Alaska Marijuana News

Anchorage chef shares a cannabis recipe, and a warning

In order to feel the full psychoactive effects of marijuana, the plant must first be decarboxylated. Most often this process is done by adding heat.

"Which is why it gets you high when you smoke it," said Anchorage cannabis chef Russell Gleason, who has 20 years of experience cooking, and medicating, with cannabis. "Now the deal on that is, is you lose about 60 percent of your cannabinoids upon combustion."

Gleason's solution is his go-to decarboxylation method, which he says doesn't destroy any cannabinoids. "We're able to capture them all."

Gleason typically decarboxylates his pot at 240 degrees for an hour. Combustion temperatures from smoking can be hundreds of degrees higher. Gleason says the lower temperature doesn't burn off the psychoactive ingredients.

For that reason, he says, marijuana-infused food is much more potent than smoked marijuana. He stresses that to anyone who begins experimenting with cannabis cooking.

“People need to be aware of what they’re doing.”

Cannabis chef Russell Gleason agitates pieces of a marijuana plant in coconut oil after the concoction had baked at 240 F° for one hour on May 5, 2016. (Scott Jensen / Alaska Dispatch News)
Gleason agitates pieces of a marijuana plant in coconut oil after the concoction had baked at 240 degrees for an hour on May 5, 2016. (Scott Jensen / Alaska Dispatch News)

The process is more fully explained in the video, which shows Gleason following a simple recipe to infuse coconut oil with cannabis.

 

 

 

 

 

Scott Jensen

After growing up in Anchorage, Scott Jensen embarked on a traveling TV photojournalism career that took him to big cities like Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis. He's back home now and produces video journalism for adn.com.

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