Using a sous vide has become one of the most popular ways to cook steak.
But that’s not all a sous vide is good for. It’s actually the perfect way to make cannabis-infused edibles for many reasons, so if you’ve invested in a sous vide machine, now you can get much more worth out of it. For those unfamiliar with sous vide, this technique involves sealing food, usually meat, into a vacuum-sealed bag and leaving it in a hot water bath in a specific temperature.
The term ‘sous vide’ literally translates to under vacuum. Since the food inside the vacuum pack has been tightly sealed, it will cook in its own juices while effectively infusing any seasonings you’ve added. This is why you can easily infuse oils, butter, and other food with cannabis using a sous vide but much more efficiently.
Heat is already necessary for decarboxylating the THC in cannabis before you infuse it in food or butter, though there are many advantages to using it for edibles too:
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Precise temperature control: Sous vide machines come with a digital display, which offers much more precise decarboxylation compared to using a slow cooker, sauce pan, or other type of cooking equipment. It also enables you to keep marijuana cooking at a higher temperature, resulting in faster decarboxylation. Just be sure to keep temperatures below 140 C.
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Slower and longer: Sous vide machines require cooking for longer periods of time and at lower temperatures which result in tastier food because the flavors had more time to process and mingle with one another. The machine itself also gives the added benefit of being within a controlled environment.
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Discretion: Anyone who has ever tried decarboxylating cannabis in an oven or stovetop can tell you that this isn’t the most discreet way to do so. The dank, loud smell of weed can travel far and wide which isn’t ideal if you are trying to keep things on the down low from your neighbors. Using a sous vide is excellent for controlling the smell since it uses an airtight vacuum-sealed container without you having to worry about the smell.
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Efficiency: Infusing butter, food, or oils with marijuana can take hours, sometimes even a full day. One needs to pay careful attention to details. But when you use a sous vide, you only need to keep an eye out for water evaporating though this can easily be solved by using some cling wrap or a good lid. This way, you’ll have more time to leave the sous vide to do the infusing for you as you do other things.
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Better tasting edibles: Medicating or getting high has never been tastier. In fact, once you try a sous vide to make edibles, you might never go back to the old way of doing so.
Sous Vide Cannabubtter Recipe
Now it’s time to get started making your own sous vide edibles. The easiest and most versatile edible you can make is an infused cannabutter. Cannabis-infused butter is the perfect medium for making baked goods as well as a wide array of savory dishes. High-fat products such as butter are the ideal vehicle for converting Delta-9 THC into 11-Hydroxy-THC, which is the chemical version of THC that gives stronger and longer-lasting effects that we enjoy from edibles.
Ingredients:
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16 ounces melted butter
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¼ to ½ ounces cannabis flower, trim, or clippings – adjust based on how potent you want it to be
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Freezer-safe Ziplock bags
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Cheese cloth
Process:
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Put the flower or cannabis parts into the vacuum sealed bag.
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Set the sous vide temperature to 200F, and leave it 4 hours in water to allow the THC to properly decarboxylate. There is also the option of leaving it for just 2 hours if you are looking for a milder effect from the THC.
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Remove the bag from the water (be careful, it’s hot – best to use tongs) then add the cannabis to another zip lock bag to mix it with the butter.
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Place the infusion into the sous vide and allow it to mix for another 4-6 hours, also in 200F.
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Once done, strain the butter using a cheese cloth to get the dried cannabis out.
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Use the butter in recipes as needed, or place it in a Tupperware to leave in the refrigerator to solidify for future use.
Sous Vide Coconut Canna Oil Recipe
Cannabis coconut oil is a powerful healing infusion in more ways than one. Coconut oil has long been hailed as a potent medicinal plant because it’s a great source of energy, improves hair and skin health, is a rich source of antioxidants, improves good cholesterol in the body, and increases immunity among many other health benefits. When you combine that with the healing properties of cannabis, you get one powerful oil that you can use for a number of ailments. Use cannabis infused coconut oil for baking as well as cooking.
Ingredients:
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16 ounces organic coconut oil
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¼ to ½ ounces cannabis flower, depending on how potent you want it to be
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Ziplock bags
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Mason jar
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Cheese cloth
Process:
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Place the cannabis flower into the Ziplock bag.
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Set the sous vide temperature to 200F and leave it to decarboxylate for 2-4 hours depending on how potent you want the oil to be.
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Once done, remove the cannabis bag from the water using tongs.
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Transfer the cannabis and the coconut oil into the mason jar; be sure that it’s sealed properly.
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Remove the jar from the water bath, and allow it to sit for 30 minutes up to 1 hour for it to cool.
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Strain the cannabis flower using the cheese cloth.
Your cannabis-infused coconut oil is now done and ready to use. Keep it in a cool, dry place or inside your refrigerator for future use.
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