Cannabutter is the foundation of many delicious edibles like the classic brownies, cookies, and whatever sweet treat that you may have in mind. Without this, those edibles just won’t make the cut.
With that said, not all cannabis butter are made the same. Every recipe has different proportions and different kinds of strains. In this article, you’ll find out more about the essential ingredients for edibles as well as how to make it at home.
The Most Crucial Step
Making cannabutter is not as simple as mixing the buds with melted butter. The first step is called decarboxylation, which means extracting and fully activating the THC from the marijuana plant.
To do this, lay out the plants on a flat baking sheet and bake it for 40 minutes while occasionally rotating the sheet.
You’ll end up with dried crumbly cannabis leaves that are ready for the next step. This is probably the most important step especially if you want your butter to be potent.
Remember, your butter can only be as good as the Marijuana you use. The type of strain will also have a huge effect as well, and it is up to your volition which one you want to use.
A lot of Cannabis aficionados on the Internet have come up with several tricks to make the butter extra potent. Some of these alternatives are adding coconut oil and soy lecithin to the recipe or using extra fine ground leaves. With this in mind, you should also know how much you could handle to not “overload” the butter.
It’s important to keep the THC at a level of which you can handle to keep the edible experience pleasant.
Just like in all things baking, the ratio is everything. Most Cannabis strains have 10% THC, and
anything higher than that would be too strong. Calculating the THC dosage in edibles is quite the science, however, it’s pretty valuable information so that you can more or less know how strong the effect your edibles will have.
As for the golden ratio, 5mg of THC per serving is pretty good for beginners. Jessica Catalano, the author of “The Ganja Kitchen Revolution,” created a formula. Each gram of Marijuana bud – assuming that it has 10% THC, has 100mg of THC. With that amount, you can now divide it into servings. With this in mind, you can now be extra careful when it comes to making cannabis butter at home.
When it comes to the butter, just be consistent with how much a particular recipe calls for and take it from there. Recipes are there for a reason and of course, they are meant to be followed. What’s important here is the amount of Marijuana that you use.
The Mother of the Mother of All Edibles
Space brownies, cookies, and cakes won’t be possible if you don’t have cannabutter to use. However, it is safe to say that the creation of THC-infused butter has been incredibly helpful for medical Marijuana patients to ingest the drug other than just smoking.
This is why edibles are popular. Not everyone is a fan of smoking, and many fear the health issues that it entails. With edibles, they are able to ingest the drug gastrointestinally and at the same time, they can enjoy a good meal.
Making good cannabis butter will help in creating very good edibles as well. A lot of users prefer using unsalted butter, while some prefer using full cream butter. While there is no concrete research regarding which type of butter absorbs THC better, it is up to your liking which type of butter you’d like to use in your recipes.
Make Some at Home!
There are many recipes online, but if you’re looking for a basic one that you can whip up at home, check out this recipe from Leafly. It has two methods, stovetop and with a slow cooker. The author preferred the slow cooker version, however, if you don’t have one at home, you can still go for the first option.
Two Variations for Making Cannabis-Infused Butter (or “Cannabutter)
By Leafly
“Ingredients:
- 1 lb unsalted butter
- 1 cup water (add more water at any time if needed)
- 1 ounce of ground cannabis flower or 1 1/2 ounces of high-quality cannabis trim (this amount will make some pretty potent butter, so decrease the amount of cannabis if you want a recipe that delivers lighter doses)
Note: Some people also use the remnants of vaporized cannabis, as many vaporizers fail to decarboxylate all of the THC in flower.
Stove Top Method:
- Add one cup of water and 1 lb of butter into a stock pot or saucepan and let it melt and begin to simmer on low. Adding water helps to regulate the temperature and prevents the butter from scorching.
- As the butter begins to melt, add in your ground cannabis product.
- Maintain low heat and let the mixture simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Make sure the mixture never comes to a full boil.
Slow Cooker Method (The Leafly author’s favorite):
- Turn slow cooker onto low and add in 1 cup of water, 1 lb of unsalted butter, and 1 to 1 1/2 ounces of ground cannabis flower.
- Cover slow cooker and let simmer on low for 8 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally. When it comes to infusing butter, the longer you let the cannabis product simmer, the more cannabinoids will be infused into the final product.
For Both Methods:
- After simmering for your desired amount of time, pour the hot mixture into a glass, refrigerator-safe container, using a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer to strain out all plant product from the butter mixture. Squeeze or press the plant material to get as much liquid off of the plant product as possible. Discard leftover plant material.
- Cover and refrigerate remaining liquid overnight or until the butter is fully hardened. Once hardened, the butter will separate from the water, allowing you to lift the now infused canna-butter from the water to use in your recipes. Discard remaining water after removing the hardened canna-butter.
- Let the canna-butter sit at room temperature to soften for immediate use. Do not use a microwave to soften the butter.”
You are on your way to creating some marvelous cannabutter for your THC-infused recipes!
Do you have any tips and tricks for making cannabutter?
Feel free to share it with the community.
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Temperature for oven in 1st step??