Cannabis Cooking Tips for Thanksgiving Day

There are very few topics the masses can agree on, but the one thing uniting people this time of the year is the dread of a drama-filled Thanksgiving, complete with political spats and alcohol-spurred disputes.

Some might find comfort in online venting via the Thanksgiving Drama Reddit board, while others look to a little herbal therapy by infusing their holiday meal with cannabis. Yes, that's a thing.

For those who aren't sure of where to start, Chef Oscar Toro of New York City-based Jue Lin Club and Daniel Saynt, founder of private social group The New Society For Wellness, offer up a few tips for newbies. Saynt hosts an annual cannabis-infused Thanksgiving event dubbed "Danksgiving," which is whipped up with Toro's help.

Related: Healthy Thanksgiving Food: How to Make Lighter Mashed Potatoes That Taste Good

How do you decide which cannabis oil is best for the dishes?

The flavor profile of strains can vary from each type of cannabis based on the terpenes in the plant. For Dankquet, we choose oils and flowers that would best complement our meal, aiming for a more citrusy Limonene in our fruit-based relish and choose a musky Mycrene for our meatier portions. It's important to know the level of terpenes in your flower to best pair it with dishes and oils for the meal.

Which Thanksgiving dishes should you add cannabis oil to?

It works really well as a gravy since guests can choose portions of the amount they want. Mashed potatoes and stuffing are also good choices as they are used to equally distribute any oil or butter you're creating for the meal. I find it best to choose strains to share in various dishes and limit the potency to enjoy the food while keeping your dosage at a safe level. At the NSFW kitchen, we use a Levo oil infuser. It's like the Keurig of infused oil. [It's] super easy and a small amount of flower can go a long way providing over a cup of oil.

How do you keep guests from getting too high?

You don't want the meal to be overpowering, so we limit the amount of flower used in infusion. We also lead heavier on the first course and diminish potency throughout the meal so that the time for the first dose to kick in lines up with the second/third course. This entices the appetite and enhances the rest of our sitting. We also ask guests what their preference is and stay within a 10-25 mg of CBD oil per setting.

What is the trickiest part of cooking with cannabis oil?

Potency of the strain is the trickiest since you need to research a bit to find out. Also, the type of oil you use is important and how you infuse. If you're making butters at home, it's usually best to infuse directly with pre-made CBD oils. We use CBD from Care by Design, which mixes easily in butter. If you don't have an oil infuser or don't plan to mix CBD in directly, you want to be careful with the amount of cannabis you use for your butter.

Final note: be careful with CBD and other oils

Of course, it's important to note that this approach to dealing with family drama should be exercised with caution. Psychologist Aaron Mishara, PhD and professor at The Chicago School of Psychology, told Newsweek in an email that cannabidol oil is thought to have some therapeutic effects for anxiety and depression. However, Biomedical researcher Nicholas DiPatrizio, Ph.D., at the University of California Riverside, said people should be aware that there's not a lot of science to show how CBD works in the body. Furthermore, oils are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so consumers are putting their trust in unknown companies.

"How do you know what chemical is really in that?" he asks. "Whose lab analyzed that?"

Or, there's another potential option for those seeking solace from crazy family: booking a European getaway instead. Maybe next year.