Transform Your Edibles with Vanessa Lavorato

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Vanessa Lavorato revolutionizes cannabis cooking with groundbreaking research that challenges everything we thought we knew about making edibles. The pioneering host of Vice's Bong Appetit and author of How to Eat Weed and Have a Good Time reveals that 50% of cannabinoid extraction occurs within the first 30 seconds of infusion—not the hours many recipes suggest.

Forget what you've heard about indica versus sativa edibles. Vanessa explains why these distinctions are largely meaningless when cannabis is consumed rather than smoked. Instead, she focuses on understanding cannabinoid profiles and practical dosing strategies that acknowledge reality: nobody eats just one cookie. Her approach to "ethical dosing" ensures everyone can have an enjoyable experience without unexpected intensity.

We dive deep into practical techniques that will transform your edibles game: using parchment paper pouches during decarboxylation to prevent THC degradation, working with concentrates for precise dosing, and why peanut butter might make your edibles hit harder. Vanessa shares the frustrations of being a woman in the cannabis industry, where despite conducting rigorous testing and research, she still faces skepticism from those who've never run a single experiment themselves.

Whether you're new to cannabis cooking or an experienced edibles maker looking to refine your craft, this episode delivers practical wisdom that will save you time and improve your results. Discover why microdosing represents the future of edibles, allowing more controlled experiences that fit seamlessly into active lifestyles. Ready to revolutionize your approach to cannabis cuisine? Listen now and transform how you infuse.

Want to get your own copy of Vanessa's book? Grab it here. 

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Visit the website for full show notes, free dosing calculator, recipes and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome back, friends , to episode 295, and today I'm
thrilled to sit down withVanessa Lavorado.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedganger, Margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here.

(00:25):
Welcome back, friends, toanother episode.
There won't be much preambletoday because I'm excited to get
into this conversation and toshare it with you.
You might know Vanessa from theVice show Bon Appetit, which was
the first cannabis cooking showon the internet.
You might know her fromMarigold Sweets.
You might know her from herbrand new cookbook, how to Eat

(00:46):
Weed and have a Good Time.
Or maybe you're just learningabout Vanessa today on this
episode of Bite Me.
Regardless, you will pullsomething from this episode.
I am sure we cover a lot ofinteresting stuff in this
episode, such as working withconcentrates in your edibles.
How much do cultivars matterwhen you're making edibles?
How long do you really need toinfuse for terpenes versus

(01:10):
cannabinoids, and a whole lotmore.
There's no way you're going tolisten to this episode and not
come away with something new.
No matter where you are in yourcannabis edibles maker's
journey.
I've been making edibles for along time and I definitely
pulled away some new things thatI'm going to be experimenting
with.
So, without further ado, pleaseenjoy this fascinating

(01:31):
conversation with VanessaLavorato.
All right, everyone, I am veryexcited today to be joined by
Vanessa Laverado.
And Vanessa, you are coming outwith a new cookbook how to Eat
Weed and have a Good Time whichI'm really excited to share.

(01:52):
And can you just take a secondto introduce the listeners of
Bite Me, who you are?
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself.
We're going to get into it, ofcourse, during this interview,
but just to get us picked off.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Thank you, I'm so excited to be here.
I love what you're doing, sothank you for having me.
I think there needs to be moreeducation about edibles and
eating cannabis.
I'm Vanessa Lavorato.
You might know me from BonAppetit on Munchies, vice
Munchies, the first cannabiscooking show on television, and

(02:27):
since then I have spent a lot oftime writing this cookbook,
which is called how to Eat Weedand have a Good Time Real
emphasis on that, have a goodtime part of the title and I
make edibles.
That's what I do.
I've been doing that since 2010as Marigold Sweets.

(02:47):
I also have a club of edibleenthusiasts around the world.
We're an international clubcalled the Edibles Club and I
cook for them live everySaturday and then we sesh on
Wednesdays.
So very active in the cannabiscommunity and excited to be

(03:07):
branching out and meeting moreamazing people as this book
starts to go out into the world.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Right.
So you have been deeplyimmersed into the edibles space
for quite some time.
I could say you're probably apioneer in the edible space.
And what initially sparked yourinterest in infused cuisine?

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Well, honestly, I tell this story in my book, but
my mom, when she first told meabout my uncles, they left a
plate of pot brownies out.
They lived on.
They live.
My one uncle lives on Kauai andso she was there visiting them,
didn't tell her that there wasanything in the brownies out.
My one uncle lives on Kauai andso she was there visiting them,
didn't tell her that there wasanything in the brownies.
She ate the entire platebecause, like, let's be real, no

(03:54):
one eats one brownie.
And she did not have a goodtime.
So she told me that story aslike a warning sign.
But of course in my brain I waslike, oh, you can eat weed.
I didn't know you could do that.
And it was like I can bypassthis whole kind of smoking

(04:15):
ritual, which was a little bitintimidating for me when I was
younger.
And then I was like, oh, I canput it into food which I had
been cooking since I was alittle kid.
You know I was three when mygrandma would put me in front of
the pot and be like stir.
So that was really the spark inmy brain.
And then, when I was a seniorat Berkeley, I just saw what was

(04:40):
out in the market at the time.
I had a medical card and it waslike snickerdoodles wrapped in
saran wrap and if there wasdosing it would be like triple X
or something.
It was like no more than athousand.
Whatever, they would just makeit up.
And I was like, wow, so peoplecan't even eat an entire edible

(05:02):
and they're stale.
Everything was stale because noone wants a snickerdoodle
that's been sitting around for amonth, but when you put pot
into it, nobody wants to get ridof it.
So everyone's eating crumbs oflike overdosed small, like stale
cookies.
And I was like, well, listenthere's more we can do with this

(05:26):
.
It's such a cool plant that youcan cook with it in so many
different ways.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
Right, yeah, and I love that you mentioned that.
When, as soon as you have, like, no one wants to eat the stale
edible but no one also wants toget rid of it, because I feel
like that is so true, you'relike, oh, but I don't want to
throw it away, yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
It's expensive.
It's an expensive herb.
Think about what we pay perpound, and then you think about
what we pay per pound for otherthings.
It's on par with saffron andother herbs that are very, very
expensive by weight, and so wewant to be thoughtful when we're
cooking with it.
We don't want to be wasteful.
I mean, I live in a land ofplenty.

(06:08):
Right, there is weed galore inCalifornia.
This is the epicenter of.
We just have the land.
We have the history.
Humboldt, the green triangle,has been around forever not
forever, but for generations.
It's a rich history.
So so I'm not.
I don't need to be stingy, butI do know what it is like to be

(06:30):
like.
I cannot waste a crumb of thisbecause I don't know when I'm
going to get more of it.
You know it's hard, it's moredifficult to come by, so that's
how I treat it as a veryexpensive ingredient.
So we need to be thoughtfulwith how we cook with it and you
don't.
Wonderful thing about ediblesis you don't need that much when

(06:51):
you're cooking with it versuswhen you're smoking.
So, from like a stretching yoursupply mindset, edibles are a
great way to do that.

Speaker 1 (07:02):
Yeah, I totally agree , and especially those folks out
there who are also using theAVB from their dry herb
vaporizer.
I mean that's a very definiteway to stretch your cannabis a
little bit further, and I'vedefinitely eaten edibles that
probably weren't so fresh justbecause of that same feeling.
So I know, because even if youdo live in the land of plenty

(07:22):
I'm in Canada it's been legalhere for a while, so there's no
shortage, but you still have togo go out and buy it, decarb it,
infuse it, like all those steps.
So you want to make it last aslong as you can.
But just talking about BonAppetit for a little bit,
because you said like itintroduced a lot of people to
the idea of gourmet cannabiscuisine, because it was the

(07:43):
first cooking show online aroundcannabis cuisine what was the
most surprising thing that youlearned about that?
You learned about weed, cookingwith weed while you were
working on that show.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Well, I think for me with Bon Appetit, it was always
a challenge of how do we get itinto every step of this recipe.
It was kind of this competitionwe would have with ourselves is
how many infusions can we do?
So I was always beingintroduced to the newest

(08:15):
products that, like, concentratemakers were coming up with,
whether it was the water solublecannabinoids, and then there's
the nano.
The nano, you know all of thatstuff.
I was kind of being introducedto it.
But for me, one of the mostsurprising things I think
cooking with the leaves, whichare super iconic.

(08:38):
They don't really hold anypotency right.
The trichomes are there toprotect the sex organs, any
potency right.
The trichomes are there toprotect the sex organs, the
female sex organs, frompredators, which doesn't really
do a very good job because minealways get covered with bugs.
But anyway, and now we're thepredators, but some people would
argue the plant has evolved toattract us Anyway.

(09:01):
So for me the leaves, I waslike, oh so I can cook with
these and we're not going toreally get high, but you have
this beautiful like it tasteslike perilla, and kind of
playing with that.
You can juice it, you can candyit, you can fry the leaves and
it's kind of looking at it as aplant, not just for getting high

(09:23):
or you know that effect, butalso because it tastes good and
it's you know, it's a, it's adelicious herb and it makes food
taste better.
And that's what I learned whenI went to Thailand and I was
cooking with edible makers andactivists in Thailand is that
for generations the Thai peoplehave been using cannabis to make

(09:44):
their food taste better.
It was the original MSG, youknow like we'll add a little bit
, and then we'll want to eatmore of this.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
So that's really cool and I like that you mentioned
the leaves.
Like when you're talking aboutleaves, you're talking like the
fan leaves and stuff, not thetrim and everything else.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
No sugar leaf will have trichomes on it because
again, it's there to protect theflower, but the fan leaves not
so much the roots.
I cooked with the roots on KohTao in Thailand with KD and he
used them medicinally.
It's very good for your bowels,you know, for that IBS and

(10:21):
those kind of things.
I don't know, there's probablynot any research on that, so
don't totally quote me.
It's funny.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
you mentioned that, though, because I have had been
having discussions with peopleabout the, about the root ball,
like using the root ball ininfusions and how they make
really good topicals Becauseapparently they're really high
in certain cannabinoids.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
So you know, I mean, if you have access to the plant
might as well use it all right,that's how I that was one of the
things with cooking on BonAppetit I had access to the
entire plant.
You know before that I wasreally operating as an edible
maker and so I would be given Istarted with cold water.
Hash was really, when I kind ofcame on to where my edibles

(11:03):
entered the next level of beingable to have an excellent flavor
and a very controlled dose,much easier to do with
concentrates than it is to dowith flour.
Yeah, so variable.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Right and I've been hearing that more and more
recently that people arestarting to work more with
concentrates just because youcan like they can be more potent
as well, potent as well withless, and then it's easier to
control the dosing well, youhave to think the the amount of
trichomes on flour will vary youknow, depending.

Speaker 2 (11:35):
Whereas concentrates are just, ideally, it's just
those trichomes, right?
So, depending on the quality ofhash or whatever concentrate
you're using, you're going toeither have more plant matter
for a lower grade or less plantmatter.
And you're really just lookingat those, the heads, right?
You just want the trichome headfor five-star hash.
So, and then within my.

(11:57):
So that's as an edible maker inthe actual California regulated
industry, you have to useconcentrates.
I don't know anyone who isworking starting from flour,
because it would be verydifficult to dose accurately and
the cost of failing is veryexpensive.

(12:18):
You have to pay to destroy yourbatch.
So you want to be accurate.
Now the trend is for solventlessfull spectrum, so you're going
to be wanting to useconcentrates like hash or live
rosin, which you know.
Water, it's not a solvent, it's.
You make it cold, so you get.
You know how the cold waterhash works.

(12:39):
So as an edible maker, yes, Ithink that is the best way to
dose For home cooks who mightnot have access to things like
hash.
Or maybe the laws are stricterif you do get caught holding
concentrates.
I remember before it was legalin California, if you had
concentrates on you, you'd be ina lot of trouble in a lot of

(13:08):
trouble.
So I wrote this book foreveryone, but also keeping in
mind that a lot of people don'thave access to things like live
rosin Right.
Some of my members are in, likeNew Zealand, where it's it's not
legal at all, and they'regrowing in the middle of the
woods, june, you know.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
so I try to be conscious.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
But then there's also a section in here on cooking
with concentrates and it it ittalks about it has a chart that
says these concentrates are raw.
These ones are already decarbedlike RSO or full extract
cannabis oil will be ready to gofor you, and then all you need
to do is have a good milligramscale, which can be one of those

(13:42):
little black jewelry scales ora bigger one, so you can weigh
your other ingredients too.
I recommend one in my book.
And then you whisk thatconcentrate into a warm fat
right, because cannabinoids theresin likes fat most of all.
If you have a very high proofalcohol, you can use that as

(14:02):
well, but fat is the easiestthing to do.
Heat it up a little bit, justwarm enough to melt the resin
into the oil or butter orwhatever you're using, and then
make sure it's nice andhomogenized no glumps, no clumps
of hash or anything, so peopledon't bite into a cookie.

(14:25):
And then just you know it'sdosing.
It's easier to dose because youdon't have to once it's already
decarbed for you and you knowthat potency from a lab.
You can just there's nocalculation of loss, right?
There's no having to calculatewhen I convert that THCA, which
is the acidic form of THC, intoTHC, how much loss is going to

(14:50):
happen Automatically?
Already, 12.3%, that's whatcannabis labs calculate for.
And then on top of it you haveto think of loss during the
cooking process of like there'sgoing to be some batter, say
you're making cookies, there'sgoing to be batter stuck to the
bowl, there's going to be batterstuck to this.
But all of that is going todeplete your, your overall

(15:14):
calculation for THC in the batch.
It's complicated.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
Yeah, the math always gets complicated and I find
that something that people finda little intimidating.
And I mean, if you're justeating them yourself, that's one
thing, but as soon as you startgifting them to people and
giving them away, then that'swhen it really becomes important
.
But we'll come to that back tothat in a second, especially the
part about the concentrates,because, like I said, I've had a
lot more people talking aboutthat recently.
But when you are in the processof developing a new infused

(15:43):
recipe, where do you even start?

Speaker 2 (15:45):
I look for the fat in a recipe.
So I'm looking where can Isneak an infusion in?
So what part of this has fat?
And some recipes will have fatthroughout.
So then I go, okay, which partis evenly distributed in this
dish?
Right?
So say I was going to do.
I remember one chef was doing atoffee and she, like, infused

(16:09):
the chocolate.
But the chocolate, like, if youwere to do chocolate chips in a
chocolate chip cookie, youwouldn't want to infuse the
chocolate chips, even though youcould, because there's fat
chocolate.
Because how do you guaranteeeach cookie gets the same amount
of chocolate chips, right, youdon't?
Yeah?
so you want to infuse the butteramount of chocolate chips,
right, yeah, so you want toinfuse the butter in a chocolate
chip cookie, because then youcan weigh it out.

(16:31):
You know exactly how much doughis in each cookie.
So, oops, sorry, my ear buds.
So when I look at a recipe asfar as, how do I infuse this?
How do I turn this into anedible?
That's one of the things Iconsider is that, where's their
fat here?
If there's not a fat, then Ilook for can I put an alcohol in
here and in some way cook offthe alcohol?

(16:53):
Because the alcohol is just kindof a it's like a carrier for
the cannabinoids, it doesn'treally melt into it in the same
way that it does in fat.
Doesn't really melt into it inthe same way that it does in fat
.
So that's where I'm going totake a tincture and I'll make.
I have a cannabis sugar in mycookbook and with that sugar you
can make all sorts of things.
I haven't tried a meringue,though.

(17:14):
I'm very curious if the weightof the cannabinoids, the resin,
will weigh down the egg whites,and so you won't be able to do a
meringue, right?
So that's one of the ones I'vekind of avoided because that's
my.
That's what I think will happenis they're not going to work,
but always fun to try.

Speaker 1 (17:32):
You'll need to experiment with that and report
back and see how it goes.
But yeah.
Now, are there anyunderappreciated ingredients
that you find pair exceptionallywell with cannabis?

Speaker 2 (17:43):
You know this will sound very American of me, but
peanut butter is great.
You know, very, very kind of.
I don't want to say basic, butyou either love peanut butter or
you don't.
And but the fat in it is reallygreat, I've found and this is
anecdotal so I haven't done.
I wish I could do some researchon it and like give people

(18:05):
butter versus peanut butter andbe like which one do you feel
more?
Um, but from my experience asan edible maker, when I put it
into peanut butter, people tendto feel the high more it almost
makes it more bioavailable.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
but don't again like no studies done on that, that's
just been my some anecdotalevidence, yeah it's like holy
cow, those peanut butter cupsreally smacked you know, yeah,
and it goes really well withchocolate too and like, yes,
it's.
It's a nice ingredient as well,because it will mask the taste
of cannabis, if you're notlooking for that flavor.
So, yeah, you know, peanutbutter.

(18:41):
I love peanut butter, not any,most nut butters, yeah.
In fact, I usually don't buyalmond butter because I like it
too much and I you eat the wholething yeah.
I do, yeah.
So I'm like maybe if I justdon't buy it I'll be fine.

Speaker 2 (18:55):
But that's how I do it too.
I'm like I don't buy this yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
It's Now.
Do strains even matter when itcomes to edibles?
And how would you say the homecook should work with terpenes?
And in what context?
And I know you talk a bit aboutthis in the intro of your book
as well.

Speaker 2 (19:15):
It's a loaded question.
Yes, that's why.

Speaker 1 (19:17):
I asked.

Speaker 2 (19:18):
And you know no one can prove it right.
How do you prove that terpeneswhen you eat them?
They can't even prove it whenwe smoke them.
Now people will argue likethat's bullshit, and I hear them
on that.
But when we eat a food, we'realso eating.
Terpenes aren't just incannabis, they're in our food as

(19:39):
well.
So, how do we control that?
How much of a terpene when wewe eat it is going to actually
have an impact?
So I guess my question would befor you what do you mean by?
Do terpenes, do strains evenmatter?
Do you mean as far as flavor,or do you mean as far as the
effects of the edible?

Speaker 1 (20:01):
I'm probably first and foremost the effects, but
also also the flavor, because Ido see a lot of folks that will
like use certain cultivars in arecipe and say, you know, the
terpenes will lend itself wellto this recipe.
But then I'm like what?

Speaker 2 (20:13):
do you mean?

Speaker 1 (20:15):
yeah, like don't they all kind of through the whole
process of decarb and infusingand baking and eating like
what's left of that terpene atthat point?

Speaker 2 (20:25):
I think it's an excellent question.
It's definitely something thatI've investigated as an edible
maker, to the extent that I can.
You know, I with it becomingmore legal.
Hopefully we'll be able to havestudies.
Although I've thought about it.
I'm like, how would we figurethis out, like if they actually
do have an impact when we eatthem?
It just for me, our bodies areso complicated.

(20:47):
When we smoke, it's one thing,it's going into our lungs and
then into our bloodstream, intoour brain.
When we eat it, you know, someof it will sublingually get into
our system, but then it has togo into our stomach and then it
goes, our liver startsmetabolizing it and, like you
said, there's, there's beforethat, decarboxylation, which

(21:09):
these terpenes are very volatile.
So how many?
How are you going to bepreserving all of them through
that process?
Okay, then we're looking atdoing a sous vide decarb, using
sous vide to decarb to protectthose terpenes, um, which some
of them are still prettyvolatile and will still
evaporate, and you smell it whenyou decarb, you can smell them.

(21:32):
And then, during the bakingprocess, let's say, you don't
bake, you make a salad, you makea salad dressing.
Sure, okay, but then in thatsalad maybe you put some lemon
juice in that dressing too.
Now is the limonene in thelemon going to have an impact as
well?
I don't eat a lemon meringuepie and all of a sudden feel

(21:54):
excited, even if I put a bunchof THC and other cannabinoids in
it.
The terpenes are the same, nomatter if they're coming from
cannabis or if they're comingfrom a lemon or if they're
coming from rosemary.
So I think you get into thistricky business of trying to,
and that's not even taking intoconsideration how unique we are

(22:15):
as individuals, right?
So, you might not be able to eatchocolate after 4 pm because
some of the compounds inchocolate might just excite you
too much.
Maybe the anandamide inchocolate, which is also an
endocannabinoid, that we makethe bliss molecule.
Maybe that You're just tooblissed out.

(22:36):
You can't do it, I can eatchocolate at any point.
I could wake up at 2 o'clock inthe morning and eat chocolate
and then go right back to bed.
So we're all different with ourbodies and I think when you
start trying to prescribe peoplean effect with your edibles,
you're giving yourself too muchcredit.
That's what I think.
However, strains are not justdefined by terpenes.

(22:58):
There's other compounds in themand some strains, like farm cut
, has this royal blueberry andit's a one-to-one CBD to THC.
If you're looking at thecannabinoids in a strain or a
cultivar, then yes, that issomething to take into
consideration as far as how it'sgoing to affect you, like how

(23:20):
much THCV, like these new kindof minor cannabinoids that we're
finding outside of THC and CBD.
We have CBG, we have CBN, andnow that one is one that you do
not want if you're trying tostay awake.
Right, it's going to give youthe couch lock to stay awake,

(23:45):
Right, it's going to give youthe couch lock.
Cbn is degraded THC.
What happens is the hydrogenand THC binds with oxygen in the
air to make H2O, aka water, andwhat we're left with is CBN,
which is not great.
If you want to party and Iwouldn't serve it at like a
cannabis.
Want to party and and I wouldn'tserve it at like a cannabis
like I wouldn't have served CBNat a bong appetite dinner party,

(24:06):
right, I I would give it tosomeone who's like I, can't go
to sleep at night, like, try aCBN edible, something light, and
figure out what dose works foryou.
So in that sense, and thatwouldn't be strain specific
right CBN can happen in anycultivar.
So Right, it's really for me.
That's what I focus on.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
Yeah, so basically it's the difference between
terpenes and cannabinoids.
The terpenes don't matter asmuch necessarily.
The cannabinoids obviously do.
As a full CBD infusion,obviously it's going to have a
very different effect thansomething THC, thc-v or any of
these other minor cannabinoids.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
And how they're all mixed together.
Now, as far as, like theentourage effect with all of
those terpenes, does that impacthow we feel in edible?
I cannot speak to that becauseit is so complicated.
I don't think anybody reallycan at this point, and I've
looked into it.
I know there are people who aretrying to prove that.

(25:06):
Good luck to them.
I hope they figure it out.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Yeah, it's tricky though, cause I see even in like
the dispensaries, you go in andyou look at the edibles and
there'll be like a sativa edibleor an indica edible, but that's
already so binary I know, andkind of bullshit.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
It's bullshit, because sativa and indica, first
of all, they have been splicedand diced so many times by these
cultivators that no one canreally say they have a pure,
pure, pure sativa, pure, pure,pure indica.
It's pretty much all hybrids.
So there are some people who'vereally preserved those genetics
and, you know, more power tothem.
But that's not what you'regetting from these edible makers

(25:45):
that are stamping indica andsativa on their edibles.
So for me it's too binary and Ithink it's.
You know, people will againexpect a certain effect from
taking that indica edible and Idon't like to take that kind of
responsibility on like you'regoing to feel this way.
I'm like no, you're going tofeel high, you know the edible

(26:07):
high.
It feels different than thesmoking high.
It lasts longer, it feelsstronger.
Might be more of like a bodykind, of everyone's different.
I can eat edibles and do anhour of yoga.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
other people eat edibles and they can't leave the
couch, so yeah, well, a lot ofthe times that's also going to
depend on the dosing as well.
You know, if I'm going to doyoga, I'm going to do a lighter
dose than if I'm, you know,flaking out on the couch
watching a show.
There's obviously differentdoses for different occasions as
well.
But is there a time when youmight want to use, like, look at
the terpenes in a particularcultivar and cause?

(26:45):
I've always wondered as well.
If I infused raw cannabis intoan olive oil once, and I suppose
if you tried that withdifferent cultivars, maybe that
would preserve some of theterpenes.
But of course you're using thatmore for the flavor.
Yeah, but you would get somelike you don't need to
decarboxylate it all the way.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
That's for the flavor , but you would get some like
you don't need to decarboxylateit all the way.
That's for the high.
So if you're really trying topreserve some of those terpenes
more, you would get that flavor,of course, and so when I cook
with cannabis, that's definitelysomething I consider.
Like with marigold sweets, I'mwanting to use something for a

(27:22):
caramel that is going to havemore of those fruity notes to it
, like Sonoma Hills Farm hasthis cherry cheesecake that
they're going to let me use somerosin for my next batch and
that is going to lend thoseterpenes to that.
Just like when we go and pickmint or thyme, there's different
types of mint and thyme.
There's chocolate, there's allsorts right English thyme,

(27:45):
whatever.
Depending on the recipe, I'mgoing to use different flavors
in it.
So there are savory and sweetrecipes in this cookbook.
You know there are some, someterpenes and some cultivars that
really are versatile, that youdon't have to worry about
anything.
With lemon, like super lemonhaze, like the flavor is going
to be good.
I wouldn't use anything skunkyor gassy per se.

(28:09):
Great for smoking I love tosmoke those kinds of strains but
when you're cooking with ityou're going to get those
flavors, especially when you'redosing it potently.
I dose lightly, but if you'rereally trying to pack a punch,
you're going to get more ofthose flavors as well.
So you want to be consideringthe, the terpenes.

Speaker 1 (28:31):
But that also maybe applied to some of the ones that
smell like I don't know, someof the cheesy strains, or I have
a friend that loves like thepiss strains it loves.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
like the piss strains Someone would smell really
gross.
Yeah, they really like yousmoke them and you're like Whoa,
you know they smell for areason.
That plant is like get the hellaway from my flower.
So you know I get from acooking perspective.
You know, from a cookingperspective, I try to go with

(29:12):
strains that I know are going totaste good as well, because it
will impact the flavor.
But I don't focus on it tooheavily.
If I'm being honest, Ipersonally do not feel a
difference when I use differentstrains.
I just always most of thestrains I'm using are high THC.
Now if I were to use somethingthat had more CBD or something
else, maybe I'd feel adifference.
I would just probably not feelas stoned.

(29:34):
But I'm not as sensitive assome people.
Some people swear by I only doBlue Dream edibles and whatever
works for them.
Then stick with what works foryou.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
Yeah, nothing wrong with that, for sure.
But I always love to ask peoplethis question because it is a
little controversial.
But controversial is not theright.
I mean, if that's the kind ofcontroversy we're dealing with
in the cannabis industry, then Ithink we're doing all right.
But we're doing okay, yeah, nowin your book you talk about
something interesting arounddecarboxylation that I've that I

(30:05):
would sort of.
This was new for me, and so Ihope we can talk about how you
like to make a paper pouch whenit comes to decarbing and why
you like to do that, becausethis is something like I said
that was.
This is a new concept for me,but it makes sense.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
Um, so, more so than the paper pouch.
I'm just trying, like Iexplained, that CBN process
where you're trying to get ridof oxygen from the equation.
If you take oxygen out of theequation, you don't have to
worry about degrading your THC.
Um, the the most obvious way ofdoing that is using a sous vide

(30:41):
.
To you know, heat it veryslowly to protect the, the
sticky resin from from stickingto the sous vide bag.
I use parchment paper and Ijust create a little parchment
pouch and I and if I'm doing itin the oven, it'll go into a
stasher bag, which is that brandis oven safe, which is why I'm

(31:04):
saying it.
I'm not.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Those are the silicone, the reusable silicone
bags.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
And it's the stasher brand specifically is safe in
the oven up to a certaintemperature and decarb
temperature is safe.
So I roll those up, smash asmuch oxygen out as air as out as
possible and then put it in theoven like with the pouch, the
parchment pouch in the silicone.
If I didn't put parchment, I'mtrying not to waste any of those

(31:32):
trichomes right.
I don't want any of them tostick to that silicone and it
will as it heats up.
It will as it heats up, it willand over time I'm sure if you
use your stasher withoutparchment or use whatever
without parchment, you could seethat resin built up.
Like as you trim plants.
You get the hash on your hands.
It just takes time to see thosetiny little trichomes.

(31:56):
It's kind of a protection thingthan just throwing it onto a
pan and tossing it in the oven,because that's really going to
expose it to oxygen and heatlike blasts of heat, which is
where you're going to get thatCBN.
So it's like an extra step.
Again, it's an expensive herb.
Is it totally necessary?
You're probably fine skippingit, but I just like to kind of

(32:21):
give this plant the respect thatit deserves.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
At what the price that it costs, because I like
that idea too, because sometimespeople do find it when they
make edibles.
It can make them creepy andthat could just be because you
know it's being degraded andconverting into that CBN, which
is maybe not what they'relooking for, and this little
extra step might help them avoidthat process and make their

(32:45):
edibles more impactful and lesstired, like make them less tired
.

Speaker 2 (32:49):
They might be using old weed too.
I think people kind of hold onto to flour and they're like, oh
, I don't know, I'll just makesome edibles out of this, and it
might be a year or two old, andthen they're still decarbing.
Decarboxylation will happen theminute that plant gets cut down
or if it's just left to die inthe woods or whatever.

(33:09):
It will start decarboxylatingbecause THC is the stable form.
Thca is acidic, so it's goingto start that decarboxylation
process at room temperature.
We just want to speed it upbecause we don't want to wait
around and we want to convert asmuch of that THCA as possible
because we're trying to get asmuch high as possible.

(33:31):
So they might already have THClike a good amount and then
they're decarbing it still andthen it's degrading it to cbn.
So I you know, I think there'sthere's different ways to kind
of protect and store flour.
So you're not you're going toavoid those things.
And then there's times to justkind of look at some, some bud

(33:54):
and just be like hey, this is mysleepy time, weed, and I'm
gonna go to bed yeah just beaware of that.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
So would people in that particular instance then be
better off like decarbing andthen like, if they have a lot of
weed, that they're going tomake edibles with it eventually
anyway?
Would they be better offdecarbing at first and then
storing it decarbed already,instead of to avoid some of that
degradation that you're talkingabout?

Speaker 2 (34:20):
That's a good question.
I would have to do lab testingon it.
My instinct is no.
My instinct would just kind ofthey'd have to like plan, they'd
have to be like okay this weedI'm going to.
Most people just kind of forgetthat they have some weed and
they're like I'm going to throwit into some butter and make
some edibles with it.

(34:41):
We can run more experiments onit.
That's.
I'm going to throw it into somebutter and make some edibles
with it.
We can run more experiments onit.
That's all I'm about.
I love running experiments, thiswhole book was like hundreds of
experiments that I just waslike I don't know.
I guess I'll run some testingon it.
I think that's the best placewe can come from is like staying
curious and being able to say,well, I don't, I don't know.

(35:04):
So why don't we investigate andsee what would be the best way
to go about that?

Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, I'd be curious about that myself, just because
I do tend to decarb, like nothuge amounts but larger amounts,
so that I have it decarbedready for when I want to make an
infusion, because I like itjust cuts down the time.
If you can like do a batch andthen have it ready to use, yeah,
yeah.

Speaker 2 (35:26):
I think the best thing you could do is decarb and
infuse at the same time,because then you have that oil
around it and I found what I didrun testing on infusion and
decarboxylation at the same timeand it almost it protects the
cannabinoids.
So it takes a lot longer for itto do once it's submerged in a

(35:50):
fat, which for me.
I'm trying to cut time I don't.
I think you're like me in thatyou don't like to spend like
hours stirring a pot on thestove.
If you can take half that time,you will.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
And that's where this book is coming from.
It's like I want to know arethere shortcuts?
Are there ways for me to do itfaster?
Does it make sense todecarboxylate and infuse at the
same time?
To me it doesn't, because you'regoing to be putting that plant
matter in a fat and heating itin that fat, just like tea, gets
bitter as you steep it for along time you're going to pull

(36:28):
more of that chlorophyll, moreof those bitter plant flavors
not just the terpenes, all ofthe other stuff that's in the
cannabis plant into that oilwhile you're decarbing.
You probably could infuse andthen continue to decarb after
you take the plant matter out,but again it's just like taking
longer for me in my opinion, forno reason.

(36:52):
So that's something to consideris like, if you're going to do a
batch decarb, do a batchinfusion right after, and you're
going to look at this book andyou're going to see how, see how
long it takes to infuse, andit's gonna blow your mind.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
you're gonna be like, yeah, shorter, well I admitted
I said a lot of your infusiontimes were shorter than what I
was accustomed to and admittedly, I do have infusion devices at
home, of course.
Well, just from doing this showfor however many years, but I
mean that changes how you mightset the temperatures on some of

(37:28):
those devices too, based on someof these like tests that you
were running, what you werefinding, the longer isn't
necessarily better.
That's basically what you'refinding that you don't extract
more THC from your cannabis.
Yeah, yeah, which iscounterintuitive almost.

Speaker 2 (37:46):
I think that's kind of that was one of the biggest
things.
That from writing this book, umand this was really brought on
from my club, the edibles club,was they?
You know, at them my patronsasking me questions, me not
being able to answer them, andI'm like, well, I'm going to
find out, and so, and me askingquestions on Bon Appetit and

(38:07):
then people not being able totell me, and then I'm like, well
, we need to find this, we needto figure this out, Right, and
so that was one of the biggestthings.
And how quickly butter infuses.
You know, 50% of that infusionhappens in the first 30 seconds.
So, yeah, that's wild Like astraight line yeah you're not

(38:30):
going to get the rest of the 50%in the next 30 seconds.
It takes longer for that thatother potency to come out.
But you don't need to do it fortwo days, like some of the
recipes I see online are likenine hours in a crock pot.
I'm like at that point you'rejust making soup Like you're
making a green sludge.

Speaker 1 (38:51):
Well, and it does end up looking really green as well
.
The results, and I think peopleassociate that green color with
more potent potency infusion.

Speaker 2 (38:58):
It's not Right?
Yeah, I don't look at green.
I don't look at green cold waterhash and think this is a better
hash.
Our goal is the same as whenmaking hash we're taking we're
trying to strip the trichomesoff.
That's it Right For me.
Personally, I know that somepeople want the other compounds
in the cannabis plant becausethey believe that it has other

(39:21):
health benefits, et cetera.
I am not of that school.
I am in the school of gettingpeople high.
I'm not a medical professional,so I don't really dole out
advice on that kind of stuff,other than, hey, I've heard it
helps you sleep and I've heardit helps with pain.

Speaker 1 (39:39):
It's a fun time.

Speaker 2 (39:41):
So for me it's really like how do I do this quickly
and from a flavor perspective,how do I preserve, how do I make
sure this tastes good while Idon't let it steep in in the
butter or the oil or make atincture?
For 30 days I ran lab testingon that.
I did a room temperaturetincture and a tincture made in
the freezer to see what, and Ishook it every day and did all

(40:03):
of this stuff.
It does not matter that time isnot the variable, it's
temperature and it is agitation.
And for alcohol, it's going tobe the proof that you use the
amount of ethanol, becauseethanol is the solvent Um and
and for for butters and oils.
The butter is acting as thesolvent, the trichomes, like the

(40:27):
butter, it's just melting itright off the plant.
So how do we help it melt?
We stir it up, we agitate it,and that's what they'll do in a
lab.
Is they'll for alcohol?
They get those jewelry I almostconsidered putting this in the
book they get those jewelrycleaners and they put ethanol in
it.
And then you can put whateverwe you know decarbed flower with

(40:50):
the agit, the shake, the youknow supersonic shaking,
whatever agitator, it will shakeall of those trichomes off into
the ethanol.
So if you really wanted to likenow that you could get a jewelry
cleaner and do it that way,yeah, so for me I was.
I just wanted people tounderstand what the goal is here
.
The goal from my book and frommy perspective is get those

(41:12):
trichomes off and then fromthere, you want to keep doing
stuff with that plant matter.
By all means, knock yourselfout, throw it into some
meatballs, throw it intowhatever you want.

Speaker 1 (41:24):
But that also, I guess, means that when somebody
is using using, whether they'redoing it on the stove or in a
device, if they can change thetemperature on the device, the
temp, not necessarily thetemperature but the time then it
might be worth consideringdoing that the device as long as
it's agitating.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
That's my problem with the device.
If it's just sitting there andyour plant isn't moving, that
means so it's like you have,like I think of it like I'm
washing, say you're washing.
That's how we describe itwashing like you're washing,
yeah, you're trying to washthose trichomes off.
You don't wash.
Your washing machine doesn'tsit still right.
It, yeah, yeah, moves, right.

(42:01):
Move, so that those molecules,so the atoms, whatever, if you
want to get really sciency.
They melt off, they shake off.

Speaker 1 (42:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
So it gets them off of the plant.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
So, basically, if someone's looking for a device
and they should look for onethat includes magitation when
it's infusing.

Speaker 2 (42:19):
If you like a device I talk about this in the book
too.
I don't like a single usedevice.
For me, a double boiler is.
I can make that at home and itworks just as well.
And since it doesn't take very,it's not taking me hours to
infuse, it's only taking me,like I think, for the butter it
took 30,.
What did I say?
30 minutes or 30 minutes.

(42:42):
Right, I don't want to have toset up a whole device and my
kitchen is tiny.
I don't want to have anotherthing in my kitchen personally,
but I understand people like tokind of set something and forget
it and go on.
If there is a feature that itwill agitate, that will help.
If you have a slow cooker, soyou want to set your crock pot

(43:04):
to a certain temperature andbecause you don't want to have
to worry about a flame on thestove, although the depth, the
point of a double boiler is, thewater keeps the temperature
static.
You know, um, just stir it,just make sure you're stirring
it so that's what you need to dois to swerve.
Heat agitation, fat that's it.

(43:24):
It's not rocket science thatsqueezes much of the butter out
of the flour as you can.
You're not going to be able toget it all out.
Some people like get press.
You know they go really extremeto try and get every drop of
butter out.
Knock yourself out.
There will be a little bit ofpotency left in the butter
because it's physicallyimpossible to get every drop out

(43:46):
.
So you can use it.
It's not going to have too much, but if you're really sensitive
you can throw it into something.
Just try to pick recipes.
When you're using flourstraight and some of my recipes
in the book do that you want tomake sure you're using a recipe
with a lot of other flavors andtextures.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
Like.

Speaker 2 (44:06):
I say meatballs because meatballs have garlic
and Parmesan and ricotta and allof these other delicious and
tomato sauce.
You know all of these thingswhere you're not going to be
like am I eating weed?
If I put it into asnickerdoodle.
I just throw some refuse butteryou know buttery weed into a
snickerdoodle.

Speaker 1 (44:25):
I'm going to bite into that and be like gross you
know, too much else to distractyour product from from no
meatballs is definitely aperfect example.
And back to the peanut buttertoo, because peanut butter is a
strong flavor that it's going tomask that that firecrackers.

Speaker 2 (44:41):
That's where firecrackers come in with that.
Avb, avb will have a little bitof CBN.
I mean it depends, rightDepends how old your flower was
when you first vaped it.
But on Reddit someone postedlab results from AVB and there
was a little bit of THC in it, alittle bit decarbed, and that's

(45:04):
kind of the same idea of usingweed that's already been infused
into butter.
There'll be a little bit ofpotency there, so just throw it
into something with, like, yeah,peanut butter.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
Yeah, which is super easy to do.
But I mean, you kind of alreadytouched on this before, but how
do you approach cooking withconcentrates?
Because once again, I've had alot of people asking about that
recently.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
I love cooking with concentrates.
That's really what set me apartas an edible maker was getting
my hands on some cold water hash.
Decarboxylation was not even aword I knew at the time and it
wasn't a word on mine.
This is like 2010, right?
So, I just I figured it out, Idon't know how I put it in the

(45:47):
oven.
I was like, oh, look at it'sbubbling, oh, that's interesting
.
And then I put it into mycaramel and people were like, oh
, this felt really good, it feltstronger, it felt, and I was
like, great.
I can stretch my hash a littlebit by heating it up beforehand
and then putting into thecaramel, cause the caramel would
decarb the hash a little bit byheating it up beforehand and
then putting into the caramel,because the caramel would decarb
the hash a little bit withoutpre-decarbing it because it goes

(46:10):
up to a high enough temperature.
But doing it a little bitbeforehand helped.
Um so, cooking withconcentrates they're potent.
You need a milligram scale.
There's no using one of thosebasic kitchen scales.
It has to be a milligram scale.
You can use a jewelry scale.

(46:31):
You can get one of the biggerones that I have that they use
in labs.
I like them because you canmeasure your flour like cannabis
flour and your flour likebaking flour all on the same
machine.
Again, I'm big on less machinesin my house just because I don't
have enough space.
And then knowing the potency ifit's not decarbed or not,

(46:57):
there's kind of a lot to thinkabout.
When you're cooking withconcentrates, it depends on the
concentrate that you're using.
That's why I put a chart in thebook that's like this is the
average potency.
This is whether or not you needto decarboxylate and just
trying to dose responsibly.
There's a chapter called AFormula for an Ethical Dose and

(47:20):
it's like the first thing I saidin this conversation no one
eats one brownie, so it's reallyhow much?
of something someone's going toeat and giving them the grace to
be able to eat more ofsomething.

Speaker 1 (47:35):
Yeah, I'm a big proponent of that too.
Just because I know myself, andthat's how I am I never eat
just one, it's insulting.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
when you see a bag of chips and they're like serving
size five chips, I'm like who?

Speaker 1 (47:49):
Right, yeah, I know Right.
Nobody eats five chips.
It's ridiculous, yeah.
So as far as cooking withconcentrates, then there are
certain ones that you woulddecarb.
You mentioned, like the RSO andFICO.
You wouldn't need to decarbbecause it's already been
decarbed, and then you couldjust use some of that
concentrate in a fat, mix it upreally well and then you use.

(48:10):
Or you could probably also putit right in some recipes too,
could you not?

Speaker 2 (48:18):
You just want to make sure you homogenize it, because
it's so potent, so you want tomake sure it's being distributed
evenly throughout the recipe,so like if you were to do and I
talk about candies.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Like I find they lend themselves, lend themselves
well to candies.
Would you find that that's oneyou could add concentrates to
pretty directly.

Speaker 2 (48:34):
Yeah, it depends on the candy Most like gummies and
things like that will stillhomogenize it into a coconut oil
to make sure it's not gonnalike stay in a clump in the
candy um or or mct oil, whateverthey want to use.
Um caramel has a lot of fat init, so I still I could just plop

(48:55):
it right into the pot whileit's cooking, but just for my
peace of mind of knowing thatit's evenly distributed, I still
whisk it into a warm butter.
Some people will use lecithin.
I don't love the taste oflecithin and I haven't really
seen anything that is convincingthat it helps bioavailability,

(49:18):
other than, like what people say.
I haven't like seen studies.
I understand the thoughtprocess behind why it's believed
to increase bioavailability,but I haven't seen any
convincing studies that areproving that it does that For
cannabinoids which are operatingon our CB1, cb2 receptors?
you know what I mean.
Like it's it's not quite therefor me yet to be like, yes, put

(49:41):
less of that, you know, put lessof that in.
I think it helps to, can helpto distribute it, or it's an
emulsifier, so it's going tohelp.

Speaker 1 (49:50):
Right, which is sort of how I've used it before as an
emulsifier, not necessarily fora bio availability, though.
I have heard that lots of times, but it's hard to know when
you're eating something.
Is it more available?
Is it more available or notthan the other thing that I made
?
I don't know, I'm high, sothat's right.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Yeah, that's how I feel about it yeah, I think,
though, with like some drinks,if you wanted to use a less than
I.
Just personally don't like theflavor of it I find I've tried,
like I soy and I've tried thesunflower lecithin and I find it
gives it kind of like thisdusty flavor which is not super
appealing to me.
But to each their own, Um, whatwere we talking about?

Speaker 1 (50:33):
Oh, just concentrates .

Speaker 2 (50:35):
I think I was asking about putting them in candy in
particular, but yeah, and solike distillate is a pretty
common concentrate that peopleuse and that's going to be just
distilled cannabinoids, it's notgoing to be full spectrum.
And then there's also likethings that are using BHO, you
know, like live resin, which isusing the flash frozen flour,

(51:00):
but it's resin, so it's washingit with butane or ethanol,
whatever they want, to solventthat they want to use and some
people have problems with thosesolvents.
You know, it's kind of like theseed oil discussion.

Speaker 1 (51:15):
Yeah, right, it's complicated, right?

Speaker 2 (51:16):
I personally use seed oil all the time and haven't
seen anything convincingotherwise.
I think everything inmoderation and like you know, I
don't think eating tallow issomehow going to be better for
me, but kind of that same ideawith concentrates.

(51:39):
People have a problem withusing butane to strip those
terichomes off.
But it has benefits, right, itpreserves those terpenes better
they get like topierconcentrates when they use
butane.
So there's always, you know,there's pros and cons with
everything.
For my brand, because of theethos of Marigold Sweets, I use

(52:03):
solventless full spectrum singlestrain so I can tell people.
If people are very, I only likethe strain.
I can say well, this is thestrain.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
Right.
Well, and I think too, with theBHO, people just have that
concern as to like, obviouslyyou don't want to have any
residual solvents left over, andthat's the main concern, I
would think, with using that.
Otherwise.
I mean, have at it, it's goingto be great, it's complicated, I
know because I don't know whatto say to people Like.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
My instinct is to say like, yeah, let's not.
We don't know if we're going toburn off all of that BHO and
there's not going to be, likeyou said, residual solvents.
But sorry, my dog found hersloth.
I'm going to have to take itfrom her and hide it.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
Yeah, I can hear it a little bit, but I mean
switching gears a little bit,because I mean we're obviously
talking about concentrates,which can give you a pretty
potent edible if you want to gothat direction, and I do have
listeners that definitely preferhigh potency edibles, but I
also know a lot of people thatare really sensitive and low
dose and microdosed edibles.
I'm hearing talk talked about alot more now as well, and do
you see this as a trend shaping,shaping the future of cannabis

(53:18):
edibles moving forward?

Speaker 2 (53:20):
A thousand percent.
That's my book how to eatweeded and have a Good Time.
It's that.
Second part of the book isabout microdosing.
I've met so many people thatdon't touch edibles because one
time they had a bad experiencebecause someone threw like an
ounce into a stick of butter andthey're like I don't know, I
can smoke, I smoke this much.

(53:41):
I'll just do that and put it ina dozen cookies.
I've done that.
I've dosed myself too heavilybefore.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
I've done it to myself too.

Speaker 2 (53:50):
Yeah, it feels like the walls are melting and like
you're never going to feelnormal again and every kind of
anxiety.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
That heart attack feeling which is not a good time
, that heart attack feelingwhich is not a good time?

Speaker 2 (54:02):
No, it's not a good time and so microdosing, because
edibles take longer to kick inthan smoking when we smoke.
That feeling happens prettyquickly With edibles because we
have to go through all of thesesystems in our body, right, our
stomach first.
We're going to eat it, thenwe're going to swallow it and go
down our stomach and then ourliver liver's got to do this

(54:24):
whole thing.
People are impatient.
We're used to, you know, we'reused to taking a shot and
feeling drunk and I mean for me,I'm like pretty quickly and I'm
like, yeah, um, because ediblestake longer, people kind of get
cocky and they also they it.

(54:46):
They taste good.
Yeah, they taste good.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
Yeah, and then you're like I want another one.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
That's right.
So and you're like, well, Idon't feel anything, I'll be
fine, and you kind ofunderestimate.

Speaker 1 (54:57):
Yeah, I feel like it's that um, these edibles
ain't shit kind of mentality,because they just don't know and
they're like, ah, it'snothing's going to happen, and
then it happens.

Speaker 2 (55:07):
Yeah, cause the cookie is disarming.
You're like, yes, cookiecookies not going to do anything
to me, whereas like a fieryshot or something given to you
by like a rough and tumblebartender, you're like, ooh, you
know, you kind of know whatyou're in for.
A cookie doesn't usually mean,you know, being glued to the
couch.
So as edible makers, andespecially as this plant becomes

(55:30):
more and more legal in morestates and in more countries, we
have a responsibility to dosepeople ethically and to do it
with consideration.
I think that really comes downto education and understanding
things like what's in this book,like how many milligrams on
average are in a gram of wheat.

(55:50):
Okay, it is going to have about200 milligrams of THC after
decarboxylation.
That's what we're looking at.
A lot of people can't have morethan five milligrams.
So we're talking about 40 dosesin one gram of flour and people
will throw in an eighth and Iget that mindset.

(56:13):
You're like it's just, it's noteven.
It's nothing.
It's a gram, that's nothing.
Okay, well, it's not nothing,it's a lot.
Well, it's not nothing, it's alot.
So microdosing first startswith understanding the potency
of the ingredient that you'recooking with and then also

(56:34):
taking into considerationbecause this is something that
is popcorn is someone going toeat and then dosing it based on
that serving size?
Okay, if I know someone isgoing to eat at least three

(56:57):
cookies, I want these cookies tomaybe be 1.5 milligrams each,
so you know that compound, andthen someone doesn't have to
feel bad if they eat threecookies, because we're human.

Speaker 1 (57:11):
Yeah, absolutely, although I've taken the track
now to infuse the cookies, orwhatever I'm making, to my dose
so that I don't eat more thanone, because I have a horrible
sweet tooth.
So that's my method, because Ihave eaten too many before and
then been like why did I do that?
I knew how strong they were,but yeah.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
Yeah, I don't have that self-control, so I'm just
honest with myself.
Like I made brownies the otherday, and you know they pack a
punch, and so I just but I caneat three of them and still go
about my day, you know, but Ican eat three of them and still
go about my day.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
Yeah, and that's nice too, because then you can
tailor the dose that you'reconsuming in one session to what
you have to do.
Like, are you going to eatthree brownies if you have to
run a bunch of errands?
Maybe you'll just need one inthat instance, so it gives you
more flexibility with whatyou're doing.

Speaker 2 (58:00):
A microdose yes, you can always eat more of them and
if you want to be healthy aboutit, say you're like, okay, you
don't want to eat too manycookies.
Cannabis can go in anything.
I've got a hummus recipe inhere.
Make yourself some hummus andyou can get stoned and have like
a healthy I don't know.
Go for a walk or something, orthen go for a hike, be out in

(58:22):
nature.
I think this, the thinkingoutside of the brownie, is is
good.
And if you want to kind oftailor this book, we'll teach
you how to infuse everything.
If you are gluten-free if youare vegan.
The basic, the basis.
There are recipes for everyone,but the basic information

(58:43):
you're going to get in thebeginning of the book, which is
how to infuse quickly, how todecarb in different ways, that
can be applied to any recipe.

Speaker 1 (58:53):
Right Now.
Are there any misconceptionsabout cannabis edibles that you
wish would die?

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Well, I think we've kind of covered it as far as the
indica versus sativa.
I think that's kind of a verysimplified way of looking at it.
I also think a lot of peopleare like, oh, I don't do edibles
, I'll just smoke a joint andeat a cookie, and I'm like, well
, you don't know what thedifference is between Delta 9
THC and 11 hydroxy THC, andthat's okay.
But don't come into our lane,let us do what we do.

Speaker 1 (59:22):
You do what you do.

Speaker 2 (59:27):
Don't come into our lane.
Let us do what we do, you dowhat you do.
Um, like, they're just totallydifferent things.
So it's not as simple as I'lljust bake a batch of cookies and
smoke a joint.
It's like fine, you'll besmoking another joint in 15
minutes, whereas if I had aninfused cookie.
I'd be stoned for hours, which?
Is my goal.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
And that's what I like too.
Now, just as we're getting tothe close today, a couple more
questions around just navigatingthe cannabis industry as a
woman.
Have you had any particularchallenges?
I?

Speaker 2 (59:56):
don't know anyone else who's like.
Maybe I'm sure other women inthe industry or in sciences can
talk about this.
And I'm not a scientist, I'mjust a.
I'm a cookbook, not just.
I'm a other women in theindustry or in sciences can talk
about this, and I'm not ascientist, I'm just a.
I'm a cookbook, not just.
I'm a cookbook author.
I'm very curious.
I ran a lot of lab tests forthis book and I have a lot of
bros who are just like let mesee the white papers.
When I say things like oh, areyou serious?

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
Like.

Speaker 2 (01:00:23):
I would love that.
I would love for this to bestudied on that level.
I think for a cookbook, this ispretty groundbreaking, the
information that's in.
Here I'm trying to help homecooks so they're not wasting
time, so they're being efficientand they're dosing responsibly.
I think that people kind of getprickly about this because

(01:00:44):
they've been in this industry,that's been kind of in, stayed
hidden for a long time andeveryone thinks they know
everything about this topic,this plant.
And here I am coming in and I'mlike Hi, no, you actually don't
need to infuse that long and itfor some reason it pisses
people off, Right, Pisses brosoff.

(01:01:06):
It's never.
I very rarely have a womancoming in my comments and being
like you don't know anything.

Speaker 1 (01:01:16):
No, I hear that not just in the cannabis industry
but sort of across industries aswell, that it's women are
typically very supportive,Typically, generally yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
Generally, and then usually I get mansplained to by
by guys and I'm like this isliterally what I do.
I've spent the better part offive years researching and
trying to answer these questionsto the best of my capability.
Do I wish there were two orthree other people that would?
That's what it would take to bea real scientific study.

(01:01:46):
Right Is to have it pure testedand who else is doing what I'm
doing.
I invite them to come and do itand prove further.
Prove this is right.
I ran the test multiple timesright, I didn't just do butter
and go okay, we this is whathappened I got.
I was so surprised by theresults on infusion of butter.

(01:02:08):
I ran it three times and likeeach time I was like okay, I
don't know enough, I need tostart, I need to do the test
more thoroughly.
I need to test the flour afterI need to do this.
I need to make sure we'rerestarting the butter every time
so I'm not pulling from.
You know, like really expensiveand kooky, like obsessive.

(01:02:29):
So it's a little insulting whenthese guys who've never did any
testing ever, are like let mesee this.
I'm like no.

Speaker 1 (01:02:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
And honestly, I've been makingedibles, for I mean, I've had
this show for five years.
I've started making ediblesbefore that.
I discovered them later in life.
But I'm always learning newthings, and I learned new things
from your book too.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
So thank you, I'm always learning new things.
That's how we should stay.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
We should right, yes, always be learning.
Yes, yeah.
Now, vanessa, what wouldsurprise people about you?

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
What would surprise people about me?
I know I saw that question.
I was like I don't know whatwould be surprising about me.
I'm pretty opinionated, so Ifeel like people know.
So I feel like people know mostof how I feel about things.

(01:03:28):
Whoops, I really thought.
I thought I had an answer forthis.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
What is surprising If you don't?
Maybe there's a hobby that youhave or something that would
surprise people.
I've had a few people mentionhobbies that would be like, oh
you're into that, that'ssurprising.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
But I guess chess.
I don't think that I just gotinto chess, so don't hold me to
that.

Speaker 1 (01:03:50):
Oh, no, not at all, I love puzzles.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
I love chess.
I'm very into learning newlanguages, and so that's when I
say like I like to be a student.

Speaker 1 (01:04:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:04:01):
I'm always trying to learn something new and
challenge myself in that way,because we can kind of get stuck
in our box and we don't learnnew skills Right, what language?

Speaker 1 (01:04:15):
are you learning?

Speaker 2 (01:04:16):
Well, I've been learning Spanish for a long time
because I'm in.
Los Angeles, studied French fora while, but it's the accent is
killer.
Italian, obviously, but rightnow Spanish is the one that I
really want to feelconversational enough.
I'm kind of there, I'm in LosAngeles.

(01:04:38):
I feel like you should speakSpanish.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
Yeah, and you probably have lots of
opportunities to practice and Ifeel you on all that stuff
because I'm learning German andthat's because I have a couple
of German friends so I can speakwith them.
It's a lot slower than Ianticipated when I started years
ago, but you know it takes time, it does, yeah, and it is good
for the brain.

Speaker 2 (01:04:59):
I think that's one of the things that I've learned.
When I was younger, I used towork with you know, elderly and
just keeping your brain active,staying moving a lot.
I definitely.
I think, probably like health.
I try not to be too much inthat lane because people are

(01:05:22):
really kooky about that rightnow but exercise, keeping your
brain active.
You know, food is medicine,cannabis is medicine, so all of
that kind of works together in ahealthy lifestyle.

Speaker 1 (01:05:36):
So yeah Well, vanessa , you have written a beautiful
book.
I have my copy here too.
There there's so many recipes Iwant to try.
The peach creamsicles reallyspoke to me, and maybe that's
because I've been, you know,coming through a cold, dark
winter, and I'm thinking ofspring and summertime.
But you've written a beautifulbook, and where can people find

(01:05:59):
you out in the world?

Speaker 2 (01:06:01):
I am on Instagram Vanessa Marigold, same on
threads, vanessa Marigold onYouTube, and that's where all
the fun stuff happens, becauseYouTube is actually um more open
to cannabis than meta.

Speaker 1 (01:06:19):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (01:06:20):
I'm on blue sky and Twitter, but I don't, you know,
let's not support thebillionaires.
Um and Patreon as the ediblesclub.
You can join my club on Patreon.
It's really cool.
You have a direct line to me.
So if you ever have any ediblequestions, I'm right there and
I'm like what do you need?

(01:06:40):
What do you want to infuse?
I'll help you out.
That's the plan.

Speaker 1 (01:06:46):
That's awesome.
Well, I'll make sure all thatstuff is in the show notes so
people can find it.
And, vanessa, thank you so muchfor joining me today.
It's been a real pleasure.

Speaker 2 (01:06:51):
Thank you so much.
I can't wait to see the showand I hope we get to meet in
person one day.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
I would love that.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:06:57):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:07:08):
That was amazing.
I hope you got as much out ofthat conversation with Vanessa
as I did and I would love tohear what your biggest takeaway
was from that conversation.
Share it with me and I'll shareit on a future episode.
And, of course, check outVanessa's brand new book how to
eat weed and have a good time.
I'll link to it in the shownotes so you can find it easily
and consider sharing thisepisode with another edibles
enthusiast in your life, becausethey will certainly learn

(01:07:29):
something from this one as well.
As always, you can always check, look for my recommendations on
the Margaret Recommends pageand consider joining the Bite Me
Cannabis Club, where cannabislovers connect, learn and create
together.
Head to joinbitemecom to learnmore, and with that, my friends,
I am.
Create together.
Head to joinbytemecom to learnmore and with that, my friends,
I am your host.
Margaret, until next week, stayhigh.