Making your own cannabis-infused olive oil is surprisingly easy to do at home with some basic kitchen equipment. We’ve already written about how to infuse coconut oil, and if you tried that method and it worked well for you, there’s no reason why you couldn’t do your olive oil the same way. But since there’s more than one way to cook an egg, we are going to share another method we’re into. This low temp stovetop method helps to preserve some of the terpenes while activating the cannabinoids!
Yield: 1 cup olive oil
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 6 hours (with intermittent monitoring)
It’s not possible to figure out the potency of your infused oil unless you send it to a lab to get tested after it’s made. That can be quite expensive, so be cautious if you plan to ingest the oil. Start with a very small amount and wait up to two hours to see how you feel before ingesting more.
Ingredients and tools:
- 1 cup Olive Oil
- 7g Cannabis
- Kitchen thermometer
- Cheesecloth
- Colander or strainer
- A metal or glass bowl (to strain the oil into)
- Double Boiler (No double boiler? You can make one using a saucepan with a bowl on top)
- An air-tight container for storing your finished product
Heads up- don’t be surprised if your kitchen and surrounding rooms smell all good and weedy as you’re making your infusion.
Directions:
1. Set up your double boiler by adding water to the bottom pan and placing your bowl or smaller pan on top. As the water in the lower portion of the double boiler heats up, the steam from the water will gently heat the ingredients in the top portion.
2. Turn the heat on your stove to low.
3. Chop or grind your buds and weigh to 7g if necessary.
4. Add your chopped or ground nugs and olive oil to the top section of your double boiler.
5. Monitor the temp to be sure it does not get above 220 degrees & keep an eye on the water level in the bottom of your double boiler, adding more as needed. If you smoked a joint before you started this process, we’d recommend putting a repeating alarm on your phone so you don’t forget, because let’s face it, time is a pretty slippery concept to the stoned mind.
6. Remove from heat after about 6 hours.
7. Line your strainer with the cheesecloth (we think 4 single sheet layers is perfect) and place it in a larger bowl.
8. Pour your oil into the strainer. Once it has strained through, you can gather the edges of the cheesecloth and twist them down to squeeze out the remaining oil.
Ta-da! What’s left in the bowl is your green gold! Use it for cooking or DIY skincare products.
Tip: If you plan on using your weed-infused oil for cooking, transfer to an airtight bottle. Aromatic herbs can be added to the oil, such as chile flakes, garlic, or a sprig of thyme to give it some extra flavor if you’re feeling fancy.