If you’ve never consumed CBD hemp flowers before, you may be wondering how you could make the most of the experience. What’s great is that you can choose from several different ways to consume CBD-rich flower buds from the hemp plant.

Here’s how you can use CBD hemp flower buds, and how to take the most advantage of them.

Smoke Hemp Flower Buds

Smoking dry hemp flowers is still a very popular way to consume CBD. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a particularly healthy way to do it.

It’s easy, convenient, and the effects are almost instant, so many people stick to it. However, as you know, smoking comes with toxic chemicals that could endanger your health, which is why we don’t recommend it.

If you choose any of the following ways to use hemp flowers rich in cannabidiol, you’ll avoid combustion and toxins from the smoke.

Vape CBD Hemp Flowers

Vaping CBD hemp flowers are quickly becoming the best way to experience the numerous benefits of cannabidiol. Just like with smoking, it takes several minutes to feel the effects, but you get less toxic materials in your system.

That’s because you don’t burn your flower buds, but instead heat them to a specific temperature. The heat then creates vapor, through which you safely inhale CBD.

There’s a wealth of dry herb vaporizers to choose from and heat your flower buds. To make the most of the experience, you should also buy a grinder. It will eliminate the need to crush the buds with your fingers and make a mess.

Make CBD Edibles from Hemp Flowers

CBD hemp flowers are fantastic for making edibles rich in CBD. If you use most of the available recreational cannabis buds, you might ingest a lot of THC. If that’s not your cup of tea, stick to CBD-rich industrial hemp that contains no more than 0.3% THC – or none at all.

Now, CBD edibles have lower bioavailability, since CBD doesn’t go directly into your bloodstream. Your digestive system degrades most of the CBD content, so you feel the effects that are less potent compared to vaping or smoking.

They last longer, though, but they also take longer to kick in. When you eat a CBD edible, you won’t feel the effects until about an hour later.

However, that can be great if you need CBD to alleviate chronic pain, for example. If you need instant pain relief, vaping, or smoking CBD may help. However, if you want to eliminate pain for several hours, then CBD edibles with longer-lasting, albeit less potent effects, might be a better idea.

Activate CBD Before Using It in Cooking

Dry hemp flowers don’t contain CBD. They contain its precursor – CBDa, that is, cannabidiolic acid. CBDa isn’t much different from CBD, but the latter provides many more benefits.

To activate CBD, you need to heat your dry hemp flower buds. Using them in cooking will involve heat, but the right way to activate CBD is to heat them prior to adding them to food.

The process is called decarboxylation. It requires heating the flower buds at 250°F.

The first step is to crush the buds to spread them evenly on aluminum foil that you’ll place on a baking sheet. Next, put them on a tray and leave them in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Once the process is done, let the CBD hemp flowers cool before adding them to your food.

Extract CBD from Dry Hemp Flowers

While you can use decarboxylated CBD hemp flowers in cooking, you may not like the taste unless you extract CBD first. The extraction process is also straightforward.

The first thing you need to do is find the right carrier for CBD – your best option is butter. Take your activated CBD hemp flowers and mix them with a cup of butter in a pan.

Cook them on very low heat for about half an hour before straining the mixture with a cheesecloth. Et voila – you have your CBD-infused butter (the so-called cannabutter) that you can easily use for a wide variety of CBD edibles. You can make chocolate chip cookies, brownies, ice cream, or anything else that requires butter.

Before trying CBD hemp flowers, make sure you find a trustworthy vendor. Check all the ingredients, hemp growing standards, and third-party lab testing results. Find organic CBD hemp flowers that don’t contain additives, GMOs, or chemicals to boost plant growth.

Once you find the right provider and choose your desired way of consuming the CBD flowers, make sure you start with a small dosage. It’s the best way to experience the benefits, and you can easily work your way up if need be.