4 Tips for Cooking With CBD Oil

Cooking with CBD oil is becoming increasingly common, both in American homes and in the finest restaurants around the country. And while cooking with the oil can add a healthy twist to your favorite recipes, it’s not always as simple as just drizzling some CBD oil over your salad.

CBD-infused cuisine can seem intimidating, but you don’t need to be a Michelin-starred chef to take advantage of its many health benefits. In fact, once you know a few basic facts about the oil, it’s a piece of (very delicious) cake to add CBD to a diverse array of snacks, salads, starters, entrees, and desserts.

So, here are four easy tips to help you start cooking with CBD oil.

Make Sure It’s Third-Party Tested

Just as choosing the highest-quality fresh produce is something you do to make sure your body is getting the best possible fuel, choosing a high-quality CBD oil is important if you want to maximize the health benefits that the oil has to offer.

The quality of CBD products varies widely thanks to the lack of industry regulation in America. Therefore, reputable manufacturers have their products third-party certified, which means they have been tested in an independent laboratory for quality and safety.  

To check if your CBD oil has been tested in a third-party lab, look for a sticker or label that identifies the date of production, the batch number, and the person or organization that inspected the product. Sometimes this information will be contained in a QR code that you can scan with your phone.

It’s also a good idea to check if your CBD oil is full spectrum oil, broad spectrum oil (sometimes called “partial spectrum oil”), or CBD isolate (also known as “pure” CBD oil). Generally, full spectrum CBD oils offer the most health benefits.

Follow the Recipes (At First)

Not everybody loves to follow recipes when cooking. Some people like to be more creative with their cooking and experiment with whatever they have on hand. When cooking with CBD oil, though, it’s probably a good idea to stick with recipes (at least in the beginning). That’s because it can be tricky at first for even experienced cooks, and it may take a few tries before you familiarize yourself with the oil’s peculiarities.

Luckily, many of the best chefs in America have been experimenting with CBD-infused cuisine, and they’re sharing their recipes with the public. For example, award-winning chef Dave Hadley — best known for his victory on “Chopped” — has created a menu of CBD-infused vegetarian recipes for soup, hummus, smoothies, and other healthy favorites.

These dishes won’t take you too long to master — as Hadley said, they’re intended to be quick, easy recipes for “a home cook with access to a handful of key ingredients.” And once you’re comfortable with the basics of cooking with CBD, you can start experimenting with more confidence.

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

Speaking of the basics, here are two of the most important things to remember with CBD oil as an ingredient: don’t get it too hot, and don’t use too much.

CBD oil is a cannabinoid, which is a type of biochemical that’s found in the cannabis plant. Cannabinoids are highly sensitive to heat, and this has major implications for cooking with CBD oil. Heating the oil too high can make it taste bitter and reduce its effectiveness. At temperatures above 356 degrees Fahrenheit, it will simply evaporate.

So, when using CBD oil in your cooking it’s better to opt for recipes that don’t involve direct heat or very high temperatures. It’s also best to start with lower doses, since too much CBD oil can overwhelm the flavors of the other ingredients. As every cook knows, there are few things more annoying than using an expensive ingredient to create an unappetizing dish.

Savory Is As Good As Sweet

When most people think of CBD-infused foods, their minds go directly to dessert — CBD brownies, CBD cakes, and other CBD sweets. That’s because ingredients like chocolate and sugar are easy ways to cover up the taste of CBD, which can be charitably described as “nutty” or “earthy.”

However, CBD also makes a great addition to foods like scrambled eggs, lentil soup, and almond butter. That’s because these foods are high in fat, which helps mask the taste of the CBD (with the side benefit of helping your body absorb it faster).

Other foods with strong flavors, like cream cheese or your favorite salad dressings, can also be a good way to consume CBD.