cannabutter

One topic which has been catching interest has been how to make cannabutter, or cannabis infused butter. It’s not an overly hard task to follow a weed butter recipe, however it is important to get the precise measurements right and you really don’t want the heat too high, but I’ll get into that in just a moment.

Warning: I am not promoting taking high THC levels of cannabis, I’m merely offering a recipe to a popular food product.

Why Make Cannabutter?

For most, you’re not making this so you have an interesting addition to your toast in the morning, the real reason is the chance to make other cannabis edibles.

The cannabutter is used heavily when making various brownies or cookies. Ensuring it is properly combined at the start will make the whole cooking process much more smooth.

Also, cannabutter allows you to consume your CBD levels (or THC) without having to smoke anything, as many people aren’t fans of smoking (or vaping for that matter).

Decarboxylation

Decarboxylation is the process of heating the cannabis in order to activate its compounds and to allow the psychoactive effects to be at their best levels. Decarboxylation changes the structure of the cannabinoids, transforming THCA to THC and CBDA to CBD.

You must always decarb the cannabis before you infuse it!

Cannabutter Recipe

Due to different strengths of cannabis, it can be incredibly hard to give a precise dosage, as it will vary depending on what you have, so this is a general guideline.

  • 14 grams of cannabis (1/2 an ounce)
  • 1 cup of butter
  • 250ml water (1 cup)

You’ll find some recipes highlighting slightly more than half an ounce of cannabis, yet 100% of people I’ve asked who have made cannabis butter have said it was completely pointless going over this amount.

Instructions

  1. First is that heated step I mentioned earlier, known as decarboxylation. You preheat your oven to 115°C, or for my American friends, 240°F.
  2. Place the ground cannabis onto a baking sheet and cook it in the oven for 40 minutes (this may vary depending on how much you cook). Make sure it is evenly spread out. Old cannabis will take slightly less, while freshly harvested cannabis might take up to one hour. It’s important you stir the cannabis every 10 minutes to ensure it doesn’t burn and it doesn’t stick to the baking sheet.
  3. In the final few minutes, add the butter and water to a pan and cook it on the hob at a low heat.
  4. Once the cannabis has turned dark green/brown and the butter has melted, add the cannabis to the pan and simmer on a low heat, making sure to stir occasionally. You can leave the pan uncovered. Leave to simmer for 3 hours, but you need to make sure it is never boiling.
  5. Strain the mixture with a funnel or a sieve into a jar or a dish. You can also use a spoon to softly push against the mixture in order to squeeze out every drop, but DON’T push too hard as it can make the taste a bit too intense. Afterwards, you can dispose of the waste matter left in the sieve.
  6. Allow the butter to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate the butter or use it immediately. You can also freeze the weed butter if you prefer.

Best Unsalted Butter For Cannabutter

You might wonder whether the reason for opting for unsalted butter is to do with health factors, which does play in a little, but the real reason is that you have complete control of the actual taste. In most recipes that you’ll need cannabis butter, you want a creamy butter taste and the salted versions can ruin this.

I’ve also read a number of tests where they blind tasted a salted and unsalted version of cupcakes and brownies and the unsalted version always won.

HowDaily highlights that Vital farms pasture-raised butter is the best for buttercream, while TasteOfHome chose Shurfine. Food52 chose Trader Joe’s, stating the testers highlighted it as “extra buttery” and having a “nice butter flavour”.

One thing that did come out of researching the different options was that price wasn’t always the key factor, as many of the decently priced butters performed just as well, if not better, than the premium options. If you can get hold of any of the unsalted butters highlighted above then I’d opt for them, or if you have any recommendations, let everyone know in the comments below.

Safety Measures

I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing an article such as this without adding a little section on careful dosage and consideration of THC concentrations. Once you’ve made your butter, always spread a little onto something and give it a try to get an initial test of how it affects you after an hour or two. You can then adjust how much you use in your cooking based on the effects it has on you.

I hope you found this article useful. I’ll probably try and do a follow up article on fun ways to use cannabis butter.

How To Make Cannabutter In A Slow Cooker

If you’re like me, then you’re a massive fan of making things in the slow cooker and leaving it cooking while I work in the other room. Cannabis Butter is a great option for a slow cooker. You follow all the guideline directions above, however once you get to the stage of simmering for 3 hours, you place it in the slow cooker rather than in a pan.

You can adjust the time based on what heat you put it in, with medium taking 3-4 hours and slow taking 6 hours (some may vary). The important thing if leaving it for a long period of time is just to occasionally check on it.

Can You Use A Slow Cooker To Make The Weed Butter?

While the initial process should be performed using an oven, being the decarboxylation, following this, you just need the melted butter, water and cooked cannabis to cook on a low heat.

For this reason, it is possible to transition these ingredients over to a slow cooker, put it on low or medium and leave cooking for 2-5 hours, depending on quantities.

When Making Cannabutter, What Is The Ratio?

When it comes to baking, ratios and calculations are everything and this is especially important when making weed butter.

You want to target a 50:50 ratio of water to butter, however some prefer a 60:40 ratio.

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By Tom Bourlet

Being based in Brighton, I have directly witnessed the CBD industry grow and prosper, albeit witnessing the difficulties around legislation and the lack of transparency. I therefore decided to become a neutral viewpoint offering genuine reviews, advice and guidance.

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