Despite all the misinformation out there, it's a well known fact that THC and unconverted THC acid is activated (and in the case of THC acid - converted) by heat.

This from "the Art and Science of Cooking With Cannabis"

"THC acid (tetrahydrocannabolic) is heated to about 212 F (boiling temperature of water) for 75 minutes in a nitrogen or carbon dioxide atmosphere (one free of oxygen), all of these acids will convert to THC.

Traditional cannabis recipes often call for the sauteing of the ganja in oil or butter, before using it. The oil protects the product (from oxidation) while the heat activates the THC; this activation also occurs in the extraction of hash oil from weed and in any hash manufacturing process where heating or boiling is involved."

"...normal cooking temperatures for normal cooking times can can increase potency by activating the (unconverted) THC (acids)."

Knowing how THC is extracted, and activated (by heat), is of the utmost importance when cooking with cannabis. Once the THC is successfully extracted into butter or oil, this may be substituted for the butter or oil called for in practically any recipe, and you're not left wasting your time try to eat raw plant material... (which won't get you stoned), while making the most of your product.

I've read that dry plant material can be ground into flower, and mixed with regular flower in baking, but I still see no reason to ingest marijuana plant material.

Bake On!

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson my grow

Very true but didn't we all already know this? Or are people running around on here telling you to eat buds strait up without the correct heat/oil processing?

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"If you wanna win, CHEAT! If you lose, start a FIGHT!" - very wise man

No we didn't in fact if you google "marijuana heat activated" you'll find many folks still insisting it isn't.

Even this morning someone was advising others to eat raw product.

Maybe the anti-marijuana crowd are working these boards trying to confuse issues, and spread misinformation; not sure what other motivation would be for people to give the wrong advice. Could just be ignorance I suppose

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson my grow

Hopefully it's just ignorance but that can be hard to dispell. ignorance often walks hand in hand with a strong case of "the stuborns".

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"If you wanna win, CHEAT! If you lose, start a FIGHT!" - very wise man

Good info to know! I haven't cooked with cannabis yet so this helps. Thanks rep+

yeah. its actually all the other cannabinoids that are really activated by heat.
i make activated thc capsules which requires heating cannabis at 220 degrees f for 20 minutes.
the bitch is that if you heat it too much, it just vaporises and you have worthless plant material.

True true

I'm hoping to make some knock your socks off Christmas cookies!

I suppose hash that is cooked for 75 min, as long as it's in a vacuum, could be used as an edible in just about any recipe, but not sure how to accomplish cooking in a vacuum?

It just seems like using cannabutter or oil is the best and easiest method out there.

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson my grow

This is true for the most part. However, correct me if I am wrong: High grade, properly cured marijuana contains THC that has already been "activated" (converted from THC acid). If the trichomes are collected and made into hash without using heat (cold water extraction?) and the hash was eaten, you would get high.

There is definitely much misinformation out there on this topic. Sometimes it is hard to filter through it and find real information. This is the conclusion I have come to. Although if lower grade bud that was not cured or dried well, you would need to manually heat it to convert the THCa into THC.

Hi there CannabisChef. Are you the guy who posted that you're starting a new cooking with MJ site? I saw the post yesterday, but not sure if it was you.

As far as I can ascertain, there is little usable THC in raw weed. Eating hash (this is as high grade as it gets) may get you stoned, but if it's made into hash butter, or baked it is much more potent. It's always better to cook it, before using it in a cold recipe, like hash Ice cream.

I'm sorry, I don't know more about the chemical process in which heat converts the THC oils into a more usable form.

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"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so." - Thomas Jefferson my grow

Yes I am building a website dedicated to cooking with cannabis, and sharing recipes. There are a few good articles and recipes on there right now, and anyone is welcome to share there recipes on it! http://thecannabischef.com

There is actually a contest setup right now, for the best recipe submission (by november 1st). First place winner is a copy of "Cooking with Cannabis" by Tim Pilcher, and second place is a CannabisChef t-shirt haha. You can check that out if you'd like