Hold on; you don’t need to be a cannabis connoisseur to make some incredible cannabis-infused butter. You don’t have to be a master chef either; all you need is the correct information, patience and precision and our simple ‘how to make cannabutter recipe’
Cannabis-infused butter, aka cannabutter, is the key to a magical homemade edibles journey. You can infuse weed into nearly any type of fat based oil from coconut oil, olive oil, to avocado oil. But infusing it into butter to bake or cook is the most versatile and common way.
Cannabutter works wonders for your edibles, allowing you to enjoy the full effects of your weed. While the process of making cannabutter is not complicated, it is fundamentally a methodical one, requiring you to be extra keen in every step while considering the ingredients’ quantity and cannabis dosing.
To make strong cannabutter, you must begin by decarboxylating your weed. Decarboxylation activates the cannabinoids in weed, making it psychoactive and highly potent.
This recipe provides a step-by-step guide on how to make cannabutter at home. But before that, we’ll walk you through the simple process of decarboxylating your weed, and finally, we’ll provide tips on how to make cannabutter stronger.
The first and vital step: Decarboxylating cannabis
This process is simple yet very necessary to enjoy the psychoactive effects of weed. Skipping it results in a ‘weak’ end product, with minimal amounts of THC and CBD.
When smoking or vaping weed, the heat applied instantly converts the THCA and CBDA in raw cannabis to active THC and CBD. That’s the reason why you experience a euphoric high. In the same way, you’ll need to activate weed (decarbing) by baking it in your oven as follows:
Ingredients for decarboxylating cannabis
- High quality and dried cannabis flower
- Baking tray
- Aluminum foil
- Oven
How to make cannabutter recipe
- Preheat your oven to 240 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line your baking tray with aluminum foil and break your flower into smaller particles using your hands. Spread the particles so they aren’t overlapping, and cover them lightly with a sheet of aluminum foil.
- Bake the weed for about 30 minutes. Check it every 10 minutes and mix gently so it doesn’t burn.
- Remove your herb from the oven once the timer goes off. Its color should change from green to a pleasing golden brown.
- Allow the decarboxylated weed to cool for a few minutes, then grind it coarsely using an appropriate grinder.
- The next step is to infuse the butter right away (making cannabutter).
Step two: infusing your butter
Ingredients for cannabutter
- 1 cup of unsalted, quality butter
- 1 cup of water
- 14 grams of high-quality decarboxylated weed. Note that this amount of weed produces strong cannabutter.
- Medium-sized saucepan
- Mesh strainer/Cheesecloth
- Food-safe storage container
- Wooden spoon
- Candy thermometer
Instructions
- Add your butter and 1 cup of water into the saucepan and simmer on low heat until the butter begins to melt.
- The next step is to add your coarsely ground weed into the melting butter. Mix the contents with a wooden spoon and cover with a lid.
- Let it simmer gently for 3-4 hours while occasionally stirring to ensure it isn’t burning. Using a candy thermometer, ensure the heat doesn’t go below 160 degrees Fahrenheit or above 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Note that your mixture should not come to a boil at any point.
- Remove the saucepan from heat once the timer goes off and strain the contents through a cheesecloth into the food-safe storage container.
- Seal the container and refrigerate the butter. Drain any excess water that may form.
- an start by decarboxylating your weed depending on the effects that you’re looking for.
- Add your grounded cannabis and dried chamomile flower to a tea infuser and let it steep for at least 5-10 minutes.
- Add your coconut milk/sugar/cannabis-infused honey to taste.
How to cook with cannabutter
Now that your highly potent cannabutter is ready, the next step is to make use of it. Note that, unlike your regular butter, cannabutter shelf life is much shorter – 1-2 weeks when tightly wrapped and stored in the fridge and up to 6 months when stored in the freezer.
Therefore, you want to bake and cook with your cannabutter as soon as possible, using the appropriate dosage. How much cannabutter you use in your meals/edibles depends on its potency. Cannabutter potency varies depending on factors like the strain of weed used (Indica/Sativa) and how long you simmered it.
Some people prefer to simmer their cannabutter for more than 4 hours, sometimes up to 8-24 hours. This allows enough time to extract most of the cannabinoids and flavor while slowly infusing it in the butter for a highly potent end product.
In addition, the stronger your weed, the more potent your finished cannabutter will be. As such, you can increase or decrease the amount of weed in your cannabutter recipe depending on your tolerance and the effects you’re looking for.
Recipes to use your cannabutter with
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What are the best marijuana strains to make cannabutter with?
You can make cannabutter with any cannabis strain, so it just depends what your desired outcome is and what your favourite strains are. I tend to just use whatever strains I smoke, but if you don’t smoke marijuana and this is your first time making edibles then start by asking yourself why you want to make cannabutter. If you simply want to get high, then use a high THC strain such as Gorilla Glue, however if you looking for a strain that will relieve aches and pains then choosing a strain that combines both CBD and THC such as Harlequin or CBD queen.
Gorilla Glue – Great for getting high
If you really want to get stoned with your cannabutter then you can’t go far wrong with Gorilla Glue. Producing up to 32% THC Gorilla Glue is super potent and not too difficult to grow. Despite being low in CBD Gorilla Glue is also widely used for pain relief, insomnia and stress management. Just remember, it can take an hour for THC to get into your system when consuming edibles so go easy on the cannabutter when using highly potent strains.
Harlequin – Great for pain relief (9% CBD)
An excellent strain for those that are making cannabutter for medicinal purposes. Harlequin contains around a 1:1 ratio of CBD and THC making it ideal for pain relief, stress, relation and insomnia without that groggy feeling some users experience with high THC strains.
Amnesia Haze – Great for staying active
A cross of sativa landrace parent strains, Amnesia Haze is a perfect strain to use in your cannabutter recipe for those that prefer a more active high. Amnesia Haze produces around 18-20% THC but thanks to its sativa genetics still allows you to function on tasks, some users even claim that it improves focus.
