Make Cannabutter: Easy Steps to Create It

Do you want to create your cannabutter? You don’t have to be knowledgeable about cooking to make one! Making cannabutter is easy and requires no specialized equipment. You can make it with just the tools you have at home! This article will tackle everything you need and some easy steps on how to make cannabutter.

What is Cannabutter?

Before we dive into the cooking to make cannabutter, lets first discuss what cannabutter is.

Cannabis butter or cannabutter is considered to be the ultimate icon of the cannabis edibles world. As the name implies, it is a mixture of cannabis and butter. It is prevalent among cannabis users who choose healthy and smoke-free options. It is the main ingredient of almost all cannabis edibles, which include brownies and cookies. First in line are the edibles and other forms of it.

Since it has butter, which is an excellent fat source, it can absorb fat-soluble cannabinoids. Depending on the use of cannabutter, it can contain only CBD or a combination of CBD and THC if the user wants to experience the high feeling.

As we all know, cannabis is not just about being high. It has a lot of medical health benefits to offer. It is also known to help alleviate pain, vomiting, nausea, uplift mood, enhance memory, improve sleep quality, and increase appetite.

While cannabis is traditionally consumed through smoking, cannabutter provides a smoke-free option to enjoy this amazing plant’s benefits. If your main enemy is smoke or you have conditions that are triggered by the smoke, Cannabutter can be included in your list.

Now that we know more details about cannabutter let’s now head to the kitchen and begin preparing to make cannabutter.

What are the Things you Need to Make Cannabutter?

The first thing is we need to prepare the utensils and other hardware and the ingredients we need to use to make cannabutter. This includes:

Hardware and Utensils

  • Spatula or large spoon
  • Saucepan or pot
  • Large bowl
  • Strainer
  • Cheesecloth
  • Airtight container

Ingredients

  • ¼ ounce cannabis buds
  • ½ cup of unsalted butter

Note: If you are a vegan, don’t like butter, or hoping for butter alternatives, you can use coconut oil. It has a high-fat content that can help absorb the cannabinoids.

Decarboxylation

The estimated total time to make cannabutter is about an hour provided that all materials and ingredients are already available. However, there is a method that must be done on cannabis before proceeding to make cannabutter. This method is called decarboxylation.

Scientifically speaking, decarboxylation is the process of removing carboxyl from a compound. By removing carboxyl, the cannabinoids obtain an enhanced ability to interact with the body’s receptors. It is essential since weed that is not decarboxylated does not contain active THC, which is the compound that is responsible for giving off the high feeling.

So how is decarboxylation done?

Raw weed does not contain active cannabinoids, which are THC and CBD. Instead, it contains tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). To convert THCA and CBDA into THC and CBD, decarboxylate the weed means to heat it. By heating THCA and CBDA, they turn into active compounds of THC and CBD, respectively.

Decarboxylating weed is easy. Here are the simple steps:

  1. Preheat the oven to 240°F.
  2. Place cannabis on a baking sheet.
  3. Cook for about 30 to 40 minutes. If the cannabis is fresh, the cooking time will be adjusted to 1 hour. If the cannabis is older or drier, the cooking time will be shortened to 20 minutes.
  4. Stir and rotate the cannabis every 10 minutes to prevent burning.
  5. When the color changes from bright green to dark brown-green, your weed is now decarboxylated.

Note: Be sure to maintain the oven’s heat at 240°F. It should not exceed since it can destroy the terpenes, which are oil compounds that are responsible for the flavor, smell, and medical benefit of cannabis.

Can I skip the decarboxylation process?

You might hear that some cannabis users skip this process when making cannabutter or any other cooking that uses marijuana. They may say that the infusion of cannabis into the butter already heats it and activates the cannabinoids to some extent. While this may be true, there are drawbacks to this.

If you don’t decarboxylate your weed before cooking, it will make your cannabis-infused edibles taste terrible. Also, you are just wasting your weed. While the infusion process may activate the cannabinoids, you will not achieve the maximum potency that your weed can offer, especially for the THC. Through decarboxylation of weed before cooking, you will be guaranteed that you will make most of your weed.

How to Make CannaButter

Now that you have decarboxylated your weed. It is now time to begin to make cannabutter. Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can make cannabutter easy and without mistakes.

  1. Grind the decarboxylated cannabis chunks until you obtain an excellent powder-like state. By doing this, it greatly increases the surface area of the herb and lends a maximum absorption.
  2. Place the butter on a saucepan and melt it on low heat.
  3. Add handfuls of the ground cannabis. Stir thoroughly every time you add a handful of ground cannabis.
  4. Simmer the mixture on low heat for 45 minutes. Don’t forget to stir it frequently and thoroughly.
  5. After simmering, strain the mixture into a large bowl. It will filter out significant remnants of the bud.
  6. Use a spatula or spoon to pressure the bud on the strainer. The spatula will squeeze out the cannabinoid-infused butter that is left behind.
  7. Re-strain the mixture through a fine cheesecloth. This will out more excellent bud dust that may have gotten through the strainer. You are looking to obtain a green-tinted oil, which will be set into a green block.
  8. Place the mixture on an airtight container and store it in the fridge.
  9. Enjoy your Cannabutter. Use it for any recipes that you can think of. You will surely enjoy your meal while gaining the benefits of cannabis.

Cannabutter Dosing

Now that you know how to make cannabutter, you can now make your cannabis-infused edibles. However, there is one thing that you should keep in mind.

We will encounter some labels on the packaging about the dosage of cannabis per serving when we purchase cannabis-infused edibles from our trusted stores. These cannabis-infused edibles are carefully tested in the laboratory so that each piece or each serving does not exceed the recommended dosage.

If you are going to make edibles at home with your cannabutter, it is important to keep in mind the proper dosage. Remember, we want to enjoy the medical and recreational benefits of cannabis. We should avoid getting overdosed with the cannabinoids since anything too much has its negative setbacks. Also, we don’t want to make our edibles underdosed, and it will just completely waste our efforts.

You are using too much cannabis, while cooking is a common mistake for some cannabis users. Cooking with cannabis is not like tasting the soup that you are cooking to check if it lacks salt and pepper. The effects of cannabis, when turned into edibles, take time to kick in. That is why you can’t just taste it while cooking and conclude that it still needs more cannabis. You will end up getting overdosed with this.

When starting, it is alright to follow the saying of less is more. Achieving concentration takes a lot of practice and trials. For cannabutter, the potency is affected due to a variety of factors. It may be due to the strength of the plant you used, the temperature it was cooked, or how long it was cooked. To test for the potency of your finished product, try it for yourself. You can grab a simple biscuit or cookie and spread about ¼ to ½ teaspoon of your cannabutter. Eat it and see for yourself how the dosage affected you after an hour. If you still are not getting your desired outcome, try increasing it with another ¼ or ½ teaspoon of your cannabutter. When you achieve the results, you are yearning for, and you can use that measurement as a guide when you start cooking cannabis-infused edibles.

Outlook

It is easy to make cannabutter. Just carefully follow the steps written so that you will not make any mistakes in cooking like completely ruining the medical health benefits of cannabis that you are yearning for. When you got the hang of it, you can use your cannabutter in creating cannabis-infused edibles. Don’t limit yourself to just cookies and brownies, and there are more recipes in which you can use your cannabutter. Remember, it is just essentially butter infused with cannabis. So, you could try other dishes that use butter and replace it with your cannabutter. If you are unsure of what to do, just remember that consistency is the key. Follow the required ratios as well as the cannabutter dosing you have measured. Practice and keep trying until you achieve the results that you are aiming for. Cannabutter has different uses that can be beneficial to everyone’s health.