Tips for Including Cannabis in Your Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving is a great time to be a cannabis enthusiast: there are parties-a-plenty, and tables lined with tasty treats all along the way. This year, if there are adult-only Thanksgiving celebrations to be had, then why not spice things up with a few cannabis-infused “Danksgiving” recipes.

Before you make your edibles, you should decarboxylate your cannabis flower. Essentially, “decarbing” cannabis means removing an extra carboxyl atom to turn the non-psychoactive THCA into the psychoactive THC we’ve all come to love. This process happens naturally over time or when exposed to heat (when you spark a bowl or light up a doobie, for example) but can be expedited by toasting ground cannabis in the oven first.

Be sure to decarboxylate your cannabis before making any infused Thanksgiving recipes!

To decarb cannabis, first line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Spread finely ground cannabis flower evenly onto the baking sheet and place a preheated oven set somewhere between 225 and 275 degrees Farenheit for about an hour, more or less depending on the temperature of the oven. Note that the lower the temperature, the better the flavor but longer it will have to toast. Higher temperatures can bake for a shorter period but will give the cannabis a more toasty, nutty flavor. Once your cannabis has been toasted, it’s ready to infuse into your cooking products.

The next step for making cannabis edibles at home this Thanksgiving is to infuse the cannabis into other cooking mediums. Different mediums are ideal for different recipes so choose your next step based on the recipe you’re trying to produce.

Tinctures

The easiest infusion to make at home is a tincture which is basically just alcohol with cannabinoids absorbed into it. Tinctures can be made by adding decarboxylated cannabis to a high-proof alcohol like Everclear then shaking vigorously to pull the cannabinoids off the flower and into the liquid. You can let the cannabis sit in the alcohol for up to a week though note that the longer it sits, the more plant matter will be absorbed into the alcohol and thus the more “green” the flavor will me. After all cannabinoids have been removed, simply strain the plant matter away and store the tincture in an opaque dropper bottle for later use.

Butter/Oil

Cannabinoids also readily absorb into lipids like oils and butter making them a popular choice for baked goods. To infuse cannabis into butter or oil, place 1-2 cups of oil (coconut oil works great) or butter in a large jar or double boiler. Add enough decarboxylated cannabis to fill the oil, roughly about a half to an ounce of flower depending on your preferred potency.

Coconut oil is great for cannabis infusions due to its high fat content. photo credit

Fill a pan or crock pot with water and place the cannabis-soaked oil jar into the water bath. Simmer on low heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally, until the oil begins to turn green. Strain with a coffee strainer or cheese cloth ensuring that all oil has been squeezed from the flower. Pour in a sealable container for later use.

Milk/Cream

Milk and cream also have a lot of fat which makes them great for infusing drinks and desserts. However, because cannabis needs fat to bind to, low fat or skim milk is not recommended.

The procedure for infusing cannabis into milk or heavy cream is the same as it is for butter (a double boiler will help prevent scorching) stirring every 15 minutes or so to ensure all cannabinoids get absorbed without the milk burning. After simmering for about an hour, strain and store in an air-tight container for later use.

There isn’t much you can’t infuse using some of the basic cooking mediums listed above, but for the sake of the holiday, we’d like to focus on a few of the more traditional Thanksgiving dishes.

• Turkey: It’s not Thanksgiving without a Thanksgiving turkey and this year, you can infuse yours with some of the canna-butter we made earlier. Just clean and prep your turkey as normal using salt and pepper to taste but this time, add cannabis butter under the skin and inject it into the flesh before cooking, as well. Cook your turkey in a 325-degree oven at 15 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Sweet Potato Casserole: Sweet Potato Casserole is a Thanksgiving classic because it’s like eating a vegetable and a dessert at the same time! To make cannabis-infused sweet potato casserole, substitute both the butter and the milk in this homestyle recipe for a flavorful and super-potent side dish.
• Dinner Rolls: With this easy dinner roll recipe, you can make cannabis-infused dinner rolls for your Thanksgiving feast and freeze the rest for your next big party. Just substitute infused milk for regular milk then baste with infused butter once they’re all done. Freeze unrisen dough balls for future use if you like, just give them extra time to rise if you freeze them first.
• Pumpkin Pie: There are many ways to make pumpkin pie – you can use canned pumpkin or fresh, store-bought crust or homemade, fresh whipped cream or canned – and each of these decisions will affect just how potent an infused pumpkin pie will be. For example, a simple pumpkin pie recipe calls for canned pumpkin and a store-bought crust and can be infused by using cannabis-infused evaporated milk instead of the regular stuff. More potent pie can be made using infused butter in the pie crust or infused whipping cream as a topper.

You have enough to worry about during the holidays to be stressing about the best cannabis-infused Thanksgiving dish to bring to the party. Besides, with just a few minor adjustments, just about any thanksgiving dish can be an infused one.

Do you have a favorite cannabis-infused holiday dish? Share the recipe below!

Photo Credit: Element5 Digital (license)