Not everyone has the option to smoke marijuana, nor does everyone enjoy the flavor of THC gummies. To hide that pungent flavor, some marijuana users combine butter with cannabis, known as cannabutter, to infuse the THC with other palatable flavors. Infused baked goods such as brownies and cookies are often the most popular, but cannabutter is much more versatile than many realize–and easy to make too! If you’ve ever wanted to make your own cannabis-infused butter at home, this quick guide will show you exactly how to make it.
Start With Quality Cannabis Flower
First and foremost, you want to use buds you can trust aren’t laced or cut with anything. The easiest way to do this is to get your marijuana from a dispensary. On the topic of dispensaries, they typically make their edibles with the leaves trimmed from the flower after harvest, known as shake or trim. The leaves, as they are plant matter, will have more chlorophyll in them, which makes the result more bitter.
The best flavor will come from kief crystals, but if you don’t smoke or use a grinder, dried and cured cannabis flower will do just fine. Also, don’t worry too much about whether the strain is Indica or Sativa, as it won’t have the same effects in edible form. Instead, focus more on smell, taste, and CBD-to-THC ratios.
Decarb Your Marijuana
Take about seven grams of your favorite cannabis flower, break it into small pieces, and wrap it in parchment paper. Then, wrap foil around the parchment pouch and place it onto a baking tray. You want to cook your flower in a 245 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes. We call this process decarboxylation.
Raw flower contains CBDA and THCA. When you heat your flower, it removes the acid (A) part, so THC is all that’s left, which is the part that gives you the high. Once it’s finished cooking, remove the tray from the oven, open your pouch, and let the flower cool completely. Then you’ll want to grind your cooled flower into a coffee ground consistency.
Steep and Simmer
It’s true that the longer you allow your butter to steep, the more infused your butter will become, but this also affects the flavor. To make your cannabutter, place one cup of water, one cup of butter, and your cooled decarboxylated ground flower into a pan. Allow the pan to simmer at a low temperature for 45 to 50 minutes without allowing the temperature to rise past 190 degrees. Once fully infused, pour the mixture through a fine strainer into your container of choice, such as a glass jar. Put it in the fridge, allow it to cool and solidify, and then drain any excess water.
Cooking With Cannabutter
Once you’ve followed the steps above—voila! You’ve successfully made cannabis-infused butter at home! Pretty easy, right?
Now you’re ready to add your cannabutter to any recipe you can imagine–don’t feel like you have to stick to the classics. With cannabutter, it’s easy to make infused macaroni and cheese, chocolate-covered fruits, and spaghetti sauce! You can even prepare restaurant-quality steaks with your cannabutter if you’re feeling fancy. Once you know how to make cannabis-infused butter, the sky’s the limit.
