How Strong Should My edibles Be? Here’s a cannamath Formula for infusing Weed at Home

For a beginner’s dose, start at 5mg per serving or less. Start low, go slow. You can always eat more or increase potency as you learn your personal tolerance level. 

You don’t need very much cannabis flower to make a batch of low dose edibles. You’d be surprised how little — less than a joint. One (1) gram of flower to one (1) cup oil will make an infusion of ~140mg THC. If 1 cup has 16 tablespoons, each tablespoon of oil is ~8.75 mg of THC. 

Instructions and formulas to calculate how much to use are explained below.

Canna Math: How to Calculate Dosing 

How do I calculate the right amount of THC in my infusion? Depends on how potent you want to make it, and on the recipe you’re making with the infusion.

You’ll need to know:

• how many servings your recipe makes

• how much oil/fat is used in the recipe

• approximate % THC of your flower (If unknown assume 20%. Tested flower from a dispensary will have the exact % listed on the batch label, typically in the 20-30% range. )

• potency per serving (I recommend 5mg per serving, or less for beginners)

Calculate how much flower to use with my Canna Math Formula:

[# of servings] x [potency per serving] = [total THC mg needed in infusion]

[total flower in grams] x 1000 = [total flower mg]

[total flower mg] x [% THC] = [total potential THC mg]

[total potential THC mg] x [0.7 percent efficiency] = [total THC mg in infusion]

Conversion Efficiency Rate: Different infusion methods and temperatures will affect the % of THC converted and infused into the final oil. A good rule-of-thumb conversion rate is 70%. Not all of the THC will be converted during decarboxylation and the infusion process, assuming a 30% efficiency loss. This percentage can vary, 70% is a general number that’s safe to assume.

Once you know the total THC in your infusion, divide by the number of servings to figure out dosing.

For example: If 1/2 cup of oil in a pot brownie recipe contains ~45mg THC, and the 9x9 square pan makes 9 large brownies. Each brownie will contain ~5mg THC.

How much THC should I use in a RECIPE?

To cook infused dishes, simply measure out the exact amount of infused oil needed for the entire recipe and substitute. If you’re cooking for yourself, use 5mg worth of infused oil to your dish. For two people, add 10mg worth of infused oil. Increase mg and potency as you feel comfortable and adjust for serving size.

Baking a dessert? Depending on how many servings the recipe makes, use 5 mg per serving as a starting point and substitute with the equivalent amount of butter/oil in the recipe. 

How to calculate potency afterwards. If the oil was added first and need to calculate potency per serving after the fact, divide the total mg THC used by the number of servings. 

A version of this was originally published in “Cooking & Baking with Cannabis: A Complete Beginners Guide” for MedMen EMBER