Cooking with Cannabis: How to Make Edibles - How to Make Infused Butter
By Anna Wilcox - https://www.leafly.com/news/food-travel-sex/recipe-how-to-make-basic-cannabutter
Stove Top Method:
Add one cup of water and 1 lb of butter into a
stock pot or sauce pan; let the butter melt and
begin to simmer on low. Adding water helps to
regulate the temperature and prevents the butter
from scorching.
As butter begins to melt, add in your ground
cannabis product.
Maintain low heat and let the mixture simmer for
2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Make sure the
mixture never comes to a full boil.
Along with cooking oils, cannabis-infused butter
(cannabutter) is one of the simplest and most
common ways to make medicated
foods, yet making infused butter properly can be
a little bit tricky.
In order for THC to properly decarboxylate—
change from its acid form to its psychoactive
form—the cannabis needs to be heated at low
temperatures over long periods of time.
For the purposes of this article, we recommend
simmering your cannabis either on the stove or in
a slow cooker at a temperature range of 200F to
250F for a longer period of time.
This will ensure that your cannabis does not
become too hot too quickly and burn off active
cannabinoids.
Two Variations for Making Cannabis-Infused
Butter (or “Cannabutter”)
Ingredients:
1 lb unsalted butter
1 cup water
(add more water at any time if needed)
1 ounce of ground cannabis flower or 1 1/2
ounces of high-quality cannabis trim (this amount
will make some pretty potent butter, so decrease
the amount of cannabis if you want a recipe that
delivers lighter doses)
Note: Some people also use the remnants of
vaporized cannabis, as many vaporizers fail to
decarboxylate all of the THC in flower.
Slow Cooker Method (my personal favourite):
Turn slow cooker onto low and add in 1 cup of
water, 1 lb of unsalted butter, and 1 to 1 1/2
ounces of ground cannabis flower.
Cover slow cooker and let simmer on low for 8 to
24 hours, stirring occasionally. When it comes to
infusing butter, the longer you let the cannabis
product simmer, the more cannabinoids will be
infused into the final product.
For Both Methods:
After simmering for your desired amount of time,
pour the hot mixture into a glass, refrigerator-safe
container, using a cheese cloth o r fine mesh
strainer to strain out all plant product from the
butter mixture. Squeeze or press the plant
material to get as much liquid off of the plant
product as possible. Discard leftover plant
material.
Cover and refrigerate remaining liquid overnight
or until the butter is fully hardened. Once
hardened, the butter will separate from the water,
allowing you to lift the now infused canna-butter
from the water to use in your recipes. Discard
remaining water after removing the hardened
canna-butter.
Let the canna-butter sit at room temperature to
soften for use. Do not use a microwave to soften
the butter.
Note: Dosing homemade edibles can be tricky,
so, the best way to test for potency is to start with
one portion of a serving, wait one to two hours,
then make an informed decision on whether to
consume more. Always dose carefully and listen
to your body, and never drive under the influence
of cannabis.