How to make weed edibles – How to make cannabis butter
There’s plenty of online stores and dispensary’s where you can buy cannabis edibles, but what’s the fun in that? There’s something to making edibles yourself, especially when they turn out great! This is our comprehensive guide on how to create weed edibles.
Click here to read our updated comprehensive article on how to make Cannabutter!
Click to view our new Cannabutter recipe!
What you’re going to need
Before we start, let’s go over a few things that are required for making weed edibles.
Cannabis / Kief
Butter
An oven that can be heated to 240 degrees Fahrenheit
Cheesecloth (optional)
Hemp Cord or cooking twine (optional)
If you have all of these things, let’s get started! There is a video tutorial at the bottom of this page if you would rather watch. 🙂
The importance of decarboxylation when making weed edibles.
For your weed edibles to work the way you want them to, there is a very important step. That step is decarboxylation. All this means is that you need to activate the THC, that way you get the psychoactive effects you intended for. The literal definition of decarboxylation is: “a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO2)”
Click here to read our comprehensive guide on decarboxylation!
When it comes to cannabis, Decarboxylation removes the COOH group from the THC-A molecule by releasing H2O and CO2, turning it into the psychoactive THC.
This step is crucial because it will turn the THC-A molecule into the psychoactive THC molecule. If you were to smoke cannabis this would already be happening naturally when you burn it. But, since in this case, there is no cannabis being burned we need to do this extra step.
How to decarboxylate
I mentioned earlier that burning cannabis creates decarboxylation naturally. That is close to what we’re going to be doing here. Instead of burning, we’re going to be heating the cannabis up to a certain temperature. This is the same thing that vaping cannabis does.
It is possible to use vaped cannabis inside of your weed edibles, and there will be psychoactive effects. However, if you have already vaped that cannabis, you will have already used a substantial amount of the THC. Consequently, you will have to use much more cannabis in the edible
If you are using kief, follow the same process as buds, just skip the grinding step. If you’re using cannabis flower, the first step is to grind your cannabis buds. Once you have ground the cannabis, get an oven-safe tray, and cover it in parchment paper. Next, spread the cannabis evenly over the sheet.
Grinder with cannabis inside of it.
What temperature to activate the cannabis?
The temperature that you should be heating the cannabis to is a bit of a debate. There might be better temperatures out there, and you will have no trouble finding people that claim theirs is the best. To their defence, they might be right. But, the temperatures that we have here are backed by some scientific evidence. At the end of the day, you’re going to have a hard time finding temperatures with a noticeably different effect than these. In other words, these temperatures will do the job!
240 degrees Fahrenheit is the number that I’ve had success with.
There has also been some good research done by our friends over at Marijuana Growers HQ. they did an amazing decarb experiment and noted their results:
cannabis trim decarb at 240 degrees Fahrenheit
Chart of kief decarb at 240 degrees Fahrenheit
As you can see from the two charts, 30 minutes was not quite enough time to completely decarboxylate the cannabis trim. In my experience, 30-40 minutes for kief, and 60 minutes for cannabis trim are the most optimal times.
Before we move on to the cannabis butter, we need to go over the dosage guide.
Dosage 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. But, it’s up to you. If you’re planning on going to another dimension after dinner time, add away. 😉
The problem
Its not always easy to know the exact potency of the cannabis that you’re using. Especially since 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 cooking cannabis butter. Keep in mind, since you won’t have an exact percentage it’s going to be off by a little bit. This tool should help you get a rough estimate for 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.
Using this tool, you can make your cannabis butter to whatever potency you’d like.
2018 – holding cannabis nugs
How to make cannabis butter
Cannabis butter is the best way to make weed edibles. It’s not necessary, but if you’re eating the activated cannabis straight, it going to taste pretty bad. Making cannabis butter is the best option, in my opinion, it can be used in place of real butter in all recipes! It also can be kept in the fridge for weeks! We have lots of great recipes here at The Canna School, most of them require cannabis butter.
The first step to making cannabis butter is grinding your cannabis again. You want the cannabis ground very fine, so once it’s done cooling off go ahead and grind it a second time. Next, take some cheesecloth and wrap some of your cannabis up. Once it’s wrapped up, take the hemp cord/ cooking twine and secure it. If you skip this cheesecloth step, everything will still work fine. You will just have a lower quality of cannabis butter.
Add the amount of butter in a pot that you want. Next, turn the heat on low and cook until the butter has completely melted. After the butter has melted, add your cannabis to the butter. You will need to let this cook on low for about 2 to 3 hours stirring every 30 minutes or so.
Once the butter and cannabis have been cooking for 2-3 hours, get a strainer. You’re going to need a strainer that is not going to let the ground cannabis pass through it. Finally, strain the cannabis butter into a container, and let it cool in the fridge.
If that was a little hard to follow, check out this video.
How much potency you should make your cannabis butter
The potency of your cannabis butter is a very important step. If you’re just starting out with cannabis, I would recommend no more than 40mg of THC per serving.
It’s also important to note that weed edibles for a beginner might not be the best idea. Cannabis edibles are no joke. I’ve seen what they can do to some of the most experience stoners. If you eat too much it will NOT be a good time.
If you are experienced with cannabis but are new to weed edibles. I would suggest starting with 5 mg of THC per serving and working your way up as you please. This way you know what you getting yourself into
Another important thing to keep in mind. If you made weed edibles previously and they had no effects, don’t add 5 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. The last thing you want is a brownie with enough milligrams of THC to kill a horse.
Cannabis recipes
If you’re looking for some new recipes to try, click here.
Comments
You may want to correct that : “I would suggest starting with 50mg of THC per serving and working your way up as you please.” I think you meant 5mg.
Absolutely the best recipe I have used. The Double boiling really works to get the best quality without the hassle of the yucky water at the bottom.
I’ve made some butter but not sure how strong as I used an ounce of trimming 10 grams of bud 250gm of butter and simmered for twelve hours final product is awesome looking now my brownie recipe needs 125gm butter to make 12 brownies will they be too strong or give a go ya recon
When making cannabutter, is there anything to do with the ground cannabis that has been strained out?
I have an unused vape pen. I am going to take the oil ou of the pen an add it to the proper measurement for the cookies then stir an bake as directed. Is this ok
I would recommend half of that dose for a first time. I am a veteran user, and 25mg will give me a nice pleasant buzz. 50mg is still comfortable, and is all I need for severe pain. Remember that everyone is different so take it slow while you find your sweet spots!
I have 2 squares of CBD/THC Coconut oil. I was thinking of melting them down to a fluid oil and adding to a peanut butter recipe. Would it be just that easy or should I do the whole decarboxy process first?
Making one box of brownies, it only calls for 1 third cup of oil, so I was gunna use a quarter once in a cup of butter or oil, is that enough weed?
Hi Shane, That should be plenty. check out the calculator at the bottom of these posts: Butter or Oil You can input the potency of your cannabis and it will tell you the potency of your entire extract in mg. Play with the amount of grams until you see a mg/serving that you like. 🙂
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