Like most cannabis related activities, the preparation of edibles requires a healthy amount of trial and error.

A big part of making edibles if figuring out dosage. Depending on the potency of your cannabutter or base oil, some batches are going to be more powerful than others.

While there’s no way of protecting yourself against all unexpected factors when making infused treats, there are a few simple mistakes that can be avoided with some foresight. These will prevent your edibles from tasting gross and, most importantly, from not wiping you out with a single bite. Here are five common mistakes to watch out for when preparing edibles.

Use equal amounts of weed and oil

“Less is more” might as well be marijuana’s tag line, because it’s preferable to be a little buzzed than to have a full blown freak out because you ate an edible that was too strong. Even if you want to get crazy high, there’s only so much the lipids in oil will bind to your cannabis, so avoid wasting your weed and money.

The ratio you’re looking for is 1:1 — equal parts ground cannabis and oil. If you want to extend the life of your weed, you can also infuse your oil with cannabis stems, trims and vaporized flower.

Remember to decarboxylate

Before adding cannabis into your recipe, you must decarboxylate it. This process occurs when you heat up cannabis on its own and allow it to release its effect.

If you add raw cannabis into a mix, your edibles will taste terrible and no one will get high. Be sure to heat the cannabis beforehand and to add it in once the decarboxylation process has occurred.

Don’t grind your cannabis too much

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Grinding your cannabis into a fine powder will make your recipe taste grassy and bad while giving a green tint to your oil. The fine grind will also make it harder for you to strain the plant out of the oil, leaving you with ugly and bad tasting chunks of weed in your edibles. In order to avoid this, grind the marijuana with your hands, mix it into the oil and then strain it.

Know the proper heating methods

Most amateur cannabis bakers stick to the basics, heating their ovens to 245 degrees and cooking the weed for a period of 30 to 40 minutes. After you’ve done this, you should be all set to follow your edible recipe.

It’s better to be safe than sorry

Photo by Katerina Smirnova via Unsplash

Preparing edibles is a taxing process, so it’s logical if you’re feeling tired and just want to get to cooking without having to take any extra steps. Nevertheless, if you want your edibles to have some sort of uniformity, make sure to use the same amounts of infused oil per serving. If you prepared the oil yourself and want to know how strong it is, have a teaspoon, wait for an hour and see how you feel.