How to decarboxylate CBG + CBD flower for edibles

Welcome to hhemp.co Education Series, where we will be exploring all things CBD+CBG including interviews, videos, and tips on what to do with flower. Our first blog post will be about decarboxylation and cooking with CBD featuring Chef Derek Upton. Keep scrolling to learn more!

Derek Upton a chef, artist, cannabis food pioneer and food content creator started his journey as a professional drummer. At the age of 25, he decided to jump headfirst into his cooking career using childhood cooking memories, years of self-taught talent, a heart full of passion and a foundation in culinary school. Now based in Arizona, Chef Derek has worked for some of the best culinary names in Phoenix as well as a list of celebs including: David Spade, Kelis, Michael Rappaport and many others. Chef Upton has been featured on morning news shows, top food magazines, countless food blogs, and most notably the Netflix original cooking show “Cooked with Cannabis” released April 20th, 2020.

How to decarboxylate CBG + CBD flower for edibles

What does decarboxylation mean?  In short, decarboxylation is the method of adding heat to cannabis to "activate" the cannabinoids such as CBD or CBG so that when ingested, it can reach cannabinoid receptors and cause calming effects. A significant step in making edibles is cannabis decarboxylation, but why is there a need for CBG + CBD activation? Take for example, if you ate flower straight out of the jar you would not feel the effects but if you were to light that same flower and inhale it, you would feel the effects. The heat is what activates the acid in the cannabinoids and this applies to edibles as well. That is why you slowly heat the cannabis flower aka decarboxylate it in an oven. 

The easiest way to decarboxylate flower is the oven-and-tray method.

For this, you’ll need:

• An oven
• A baking tray
• Parchment paper
• Dried flower

First, pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees. After grinding your flower, spread it out evenly on a tray lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven for 45-60 minutes. Once completed, remove the tray and let the flower cool. You can now infuse the flower into an oil or fat of your choice, in this case we will be using coconut oil. To infuse, fill a mason jar with the oil of your choice, add the flower, and submerge the jar in a pot of boiling water. Once completed, strain the oil and you now have infused oil to add to your food of choice. It may seem complicated but it is not. Watch the following video for an in-depth explanation from Chef Derek.