When it comes to CannaButter, it is the king of the weed edibles! Cannabis Butter is super versatile and an extremely simple weed edible that can be used in almost every recipe! The customization and personal preference of this cooking medium make it one of, if not the, most popular weed-infused ingredient of all time!
CannaButter is one of the best options when it comes to making edibles for the first time. CannaButter is one of the best edible mediums as it can be used in place of real butter in any recipe! Also, it’s shelf life is great as it can be kept in the fridge for weeks. The majority of edible recipes that we share on this site are made using weed butter.
There’s plenty of online stores and dispensary’s where you can buy cannabis edibles from, but what’s the fun in that? There’s something to making homemade edibles yourself, especially when they turn out amazing! This is our comprehensive guide on how to create Cannabis Butter for beginners.
What You Need to Make CannaButter
Before we start, let’s go over a few things that are required for making CannaButter. Here is a list of the ingredients and equipment needed to make CannaButter. If you would like to print a copy of the ingredients, directions, and equipment, we’ll have an option further down in this post. On top of that, make sure to check out the dosage calculator at the end of the article! This will help you estimate the potency of the edibles you made!
You can use ground-up cannabis, kief, cannabis trim, or all three! The potency of the butter will depend on the potency of the cannabis you are using.
Ingredients:
- Cannabis and/or Kief and/or Cannabis Trim
- Butter
Equipment:
- Oven
- Double Boiler
- Baking Tray and Parchment Paper/ Tinfoil
- Cheesecloth (optional)
- Hemp Cord or Cooking Twine (optional)
- Strainer
- Infusion Machine (optional)
Cannabis Butter Recipe
Equipment
- Oven
- Double boiler
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- Strainer
- Cheesecloth *Optional
- Hemp Cord or Cooking Twine *Optional
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Butter
- 7-14 Grams Cannabis *The more cannabis you use, the more potent it will be.
Instructions
- Decarboxyalte your cannabis: Grind up cannabis and place it on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Put in the oven for 45- 60 minutes at 240 F.
- Fill up the bottom of the double boiler with water until the level reaches the bottom of the bowl. Bring water to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn the heat on low and add the butter. After the butter has melted, add your cannabis to the butter.
- You will need to let this cook on low for 2 to 3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes or so.
- After 2 to 3 hours take it off the heat and let cool. Place the strainer/ cheesecloth over a container and pour cannabutter through it. Let gravity drain out all butter.
- Put the container in the fridge until the butter hardens and cools down.
- Optional *Reheat butter once more and strain into a new clean container. This ensures there are no impurities or plant matter.*
Notes
Nutrition
How to Make Cannabis Butter:
You will first need to decarboxylate your cannabis to activate the THC. If you do not know how to do that, click here to read our comprehensive article on it!
Step by Step Guide To Making Cannabis Butter:
For this exact recipe we used:
- 1 cup of butter
- 11.5 grams of cannabis flower
7 Steps to Making Cannabutter
Step 1: Decarboxylate your cannabis. Grind up cannabis and place it on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Put in the oven for 45 – 60 minutes at 240 F.
Step 2: Fill up the bottom of the double boiler with water until the level reaches the bottom of the bowl. Bring water to a boil.
Step 3: Once boiling turn the heat on low and add the butter – we used 1 cup of butter. After the butter has melted, add your cannabis to the butter – we used 11 grams of flower.
Optional *Once cooled from the decarboxylation, you can put cannabis into cheesecloth and wrap with hemp string or cooking twine. Note: We skip this step and use the cheesecloth at the very end.
Step 4: You will need to let this cook on low for about 2 to 3 hours stirring every 15 minutes or so. The butter should never come to a boil. Note: *Refill the bottom of the double boiler with water if low.*
Step 5: After 2 to 3 hours take it off the heat. You’re going to need a strainer that is not going to let the ground cannabis pass through it. We used a cheesecloth overtop of a funnel. Place the strainer over a container and pour cannabutter through it.
Step 6: Place the container in the fridge until the Cannabutter hardens and cools down.
Step 7: Optional *Reheat butter once more and strain into a new clean container. This ensures there are no impurities or plant matter.*
Step 8: Bon Appetite! Now you have a freshly made batch of cannabutter. You can use this to create a wide range of awesome tasty recipes! If you need some ideas, check out our cook cannabis category which will have many great recipes to choose from!
If those instructions were hard to follow, you can watch this video:
Dosage and Potency Guide To Cannabis Butter:
The dosage guide to making cannabis butter tends to be a little tricky. You’re going to have a hard time finding the exact potency of the butter that you’re making.
It’s also worth noting that since some recipes are going to require more butter than others, you’re going to want to add regular butter into the mix so your finished product is not too potent! Unless that’s how you like it!
The Problem:
It’s not always easy to know the exact potency of the cannabis that you’re using. Especially after you have activated the cannabis.
You should have a rough idea of the THC percentage, but there is still lots of room for error. You also have to keep in mind that if there is a small error in your calculations at the beginning, this error is going to be carried throughout, and it will make your final potency percentage off by quite a bit.
The Solution:
We have a great dosage calculator to help you when you’re making cannabis butter. Keep in mind, since you won’t have an exact percentage, it’s going to be off by a bit. This tool should help you get a rough estimate of the potency of your butter.
This dosage calculator will automatically update when you fill out your own values. It will work for both kief and cannabis flowers.
What Potency Cannabis Butter Should Be:
The potency of your cannabis butter is a very important step. Everyone’s preference and dosage will be different. These are just rough guidelines to help out beginners who are trying it for the first time.
If you’re just starting out with cannabis, I would recommend no more than 20 – 40mg of THC per serving. It’s also important to note that weed edibles are hard to dose for the first time.
If you are experienced with cannabis but are new to weed edibles, I would suggest starting with 25 – 50mg of THC per serving and working your way up as you please. This way you will be able to find your preference and sweet spot!
Another important thing to keep in mind. When making edibles the potency is not going to be consistent. It will also vary each time you make it. If taken previously and with no effects, don’t add 2 times as much this time. Just take it slow and work your way up. There’s a possibility that there was an error in your potency calculations the first time, or that there was less THC in the first batch you made.
Note: The potency calculator is just a rough estimate. Do not base dosage off calculator alone.
Jake Randall is a journalist, author, and student with expertise in all things cannabis (especially edibles), along with knowledge in economics, the environment, and everything in between. Originally from Canada, Jake has taken on the role of a senior cannabis correspondent at The Cannabis School.
11,5 grams? Making like 2300 mg per cup? Are you sure? Because 2,5 would make 500mg, which you recommend in the one about edibles in general and would make much more sense
Doesn’t mention what temperature during melting product
What happens to the butter when I forgot to decarb the Cannabis?
nothing you just waste your bud
Can I use this same recipe and replace the butter with coconut oil? I’ve had a look at the cannabis coconut oil recipe but this one seems more straightforward (maybe just because I’ve used it before with regular butter and worked a treat). Thanks 🙂
Looking forward to trying this recipe. How much of an odour problem does it cause why infusing?
I use a slow cooker and I did it in the garage. Glad I did…the smell for 4-6 hrs can get to you. I used this recipe and it was just right.
Long time user, first time cooker.
I’m not quite finished making the butter, but already have two questions.
First, can foil be used instead of parchment paper during the first step?
Second, is it safe and or quicker to cover the butter/cannabis mixture?
Thanks for your time creating this website!! Hoping cannabis cookies and brownies give my sick mother some relief.
Hi Emily, I hope the cannabutter turned out okay! To answer your first question, yes. Foil can be used in place of parchment paper. For the second question, we don’t recommend using a lid on a double boiler. I hope this helps, best wishes.
Hi there, I used your trick of adding the water, how long should I leave it in the fridge for before they separate?