How to Make Edibles With Cannabis Concentrates

The most common way to make homemade edibles is with cannabutter, but you can also use concentrates to make tasty cannabis treats. In many ways, using concentrates to make edibles is much easier because you're infusing, not extracting. However, not all concentrates are the same and knowing what type and how much to use is key. If you want to know how to make potent edibles with concentrates, it's important to know what concentrates are, how they work and what types are available. 

What are Concentrates?

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Concentrates are exactly what they sound like: a highly concentrated form of cannabis that has gone through extraction, a process that removes excess plant matter so all you're left with are the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other chemical compounds that make cannabis so special. Concentrates provide the beneficial effects of cannabis (both for recreational and medical use) without having to smoke.

Not All Concentrates are the Same

There are a lot of qualities in concentrates that will affect your homemade edibles. All concentrates can be used in edible recipes, but not all will taste the same or have the same effects. Let's focus on the two primary aspects that will be changed by your choice of concentrate: flavor and potency and how different types of concentrates affect the outcome.

Rosin

This concentrate is known for its potency and flavor. Rosin is created by extracting the concentrate from dried flower and hash through heat and pressure. It is known as an incredibly pure concentrate that retains much of the natural terpenes and flavonoids of the original plant. It's hard-hitting and is incredibly flavorful depending on what flower it was extracted from.

Wax and Shatter

While shatter is hard and glass-like and wax is sappy and stickier, these two types of concentrate are very similar in potency and flavor. These concentrates are produced using BHO (butane hash oil) extraction. Making edibles with shatter and wax is enjoyable because both of these concentrates are considerably high in THC and therefore pack a long-lasting punch (there's nothing quite like a fresh batch of dab brownies). They are not, however, known for their abundance of flavor and aren't the easiest to use when learning how to make an edible.

Oils

There are many different types of oils, ranging from distillates to full-spectrum. Unlike rosin, wax and shatter, oils are extracted from the cannabis plant using a solvent (commonly ethanol, hydrocarbon or CO2). One of the more sought-after concentrates, lauded for its supposed medicinal properties is Rick Simpson Oil (RSO). RSO is a full-spectrum oil, meaning it possesses most of the compounds and makeup of the original flower. This means the entourage effect and all its benefits can be enjoyed using a concentrate, which is why full-spectrum oils are usually higher-end and a little pricier and harder to find.

Distillates, on the other hand, are heavily refined cannabis oils that only have one or two specific compounds from cannabis (most commonly it's THC). Distillates are great if you're solely looking for a high-potency product, and they are usually cheaper. However, the entourage effect is what provides many of cannabis' positive benefits - therefore, while it gets the job done, a distillate may not be the best way to go when making edibles. 

Which Concentrates are Easier to Use for Making Edibles?

While making edibles with wax, shatter and rosin is possible, it is easiest to make edibles with oil because the oil will quickly and easily mix with whatever food your infusing. The consistency of oil makes it easy for the THC to disperse evenly and the fatty oils ensure your cannabis will infuse effectively. For this reason, we highly suggest cooking with RSO and distillate oils. 

It's also important to note that, when deciding which concentrate to use for making edibles, you should look for products that have been tested by third-party labs. Because cannabis is not federally regulated, third-party testing is the best way to guarantee you're buying a quality cannabis product.

How to Dose Your Edibles Using Concentrates

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You'll need to decide how much concentrate you're adding to your edibles recipe. It's up to your personal preferences, but we highly suggest starting with lower dosages and working your way up to your comfort level. To start, we suggest aiming for 5-10mg per serving for your homemade edibles. Overdosing on your first attempts is not fun, and adding more than 5-10mg per serving could result in way too intense of a high. To properly dose, follow our comprehensive edibles dosing guide!

Decarbing Concentrates

The final step before adding your concentrates to your edibles recipe is to decarb. Decarbing is necessary because raw cannabis and most concentrates do not contain THC, but rather THCA, a non-psychoactive pre-cursor that is transformed into THC when it loses its carbon molecule through the application of heat. Before adding your concentrate to a recipe, it has to be heated up and activated. Fortunately, learning how to decarb wax and other concentrates is a fairly straightforward process. Simply follow our decarb guide for an easy step-by-step walkthrough of safely decarbing your concentrate.

While you will need to decarb most any concentrate before mixing in with your recipe, there is one exception. RSO does not need to be decarbed before using to cook or bake because the extraction process turns it into a decarboxylated concentrate. So, while it may seem a little overwhelming at first, once you've decarbed your concentrate, or if you own concentrates that have already been decarboxylated like RSO, you're good to add it to almost any recipe to create your homemade edibles! 

Learning how to make edibles with oil or decarbing wax may seem like a lot, but being able to create your edibles from concentrates is completely worth it. Let us know your favorite type of concentrate to use, how you dose or if you have any special recipes! Comment below!