This guide to making cannabutter is adapted from ‘The Art of Weed Butter’ by Mennlay Golokeh Aggrey, with further reporting by Zoe Denenberg. It’s part of our Guide to Cooking With, Eating, and Truly Enjoying Weed.
Cannabutter can transform brownie batter, cookie dough, or just about any recipe into a batch of homemade edibles—and you don’t have to be a master chef or cannabis connoisseur to make it. All you need to make weed into butter is patience, organization, a reliable recipe, and some understanding of dosing. Following the same method, you can also make infused chili crisp to drizzle on noodles or elevated coconut oil to coat kettle corn.
The following weed butter recipe loosely translates into 30 mg of THC per tablespoon of oil or butter. Your perfect dose will vary, but 10 mg is standard. Start by testing ¼ tsp. of the weed butter you make and wait for about an hour. (If this is your first time experimenting with edibles, note that the effects take longer to set in than when inhaling.) Take note of how you feel and let your body tell you whether this is a good amount, or if you need more or less. Erring on the side of caution will ensure that you have a positive experience.
How to Make Cannabutter for Edibles
What is cannabutter?Cannabis-infused butter, or cannabutter, is one of the simplest and most common ways to make edibles. Butter is an ideal medium for cannabis infusion because it’s delicious, versatile to use, and THC needs to bind to fat molecules, which are abundant in butter (as well as oils such as coconut, olive, and vegetable oil).
The infusion process takes a few hours, but it’s easy to do and this recipe will show you how to do it.
As with all edibles, start low and go slow: After making food with cannabutter, try a little bit first, wait 45-60 minutes for effects to kick in, and have more only if you want stronger effects.
Prep: 1h
Total: 4h
Yield: 16
Nutrition Facts: calories 102 calories, Fat 11.5 g, Saturated Fat 7.3 g, Cholesterol 31 g, Sodium 2 mg, unSaturated Fat 4.2g
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsalted butter – 2 sticks (270ml)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup ground cannabis (7-10 grams), decarboxylated
Instruction:
- Preheat the oven to 245ºF (118ºC). Cover the baking sheet with parchment paper and place the loosely broken up cannabis on it. Heat in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Gently mix the buds every 10-15 minutes to expose all sides of the buds. (Older, drier cannabis may require less time.) Tip: You can also set your oven to 300ºF (149ºC) and heat for 10-15 minutes, although the low-and-slow approach is recommended to better preserve cannabinoids and terpenes.
- Grinders break weed down to the same consistency and will save you time, but you can just as easily break up the weed with your hands. Keep in mind that anything small enough to fit through the mesh strainer or cheesecloth will end up in your finished product, so be careful not to grind the weed into a fine powder.
- On low heat, melt 1 cup (270ml) of butter in a saucepan, stock pot, double-boiler, or slow cooker. Add 1 cup (270ml) of water, which will help regulate temperature and prevent the butter from scorching.
- After the butter is fully melted, add in the decarbed cannabis.
- Simmer on low heat, between 160ºF (71ºC) – 200ºF (93ºC); but don’t exceed 200ºF (93ºC) or you may burn out the cannabinoids. Simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should never come to a full boil.
- Place a mesh strainer or cheesecloth over a jar and pour the butter-cannabis mixture through it. Discard the plant material. Tip: Don’t squeeze out every bit of butter—this will add chlorophyll to your cannabutter, giving it a bad plant taste.
- Place the jar of butter in a fridge, and let it solidify before using, ideally overnight, or a few hours at least. If excess water forms at the bottom of the jar, remove the solid butter with a knife and drain out the water.
Cannabutter: The Only Recipe You Need to Cook with Cannabis
Ingredients:
- ¼ oz cannabis flowers (dose based on 15% THC herb)
- 1 lb (4 sticks) unsalted butter
Instruction:
- Stovetop Method
- Slow Cooker Method
Easy Crockpot Cannabutter » Video + Photos
Are you ready to make some cannabutter? This step-by-step beginner’s guide will teach you how to make weed butter at home in a crockpot or slow cooker. You can then use your cannabutter to create all of your favorite edible recipes!
Prep: 30min
Total: 300min
Yield: 18
Serving Size: 1 teaspoon
Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 teaspoon, calories 45 kcal, Fat 5 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 13 mg, Sodium 40 mg, Carbohydrate 1 g, Protein 1 g, Trans Fat 1 g, Sugar 1 g, unSaturated Fat 2 g
Ingredients:
- 7 grams cannabis flower
- 1 stick butter or ghee
Instruction:
- Lay a clean dish towel down on the bottom of your crockpot to create a buffer between your mason jars and the crockpot. This will help to prevent the jars from moving or cracking during the cooking process.
- Fill your crockpot at least halfway with hot water. You want enough water to cover the sides of the mason jars you will be using. However, be careful not to add too much water, as it may overflow when you add the jars.
- Place a thermometer in the water and set the crockpot to high heat. When a temperature of around 180°F is reached, turn it down to low heat. Note: any temperature range of 160-200°F will work. You may need to adjust to medium heat, depending on your crockpot.
- While the water bath is heating up, measure your desired amount of cannabis flower. Use the flower-to-oil ratio guide if you need help deciding how much to use. Record how much flower you used, in grams, so you can calculate your final potency at the end.
- Gently break apart the cannabis buds by hand into popcorn-sized pieces and place them into a mason jar. Do not grind. Gently put the lid on the mason jar and place the jar in the oven for decarboxylation.
- After decarboxylation, remove the jar from the oven. When it is cool enough to handle, open the lid and place your butter or oil of choice inside. You may need more than one jar if you are making a big batch. If you are using more than one jar, evenly divide the ingredients between the jars for more consistent dosing.
- Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean towel, and add the lid. Tighten the metal ring to finger-tip tightness. It should be tight, but not too tight.
- Carefully place the jar into the water bath, put the crockpot lid on, and leave it alone to cook for 4 hours. You want to maintain a temperature of around 160-200°F the entire time. If you don’t have a lid, aluminum foil will work.
- After the 4-hour cooking time, carefully remove the jars from the water bath and allow them to cool enough to handle. You are now done with the crockpot step and can discard the water bath.
- Prepare a straining area with new, clean mason jars and a strainer, paper filter, cheesecloth or French Press. Pour the contents of the mason jar through the strainer to separate the plant-matter from the infused butter.
- Add the strained butter to a container you want to cool it in. A flexible container works well. You can also use butter molds. Place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely, it may take several hours.
- While cooling, the infused butter will harden and solidify, leaving a bit of liquid underneath. When completely cool, remove the solid block of butter and drain the liquid, it doesn’t contain anything worth saving. Your cannabis butter is now ready to enjoy!
- Store your finished product in an airtight container in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used. You can store it for a long time in the freezer. If you keep it in the freezer, wrap the cannabutter in individually sized portions to ensure easy and convenient dosing.
How to make cannabutter
FAQ
What is the ratio of butter to cannabutter?
People seeking especially strong concentrations might use a 1:1 ratio — one ounce of cannabis to one pound of butter. The more typical ratio, however, is 1/2 ounce cannabis to one pound butter.
Is cannabutter stronger the longer you cook it?
How many teaspoons of cannabutter do you need to get high?
How do you make strong canna butter?
- Stage 1: find a place to cook, buy ingredients, chop up raw material.
- Stage 2: melt your butter.
- Stage 3: add your raw material and let it simmer.
- Stage 4: filter the mix, fill it into containers, cool down.
- How to dose cannabutter. …
- Here are the top 5 strains to use when crafting your own batch of cannabutter.