How To Make Cannabis Butter And Ways To Use It Home
Cannabis-infused foods are one of the greatest ways to consume marijuana. They are an excellent option for people who prefer highly potent and long-lasting effects.
Cannabis butter, also commonly referred to as cannabutter, is a simple yet vital ingredient for your cannabis-infused foods. It is undoubtedly the starting point for numerous cannabis preparations. With this versatile product, weed edibles possibilities are endless! Whether you prefer the iconic weed brownies, cookies, or chocolate bars, all you have to do is replace your regular butter with cannabutter.
Luckily, you don’t need to be a cannabis connoisseur to make highly potent cannabutter. But getting an appropriate infusion in your butter can be a bit tricky, and small details will dramatically influence the overall quality of your end product. So, you must be well informed, precise, and patient.
To activate your flower’s psychoactive and intoxicating properties, you’ll have to decarboxylate it first. Decarboxylation typically involves heating cannabis over low, slow heat. This ‘how to make cannabutter guide’ will take you step by step through the process of decarboxylation and making cannabutter.
The Basics Of High-Quality Cannabutter
Butter is a highly versatile and common carrier for THC and other cannabinoids. Other well-known carrier oils include olive oil and coconut oil. When using butter, it’s important to remember that it burns easily. Hence, your chances of overcooking cannabutter are high, compromising the flavor, aroma, and effects of your resulting product. For these reasons, you must keep a close eye on your cannabis butter as it cooks.
Let’s quickly go over the key points of making the best cannabutter out of your buds:
Ensure Top-Quality Marijuana: The quality of your cannabis flower primarily determines the potency of your cannabutter. Raw, fresh, or live cannabis plants contain THC in its acidic form THCA.
Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, abbreviated as THCA, is converted into the psychoactive and intoxicating THC when heated, for instance, during smoking. Knowing how much THCA is in your flower will help you determine the potency or strength of each batch of your cannabutter.
You will commonly find the THCA percentage listed on the lab report of any products you purchase from a dispensary. Generally, most cannabis strains possess 25% THCA, but don’t be surprised to find other strains that hit the 35% THCA mark. Strains with higher CBD amounts can have as low as 10% THCA.
Get Top-Quality Butter: Just like getting the best quality weed is essential, so is selecting your butter. Whether you use salted or unsalted butter, the most important thing is to ensure good quality for a better final product.
Grind Your Flower First: Grind your cannabis flower first before decarbing. But don’t grind too fine as the particles burn when heated to decarb.
Step #1: Decarboxylating Your Cannabis
A simple yet vital step that allows you to enjoy the psychoactive effects of your weed. Failing to decarb your weed results in a ‘weak’ end product that offers lackluster effects!
Requirements:
- Quality dried and cured flower
- Hand grinder
- Non-stick baking tray
- Aluminum foil
- Oven
Instructions:
- Preheat your oven to 240ºF.
- Grind your cannabis flower into coarse particles and spread them on the non-stick baking tray. Consider using a tray that hasn’t been used for cooking before. Alternatively, lay a piece of parchment paper over your used tray to prevent the weed from sticking.
- Bake the weed for 30-40 minutes while stirring it up every 5 minutes to ensure even decarboxylation.
- Do not bake the flower too much. Remove immediately the timer goes off after 40 minutes. Too much heat will evaporate the terpenes and break down the cannabinoids.
Step #2: Infusing Your Butter
Requirements:
- 1 cup high-quality butter
- 1 cup water
- 14 grams top-shelf decarboxylated weed. Please note that this amount of weed produces highly potent cannabutter.
- Medium saucepan
- Mesh strainer
- Candy thermometer (optional)
- Food-safe storage container
- Wooden spoon
Instructions:
- Put the saucepan on very low heat. Add your butter and water into the saucepan, and simmer until the butter starts melting.
- Add your decarboxylated weed into the melting butter and mix well with your wooden spoon—cover the mixture with a lid.
- Simmer the mixture for at least 4 hours while stirring every 30 minutes to ensure the butter is not burning. Use your candy thermometer to ensure the temperatures don’t go below 160 °F or exceed 180°F. The mixture must never come to a boil at any point!
- Turn off the heat immediately your timer goes off. Strain the mixture into a food-safe storage container via the mesh strainer.
- Seal the container and let the mixture cool to room temperature before using or refrigerating it for later use. Drain any excess water that may form. Note that cannabutter can last up to 6 months when stored in the freezer in an airtight mason jar.
Ways To Use Weed Butter At Home
Now that the ‘hard’ part is over let’s move on to the enjoyable part: cooking with your cannabutter! Depending on how you store your cannabutter, its shelf life can be relatively shorter than regular butter. Cannabutter can last up to 7-14 days when tightly sealed and refrigerated. Therefore, you want to make use of it as soon as possible.
How much cannabutter to use when baking or cooking depends on your weed butter’s potency and the effects you’re looking for. Cannabutter potency varies significantly depending on numerous factors like the strain used and how long you simmered.
People seeking highly potent cannabutter can consider simmering for 9-24 hours. This allows enough time to infuse as many cannabinoids and terpenes (flavor and aroma) into your butter, resulting in an incredibly potent and tasty final product.
You can increase or decrease the amount of cannabutter used in your recipe depending on the effects you’re looking for and your THC tolerance.
Final Thoughts
Cannabutter is an extremely versatile product that can be used in practically any recipe that utilizes oil or butter. Determining the most appropriate dosage for your homemade edibles can be difficult. Experts generally recommend testing different dosages and increasing or decreasing the dose as needed.
Weed butter happens to be one of our favorite cannabis consumption methods, and we’re sure it will be one of yours too!