CULTURE
Does Weed Burn Off When You Bake It?
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If you just decarbed your weed at 220 degrees, why can you now bake it into edibles in a 420 degree oven? Physics can be confusing, but we've got you covered.
Published on January 7, 2019

You’re a Ramsey-level pro in the kitchen when it comes to weed: You know how to decarboxylate your cannabis. You know how to turn that decarboxylated bud into an oil. And you still have that perfect brownie recipe bookmarked from some random list online. 

But one question keeps nagging you… why doesn’t baking edibles do the decarboxylating for you? Or, conversely, how come baking already-decarboxylated weed doesn’t ruin its delicate alchemy?

Like so many things on this Earth, it all has to do with water. 

At sea level, it takes 212 degrees F (100 degrees C) for water to reach its boiling point. And as we all definitely still remember from middle school, when water boils, it evaporates. When you’re baking something with a batter or dough, it has a lot of water in it, and it retains about 80% of that water even once fully cooked. 

While that water is present, the internal temperature can’t rise above 212 degrees (or vice versa? Physics is confusing). Apparently, the perfect temperature for a brownie is around 180 degrees F. And since weed decarboxylation begins at about 220 degrees F, and then needs to be sustained over a long period of time, it’s unlikely you’ll destroy the THC content of your edibles unless you also severely overcook your brownies. Unfortunately, it’s also unlikely the weed will have had time to break down enough for your stomach to absorb if you decide to skip the decarbing process entirely and just raw bud your dough — meaning, you throw raw bud in the mix. 

So, for now, you’re going to have to keep pre-baking your weed, but rest easy knowing all your hard work isn’t being immediately undone. Because, in scientific terms, that would be “so fucking annoying.”

Merry Baking! 

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