cannabis infused treats. Why are tools so important? Because making marijuana edibles requires precision and as little waste as possible.
Miscalculations, incorrect measurements, or infusing foods without the proper equipment can affect product quality, potency and lead to full on disasters in the kitchen. When dealing with foods that are psychoactive this simply isn’t acceptable. To start you out on the right track I’ve assembled a list of five essential tools for making great edibles in your own home kitchen.
Tool # 1 – A High Quality Digital Scale
Making cannabis edibles isn’t impossible without a scale, but it is pretty reckless. To make consistent edibles you’ll need a quality scale with several different weight increments. I can’t stress this enough, a good scale should be the first thing on your list if you’re gearing up to make anything cannabis-infused. Look for a scale that is easy to clean with a large platform for weighing. This specific scale measures to the 0.01 grams which is important and is designed to protect against accidental spills that would ruin the display or internal gizmos.
Tool # 2 – The Chinoise
The Chen-what? No it’s not pronounced chin noise. The word is actually French for “fancy fine meshed strainer” and is pronounced shen-wah. This is the best strainer for filtering freshly cooked bud butter. They are pricier than a department store strainer but restaurant grade basket strainers not only perform better, they also last much longer and filter out finer material. Be sure to thoroughly clean and dry your chinoise after each use and it will last through countless batches of cannabis butter.
Tool # 3 – Cheesecloth
Cheesecloth works best in combination with the chinoise. My personal method for straining butter is to take this cheese cloth and line the inside of the strainer. This ensures that no plant material remains in the butter. Once you are done straining, you can twist up the plant material in the cheesecloth and squeeze out any remaining drops of butter or oil before disposal. Cheesecloth is inexpensive and can be found at most grocery stores and specialty markets.
Tool # 4 – The DorkFoods Sous Vide Controller
For those of you who don’t know, sous vide is an easy pro cooking technique where foods are placed into a vacuum sealed pouch. The pouch is submerged in a hot water bath at a specific temperature usually between 122°F and 185°F. This allows food to be cooked very precisely. The DorkFoods Sous Vide controller has been a favorite of mine for several years. When coupled with ordinary kitchen appliances like a rice cooker or crock pot, it allows you to control cooking temperature within +/- 1° F. I stressed the importance of precision when making edibles and this is about as precise as it gets.
One of its great qualities is that it’s easy to use. Simply plug your crockpot into the controller and plug the controller into an outlet. Set the temperature on the controller and the DorkFood sous vide does the rest. The device monitors the water temperature using a probe thermometer and turns your cooker on and off to maintain a constant temperature. If you’ve read Rambo’s article on decarboxylation then you know this is a very big deal. If you are serious about making edibles, this product will take your pot butter to the next level.
Tool # 5 – The Kuhn Rikon Push-Pan
Last but not least, I suggest the Kuhn Rikon Push-Pan. Often edibles break apart or stick to the bottom of the pan making them a nightmare to remove. This product solves both of these problems.
After you bake a batch in a push pan, trace around the outside and push up on the removable base plate to release the entire batch at once. This allows you to remove them from the pan as a single piece and makes it much easier to cut accurate and uniform portions. This kick-ass pan makes brownie production a breeze.
Daunting tasks become easy when you have the right tools for the job. These 5 are my favorite and I consider them a must if you are serious about making cannabis edibles. These tools have helped me make countless batches of incredible edibles and have saved me from hours of frustration. They will do the same for you.
Five Essential Tools for Making Marijuana Edibles,
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