Old school pot brownies

Listen, you don’t have to be a master chef or cannabis connoisseur to make legit weed butter. You just need to be well-informed, patient, and organized. At the end of the day, making cannabis butter is just a very efficient way of consuming weed. It’s inconspicuous, versatile, and approachable. And I really enjoy how cannabutter helps to minimize the stigma of weed—especially in the black community. It means everything to me when middle-aged black women, like my 80-year-old great Auntie Mildred, can be provided with options like cannabis edibles to help find relief from pain symptoms.

With the same principles as making weed butter, you can create infused sesame chili oil to drizzle on rice dishes, or elevated coconut oil to use for your next face oil mask.

The following recipe loosely translates into 30 mg of THC per tablespoon of oil or butter. Your perfect dose will vary, but 10 mg is standard. Start by testing ¼ teaspoon of the weed butter you make and wait for about an hour. Take note of how you feel and let your body tell you whether this is a good amount, if you need more, or if you need less. Erring on the side of caution will ensure that you actually enjoy yourself and have a positive experience.

SweetSue’s Biobomb Brownies – old school pot brownies with a New Twist

Mention pot brownies in a crowd of cannabis enthusiasts and watch the ears perk up. Brownies are my most-requested edible, and the Biobomb Brownie recipe is my most popular share.

Brownies have long been a favorite administration pathway to my daily cannabis regimen. This Biobomb recipe was developed with three fundamental goals.

Goals for Pot Brownies

Nowadays, people heat-activate the T.H.C. by cooking marijuana in a water and butter solution for 8 to 10 hours, then straining the butter to remove the buds—or by heating the marijuana then adding it to an oil or alcohol tincture. This, Raquel explains, leads to a better flavor (no munching down on marijuana buds) and saves marijuana. She did the math for us:

Mario’s recipe calls for 4 grams of marijuana. If the marijuana used contains about 20% T.H.C. (which is around average), then using all four grams for nine brownies (the yield of the recipe) as he proposes comes down to a serving of 88 milligrams per brownie. Most edibles contain 10 to 15 milligrams of T.H.C. per serving, so 88 milligrams would lead to an intense high that would last several hours, and may not be enjoyable to most.

Instead, Raquel proposes infusing—that is, heating together and then straining out the solids—that same amount of marijuana in 2 cups of butter to make a large batch of cannabutter, as it’s called. Just a 1/4 cup of it would go into Mario’s brownie recipe, yielding a more palatable 10 to 15 milligrams of T.H.C. per serving of—and leaving you with 1 3/4 cups cannabutter for other marijuana-laced creations. (It will keep in the freezer for months.)

To go this route and use strained cannabutter in Mario’s recipe (rather than folding the pot right in as he recommends), sub in 1/4 cup cannabutter mixed with 1/4 cup regular butter, since the recipe calls for 1/2 cup total butter. Raquel recommends this lower dosage to err on the side of caution—you can always eat more if necessary, and with a such low dose, the brownies will actually taste like brownies.

1. Improve the texture of including the plant material in the recipe.

2. Make my life as a canna cook easier.

Always admired the way old school pot brownies left no cannabinoid behind by simply mixing the finely-ground   decarboxylat right into the brownie mix, but the taste and texture left much to be desired. Grazing your way to a buzz was frustrating.

Infused oils eliminated the plant material but left about 15% of the expected cannabinoid load behind in that strained-out plant mash. Straining oils is a messy process too, and I’m all about eliminating mess when preparing pot brownies.

One day it occurred to me that the infusion was breaking down the cell walls of all that plant material, and that might make it easier to hide in delicious pot brownies than dry material was.The test pan was a smash success. Suddenly there was no messy clean-up to deal with.I’d achieved two of my three goals by leaving the finely-ground plant material in the oil. If you’ve ever cleaned up after making oils you’ll understand my joy.

Building more efficient pot brownies

Increasing bioavailability became the next chore. I started with the choice of carrier oil. My intention with these pot brownies is euphoria, and that means I’ll choose coconut oil every time.Coconut oil (and all the cannabinoids along for the ride) is absorbed directly to the liver from the gut. It’s in the liver that delta-9 THC gets converted to 11-hydroxy THC, which can be 4 – 10 times more potent. Choosing coconut oil speeds the onset of THC’s euphoric effect.

Adding liquid sunflower lecithin disperses the cannabinoids more evenly through the oil, which aids absorption. Personal experience has shown that lecithin may also extend the therapeutic window.Let the infused oil and lecithin sit overnight to finish homogenizing. I typically make the oils at night and let it all sit sealed up in my Instant Pot until morning. At a minimum, I’d let it sit 6 hours before using.

Was all that tinkering worth it?

How effective are Biobomb Brownies? Most cannabis edibles take 60 – 90 minutes before you feel any effect. Friends who regularly enjoy my pot brownies report they feel onset at 30 minutes, and 1/4 of a brownie (approx. 15 mg of THC) will carry them comfortably for up to 6 hours. I’m happy with the results. 

SweetSue’s biobomb brownies

You will need:

For Making Infused Oil:

• coconut oil
• liquid sunflower lecithin
• 7.5 grams (1/4 oz) cannabis flower buds

For Making Pot Brownies:

• mixing bowl and spoon
• spatula
• baking pan
• brownie mix of your choice (Your mix will tell you how much water, eggs & oil you’ll need)
• infused cannabis oil
• eggs
• water

It all Starts with Infused Oil

Your brownie mix will tell you how much oil you’ll need. Infuse 1/4 oz (7.5 grams) of cannabis flower buds (with lecithin) into that amount of oil. 

If you don’t know where to begin with infusion, check out my intro post on the steps. I’ve also covered  five other methods for cook

I decarb and infuse at once in an Instant Pot. Otherwise, I’d decarb the buds before infusing. 

Once you have infused oil it’s as simple as following the box instructions, substituting the infused cannabis oil (including all the plant material) in place of the vegetable oil called for.

There are some considerations that increase satisfaction:

• Three eggs make a cake-like brownie, which has been the most popular choice.
• Letting the eggs come to room temperature before adding it to the coconut oil mix will help keep things fluid.
• Be certain to mix well, scraping the bottom of the bowl frequently.
• All that plant material often requires a longer bake time. Check with a toothpick before taking it out of the oven.

How do know how potent they are?

This depends on the potency of your buds and the amount you added to your infused oil. Your buds have an anticipated THC value, expressed in a percentage. You’ll find that information on the product label.

Multiply that percentage times the weight of the buds used.If you’re using several different types of cannabis flower  (or you just want to save yourself some math), you can use this  special calcularot to provide you with an estimate of your THC & CBD strength along with your CBD:THC ratio .

Cannabis dosing is an individual affair

It’s easy to overdose with cannabis edibles. Although a THC overdose won’t hurt you, it’s an unpleasant experience easily avoided.Start with 1/4 brownie and wait 2 hours before you have any more. After a few bites, you’ll have a better handle on your tolerance level and can pace yourself appropriately.This is sound advice with any cannabis edible. So much will depend on other factors we often overlook. With all the variables at play, it’s helpful to take your time and feel how your body is reacting to the smaller dose before going all in.

Feel free to share your experience with BioBomb Brownies in the comments below. I’d also be interested in hearing how you control brownie doses. These pot brownies will hit you faster than others. Plan accordingly. Enjoy responsibly.