Calculating Your Edibles Dosage

When creating edibles, the exciting but sometimes challenging part of the process is making sure the dosage is right for you. Many of us want our edibles to be consistent in strength across the batch. So here are a few tips and tricks that help ensure you’re calculating the best dosage for yourself.

 

FIRST THING’S FIRST — make sure you know the percentage of THC in the strain you plan to cook with. Many recipes call for strains that are about 10 percent THC. Strains that have 15-20 percent THC are above average, and those with 21 percent THC or higher are exceptionally strong. If you can’t find plant breeding information or cannabinoid lab tests for your strain, estimate at 15 percent THC to be safe. You can always eat more later.

For every gram of cannabis, the flower has 1000 mg of dry weight. If a strain has 10 percent THC, then 10 percent of 1000 mg would be 100 mg. For cooking at home, it’s safe to assume that one gram of cannabis contains at least 100 mg THC.

Using this dosage measurement method, calculate THC per serving. Take the amount of ground cannabis, convert it to milligrams, and divide it by the recipe yield to determine a per-serving dose of THC. A starting dosage for beginners is 5 mg per serving (this is the California-mandated serving size for cannabis-infused edibles as of January 1, 2018). Three grams of ground cannabis equal 300 mg THC. Three hundred mg divided by the recipe yield (if a cookie recipe makes 60 cookies) equals 5 mg per cookie.  If you want to be even more cautious with your homemade cannabis butter or oil, use half the dosage (2.5 mg per serving).

There are various options for adding your cannabis butter, coconut oil or even concentrate into your edible for easy dosage. In this writers opinion, below are three of the best ways to add THC with the proper dosage for cannabis butter or oil.

 

1. Try it Yourself

Personally sampling the cannabutter to figure out the effects is the best way to start. Typically, I’ll try about half a teaspoon of my cannabutter on an evening or day when I don’t have anywhere to be. I usually put it in a turmeric tea or coffee, but you can use it on whatever type of dish you’d normally garnish with butter. I find this to be a really good gauge of strength.

 

2. Think About Your Serving Size

This works in combination with tip number one. Once you’ve determined how much cannabis butter or oil makes an effective dose, you can easily figure out how much to include in a recipe. For example, let’s say I’m making brownies and want nine servings. If I’ve determined that 1.5 teaspoons per serving is a good dose, then I need to use 13.5 teaspoons, or about 4.5 tablespoons, for the entire recipe. In this case, I’d use five tablespoons of cannabis butter or oil. If the recipe calls for more fat, I’ll make up the difference with regular unsalted butter or coconut oil.

 

3. Apply Individually

This tip is particularly helpful if you’re making a “mixed” batch of goodies – i.e., some infused, some not. If this is the case, I suggest apportioning your cannabis butter or oil individually. Let’s imagine you’re making cupcakes. First, make the batter according to the recipe (without fat). Then, once the batter is apportioned into the individual cups (but before baking) spoon a portion of cannabis butter or oil into the center of as many of the cups as you like. Bake according to the recipe instructions, and you’ll end up with some cannabis edibles and some plain cupcakes. You don’t actually have to bake with your cannabis butter or oil; you can melt it and drizzle it on top of a finished food item. If you’ve made an amazing pineapple turnover that you just know could be improved with the addition of THC, you can simply dribble it on at the end.

Whatever you choose, make it with love. Try it out, and remember that everyone has different tolerance levels, so making the perfect batch for you is what you’re going for.

 

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