Even people who have never smoked marijuana in their entire lives know what it smells like, but what about the smell of edibles? Is it evident? Do they smell at all?
Marijuana’s strong smell (see also “Best Smell Proof Bags“) makes it challenging to keep it a secret or keep it tucked away without having to wrap it 100 times with cling film or put it in sealed bags (sounds familiar?) .
So, do edibles share the same strong smell as marijuana or can you have them at home without your guests finding out?
Keep reading below to find out!
Do Edibles Smell?
The answer is both yes and no: no for most of the readily cooked edibles but yes for those that are still being cooked or prepared.
Cooking weed edibles or attempting to make cannabis butter or oil will undoubtedly result in a powerful and notable odor that can dominate your condo or house.
In general, cooking marijuana produces odors comparable to those produced when you smoke a joint.
However, depending on how much and how long you cook your marijuana, the odors released can end up being way stronger than those of your bong!
On the other hand, store-bought edibles are typically ‘free’ from any marijuana smells, and even when you have finished cooking your homemade edibles, the smell usually goes away.
Nevertheless, there are cases when you can still slightly smell the marijuana both in store-bought and homemade cooked edibles.
Can I Prevent The Smell Of My Edibles While I’m Cooking Them?
To be frank, you probably won’t be able to do that. Although it is feasible to produce odorless CBD products in special facilities, if you are making edibles at home, you are likely to use something stinky.
All cooking methods that employ decarboxylated marijuana will produce the typical marijuana aroma: strong and weedy.
Attempting to avoid the intense smell of weed when you cook your edibles is more about preparing and trying to mitigate the smell than it is about hoping weed won’t smell, because it will.
So, while we can’t make the weed’s smell go away just like we can’t make flowers stop smelling like they do, we have some advice on how you can minimize the smell of weed while you are cooking your edibles.
How Can I Minimize The Weed Smell When Cooking It?
Use The Oven Fan
To minimize the odor, turn on the oven fan to high speed prior to cooking.
This will help to distribute and remove some of the smell, but if somebody familiar with the odor of cannabis pops by, they will most probably still be able to tell what you’ve been up to
Cover Up The Smell With Other Smells
Another way you can cover up the smell of weed is by placing many lit scented candles or sticks around the kitchen and the rest of the floor space.
In addition, dropping some powerful essential oils into an aroma lamp, such as lemongrass, lavender, or spearmint, is a fantastic way to remove the marijuana smell and may even be enough to cover up the smells from your previous bong nights.
Cook Smaller Weed Quantities
Cooking smaller quantities of weed is considered one of the best ways to reduce the unpleasant odors of edibles (see also “Why Don’t Edibles Get Me High?“).
As with cigarettes, the more marijuana you burn, the stronger your place will smell.
You can prevent the smell of cooking edibles if you use less marijuana since the ratio of the other ingredients and the edible to weed will be sufficient to prevent the overpowering and spreading odor of marijuana.
Nevertheless, even this approach will not result in a complete eradication of the weed smell, so use it in combination with the other tricks to achieve the best results.
Be Alone When Cooking
If you choose to cook with your friends, then it is likely you will skip some if not all of the steps required to eliminate the odor of your edibles as they cook.
Even though cooking edibles with friends is more fun and you can do it any time you want, if you want to make sure your place won’t smell afterward or for days, it’s best to cook alone so that you can focus on and take all precautions to minimize the weed smell.
Especially when you are cooking weed at your parents’ place and you don’t want them to know, you need to be fast and efficient.
This means you need to be on your own, go through all the steps carefully, light up the candles, turn the oven fan, and use less weed which your friends might have prevented you from doing.
Which Edibles Smell?
When buying cannabis gummies and candy (see also “Wana Gummies Review“), there is not an evident cannabis odor. However, they frequently have a subtle cannabis flavor profile.
Several items, such as cannabis pastries, might have a mild yet noticeable cannabis aroma, but you usually need to be aware of what it is you want to smell to realize it is there.
In these cases, putting the edibles in an airtight or at least tightly sealed container or bag will almost certainly cover up the odor to the point where it is undetectable by most people.
A few goods, such as cannabis firecrackers, do, nevertheless, possess a significant cannabis odor (Also check out How To Make Firecracker Edibles).
Do Edibles Leave Your Breath Or Yourself Smelling Of Weed?
Even though there are edibles that smell, consuming them does not mean you or your breath will smell too.
Your clothes can only smell if you wear them while cooking the edibles, not when you eat them, whereas your breath will smell mostly of food; there might be a slight smell of weed but it will most probably go unnoticed.
On the other hand, if you start running right away and sweat, then yes, you will smell, so have an antiperspirant with you to use, just in case.
The Bottom Line
Edibles smell mostly when cooking them, but many smell even when you consume them, but the smell is way less noticeable in the latter case.
However, if you want to make sure no one will know you cooked or ate edibles, you need to follow our tips when cooking the edibles and shower and brush your teeth after eating them!
Hi, I’m Zack Finch and I work as a Budtender for a Health & Wellness center here, in sunny California. I have been using marijuana recreationally for around 6 years now, and have many a time enjoyed the benefit that weed has to offer.
Whether you’re looking for informational guides about edibles, vape oil, CBD, how to roll a cross joint, the best blunt wraps, anything you can think of, I’ll cover it here.
What are you waiting for? Become a bud buddy and dive in now!
