Easiest Way To Make Cannabutter – Complete Beginners Guide To Making Cannabutter

If you are looking for an easy way on how to Infuse butter with cannabis, look no further. This is the easiest way to make cannabutter. I am about to tell you a step by step way that anyone can use to infuse their own butter.

Why infuse the butter or oil with cannabis?

Say you want to cook with cannabis and get high doing it, or maybe you don’t like to smoke it and want to ingest it instead. There are all sorts of reasons why, but it’s “the how” that I want to tell you about.

Before you infuse your cannabis whether it is trim, kief/hash, or flower you will need to decarboxylate it first. I have written about that in another article. It is easy to do and necessary to do before infusing and consuming it.

You can change the strength of the butter by simply adding or subtracting the amount of starting material that you will infuse the butter with. Or you can make a strong batch of Cannabutter and when the recipe calls for 1 cup of butter you can use 1/2 cup of cannabutter and 1/2 cup of regular butter.

What is cannabutter

Cannabutter is butter that has been infused with cannabis/THC. The infused cannabutter can be used in recipes that call for butter or oil. Instead of using regular butter replace it with cannabutter for a lasting effect with your scrumptious recipes.

Benefits

There are many benefits to making and consuming cannabis. A big reason for making it is so that you can cook with cannabis and make it taste good.

Another big reason is for those that don’t like to or want to inhale (smoke) it but want to get the benefits of this miraculous plant. When you consume cannabis you will get the benefits of cannabis without the bitterness of the flower.

If you are experiencing pain from within your body, consuming cannabis would be a benefit to you as you would be able to deal with the pain more easily.

Side effects

There are a couple of side effect to consuming cannabis.

When you consume cannabis it is slower to react in your body because it needs to be digested first. The cannabinoids need to be broken down and passed through the liver and digestive tract before you will feel the effects and this could take up to 1.5 hours. If you were to take too much cannabis you could get anxious or get panic attacks. You could feel restless and overwhelmed by the high.

Just remember if you don’t know your tolerance to cannabis please eat a small amount and wait an hour or two to assess your tolerance. If you do not experience the high after 2 hours, then you will know that you can consume more next time.

How to make cannabis-infused butter

Making cannabutter is fairly easy and straight forward. It is important to note that THC evaporates at 380 degrees Fahrenheit so keep recipes under 350 to be safe. The boiling point of water is 212 so it is okay to cook at a rapid boil or a strong saute. (In recipes)

Equipment

  • Scale
  • 5-quart stockpot (no lid)
  • strainer or colander
  • catch pot (large pot)
  • potato masher or stiff spoon
  • Cheesecloth
  • kitchen gloves (plastic or non-powdered latex)
  • food storage bags or a container (to keep finished butter)

Ingredients

  • use 1/4 ounce to 1 ounce of dried flower or 1 ounce to 4 ounces of trim (depending on the strength that you want your butter to be
  • 1 pound of unsalted butter
  • 2 quarts of water

Step by step method of infusing butter

  1. Weigh the desired amount of pant material that you want to use on the scale
  2. Combine the water, butter, and plant material in the 5-quart stockpot (I like to add water and butter first to liquefy before adding in the plant material)
  3. Bring all ingredients to a slow boil ( medium temp 4 or 5 on the stove) while stirring
  4. Once the butter, water, and plant material are mixed and have joined together, reduce heat. Simmer (1 or 2 on the stove) with no lid for 3-4 hours. The cannabis mixture will cook down into a concentrated level a most of the water will evaporate. (If water has evaporated before the 3-hour mark then add in 1 cup of water to the mix) the idea here is to boil off most of the liquid without burning the plant material.
  5. Turn off stove after 3-4 hours
  6. Get the large pot (catch pot) set up colander or strainer over the top of it and pour the cannabutter mixture through the strainer (let the material sit in the strainer for a few minutes to allow to cannabutter to drain.
  7. Using the potato masher or stiff spoon, press the plant material into the strainer to get as much of the butter out as you can.
  8. Allow the plant material to cool to where it can be handled
  9. Using the cheesecloth wrap the plant material( that is in the strainer) with it making sure that no plant material can escape. While wearing the gloves, squeeze as much of the liquid out of the plant material as you can. (remember to use the gloves while doing this as the butter could be absorbed through your skin giving you the psychoactive effects)
  10. Discard the material.
  11. If there is any noticeable plant material in the butter-liquid then you may want to strain it again.
  12. Put the liquid butter mix in the fridge overnight or for a few hours to allow the butter to solidify and the water separates.
  13. Remove the solidified butter from the water and store it in a container or food bag. Make sure you get all the chunks out of the water.

The water can be saved and used in other recipes that call for water. or you can just discard the water afterward.

Let the butter dry or pat with a paper towel to remove excess moisture

Store the butter in an appropriate container and/or food storage bag.

Butter can be melted briefly if needed to accommodate storage.

You can measure it into one-cup containers for convenience

The shelf life to cannabutter is roughly 3 months in the refrigerator or six months in a freezer

How to use cannabutter in daily life

Cannabutter can be used in many recipes. If you are making something that calls for butter, just replace the butter with cannabutter. If you choose you can spread the butter on toast and have for breakfast for a nice wake and bake.

A few ideas that you can use the medicated butter: cookies, brownies, pasta dishes, garlic bread, on toast, on muffins, cupcakes, cakes, garlic butter shrimp, melt some on a steak. There are many ways to use cannabutter. Just remember to start low and go-slow until you determine your own tolerance.

Make sure to keep the medicated butter and food away from children.

In short

Marijuana/cannabis can be enjoyed in many ways, now you know how to infuse the butter!

A quick overview of making the cannabutter:

-Weigh out material that you want to infuse

-Add butter water and plant material in a pot and simmer for 3 – 4 hours.

-Strain the liquid from the plant material.

-Put cannabutter/ mix into the fridge to solidify.

-Remove butter from water and enjoy it.

If you have any questions or comments on this subject or want to add any recipes please feel free to leave a comment in the section below.

6 thoughts on “Easiest Way To Make Cannabutter – Complete Beginners Guide To Making Cannabutter”

  1. Just curious, and forgive me if I missed the instructions on this, but do you do anything with the plant remains once you’ve squeezed out all the liquid? Can they be used for anything or should just be discarded since all the active ingredients have been used up? 

    Also, was wondering if the butter turns greenish or brownish? 

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Hello Katie, 

      Great questions, I would normally discard the remains after I squeeze out all remaining butter from it. (thanks for pointing that out I will fix this) 

      The color of the butter will be greenish as the chlorophyll gets leeched into the water/butter mixture while it’s cooking. 

      Reply

Leave a Comment