Do Edibles Go Bad?
Cannabis in its original flower form has a shelf life. When the cannabinoids are decarboxylated and extracted into butter or oil to make edibles, it shortens that shelf life because, well, food goes bad. Especially compared to the shelf life of hemp flower. However, we are here to help you maximize the shelf life of your cannabis edibles. It's all about proper storage. If you want your edibles to last as long as possible, you have to be mindful of 3 things:
- Light - Cannabis edibles, and other products deteriorate and become less effective when exposed to light.
- Moisture - Bacteria and mold need moisture to thrive. By keeping your edibles dry, you prevent mold and bacteria growth.
- Heat - In addition to moisture, bacteria need warm temperatures to survive and multiply. Keep your cannabis edibles cool to prevent bacteria from eating your gummies before you get a chance to.
To maximize the shelf life of any food, keep it in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place. The fridge or freezer is best. The freezer will maximize the life of any edible. If you have to transport them, use a cooler. Keeping your edibles away from light, moisture, and heat will help them last as long as possible. Gummies have a great shelf life stored in a pantry, but you may choose to freeze them to maximize their lifetime and their potency. Some commercially available edibles are designed to have a long shelf life. These products will have an expiration date or “best by” date. However, this date is a suggestion, not a rule. Use your senses to determine if the product is still edible or not.
- Look to see if the product appears to have dried out, gotten stale, or is growing mold.
- In most cases, food that has gone bad will usually be accompanied by an unpleasant smell. If the product has dried out or gone stale this may not be the case.
If you’re not sure about the shelf life of your edibles, our Limited Edition Social Treats Delta 9 THC Gummies have a best by date clearly printed on the packaging. If you want to keep them for longer put them in the freezer and thaw as needed.
How to Keep Edibles Fresh
If you are making cannabis edibles at home, and you would like to freeze them to have a supply for a long time, choose baked goods such as cookies, brownies, and muffins. But keep in mind that toppings such as streusel should be left out of any cannabis edibles you intend to bake and freeze. Streusel turns to mush when it is frozen and unthawed. Rice Crispy Treats are very popular because they can last as long as three years in the freezer when they are baked without eggs. Be mindful of this when buying or baking rice crispy treats if you want to keep your cannabis edibles from going bad.
All of these treats do very well out of the freezer. Of course, they are best consumed fresh, but a thawed cookie is still delectable, and, unlike other foods, the freezer doesn’t ruin the texture of baked goods. Some people love cookies while they’re still frozen. Don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. If frozen baked goods aren’t for you, thawing and reheating these frozen treats in the oven will make for a much tastier experience than using the microwave. The high heat produced by a microwave will affect the flavor of your treat, and it can also make the baked good tough or mushy. If your edible has already thawed, 5 minutes in an oven preheated at 350-400 degrees will give you a cookie or brownie nearly as good as when it was fresh.
Reheating from frozen can dry out or burn your cookie, brownie, or pastry. We recommend letting it thaw completely at room temperature while still in an airtight container. If you plan to make cannabis edibles, want to maximize their shelf life, and have a wonderful experience eating them reheated in the over, undercook your cannabis edibles when you bake them initially. Take them out of the oven a few minutes before they would be perfectly baked. This allows them to be cooked a little more when you reheat, and avoids drying them out. However, If you enjoy frozen treats, go ahead and cook them fully.
Many people make large batches of cannabis butter, and keep it in the freezer. It lasts up to 6 months frozen. We suggest that cannabis bakers never make more cannabutter than they can eat and/or give away to friends within 6 months. Keep it in an airtight, opaque container to keep moisture and light out. This is a very smart way for any cannabis edibles baker to keep edibles fresh. Small amounts of butter can be thawed and used to make small batches of cannabis edibles that don’t need to be kept from going bad for a long time.
Avoid Eggs to Keep Cannabis Edibles From Going Bad
If you really want to maximize the shelf life of homemade cannabis edibles, consider using alternatives to eggs such as a flax egg. Consult a vegan friend for tips on how to use flax as a binder in your baking. If you want the best shelf life possible, but don’t want to use a vegan recipe, some cookies have no eggs to begin with. Shortbread cookies are held together with sugar or honey. They have no eggs, and that extends their shelf life. Anyone avoiding the gluten in flour can try these tasty almond flour shortbread cookies.
Do Edibles Expire?
Treat cannabis edibles the same way that you would treat the same food if it were not infused with cannabis. But what about homemade cannabis edibles? If your neighbor gifted you some cannabis infused pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, either invite some friends over for dinner to consume the entire pie, or you can freeze it for later use. However, at some point it will become freezer burnt and be very unpleasant to eat. Seal it up as well as you possibly can in an airtight container to prevent this.
If you follow all of our guidelines, you can keep your homemade cannabis butter and edibles from going bad for a long, long time. In addition, you can avoid making or buying more edibles than you need. The longest lasting, easiest to transport, and easiest to use edibles are our hemp derived Stoner Patch Delta 9 THC Gummies. We print a best by date on each package, and gummies last for weeks in a cool, dry place. However, the longer they are at room temperature, the more likely that mold spores may find their way into the packaging. You can give these gummies a very long life by keeping them in the freezer and thawing as necessary.