High Buy: LEVO II Oil-Infusion Machine
With snowflakes already falling, it’s a known fact that life for locals in High Country is pretty uneventful until the lifts start spinning. Aside from focusing on work and taking ski-conditioning classes, the other way I’m passing the time is experimenting in the kitchen.
I had only cooked with cannabis for special occasions, but when a LEVO landed on my countertop last fall, infusing oils and butters became as easy as the press of a button. With touchscreen control settings, internal straining and dishwasher-safe parts, using a LEVO is so simple (and fun) that I’m cranking out batches of bud-enhanced blends to go with most meals. What I’ve coined as “the KitchenAid of Cannabis” also works just as well to pair popular herbs from basil to rosemary with oils from grapeseed to sesame.
Since it first hit shelves in 2017, the Denver-based startup has sold 10,000 units of the appliance and is available in 850 retail locations nationwide. Now, the company has just released the LEVO II—an even more streamlined experience packed with improved features and innovative technology along with a companion app to program infusions wirelessly.
LEVO II retails for $349.99, comes in five different colors and is available on the company’s website (levooil.com). Locally, it will hit shelves at Silverpeak, where you can currently find the first-edition in the boutique, in early-December.
For those who decide to splurge on a LEVO, here’s my recipe for a favorite seasonal squash—best served as a side dish or atop an arugula salad:
LEVO CANNABIS INFUSED OLIVE OIL
Ingredients
• 2.5 grams of dry cannabis flower; break down by hand (do not grind)
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Preparation:
• Set LEVO to infuse at 170 degrees for 2.5 hours
Dosage:
• It depends on the percentage of THC in the dry cannabis flower you decide to use. With 2.5 grams of a modest 10 percent THC strain, 1 cup of infused olive oil contains 250 milligrams, which measures out to approximately 15 milligrams per tablespoon.
• The recipe contains 30 milligrams total of THC. Split among two people and taking into consideration that some oil gets burned off and left on the pan, expect to consume 10 milligrams of THC, the standard, regulated dose found in pre-packaged edibles for sale.
HIGH COUNTRY DELICATA SQUASH
Yield: Serves 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
• 1 large Delicata squash
• 2 tablespoons cannabis infused olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• Himalayan pink salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Leaving skin on (it’s edible and provides for a perfect crunch), halve the squash lengthwise and de-seed; cut halves into 1/2-inch slices
• Arrange on a small baking sheet
• Brush will cannabis infused olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Bake for 20 minutes, flip squash rings over and brush again with cannabis infused olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Add drizzle of maple syrup and bake for 15 more minutes until crisp and golden brown
• Add salt and pepper to taste and serve
Katie Shapiro can be reached at katie@katieshapiromedia.com or followed on Twitter @kshapiromedia.
