Once you get beyond roach clips and hot knives, then there is the art of infusing food with cannabis.
Most commonly, people start by infusing cow butter because butter contains a decent amount of fat and it’s easy to use in any recipe.
Technically, the medicinal components found in cannabis require fat to bind to and fat is also needed for the components to be absorbed by the body, once it’s ingested. This makes butter a viable infusion medium for cannabis, that works efficiently.
In the photo (below) you can see what I see:
It’s a whole pound of butter that I infused with 30 grams ( or 1 ounce) of cannabis.
In the cannabis culture, this level of infused butter is often referred to as Canna-Budder, so when you read this term, just know that it is describing infused butter.
Ghee (or clarified butter) can also be very successfully used as an infusion medium. Ghee provides an even more health-conscious infusion option because it (the ghee) itself is a powerful food medicine on its own.
In the photo (below) you can see what ghee looks like.
Ghee contains the perfect ratio (1:1) of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids. It offers all the benefits of butter without the impurities and it feeds the beneficial micro flora of the gut. It’s the better choice for anyone who is concerned about addressing inflammation in their body. Be prepared, ghee is more expensive to buy than butter because it’s a concentrate.
To make infused butter you’ll need:
- a full pound (454 grams) of cow butter or ghee
- an ounce (30 grams) of the cannabis strain of your choice (I prefer to blend strains and will often use 4-5 different strains, combined to make up 30 grams in total.)
Directions:
- Decarboxylate the cannabis at 240 degrees F for 45 minutes if you want to decarb specifically for THC.
If you are using a strain or strains predominantly containing CBD, then decarboxylate specifically for CBD. (Set your oven’s temperature to 295 degrees F and decarb for 75 minutes.)
CBD Decarbs At A Different Temperature For A Longer Amount Of Time To Effectively Activate.
Many people will say that they never decarb their cannabis before they make an infusion and that their finished edibles still provide a psychoactive effect.
All I can say to this is:
Yes, you will achieve a certain level of psycho-activity but if you take the time to decarb properly, you will extract even more of the available medicine contained within the material that you used.
I would also offer that cannabis (as a crop) usually takes about 3-4months to produce material that is ready for use. In most parts of the world it’s still expensive, difficult to buy, and not to mention, illegal.
This makes me question why anyone would take a chance, not extracting all that they could by simply taking a realitively short amount of time to decarb it.
So what if it takes another hour?
Its street value is $300 (at the moment) in Canada.
Why risk the potency or active effect for the sake of saving an hour?
Respect To The Herb:
If you’re not going to decarb, at the very least, strain the plant material out of your finished infusions and use it in a baking recipe. For the Love of Good Ganja, do not throw it out... or be forever hexed by Becca’s Blunt Curse.
Never tempt a green witch. Blunt Rant over (wink, wink).
Ok, back to the directions:
- Melt the butter in a sauce pan over a low flame.
- Add the decarbed cannabis to the canister of a Magical Butter machine.
- Pour the melted butter over top of the cannabis.
You won’t have to grind the herb in advance because the machine has an immersion blender built right into it and it will grind and stir the pot as it keeps the infusion at the selected temperature consistently for the selected amount of time.
- Secure the lid of the machine in place. Then set the temperature to 130 degrees F, for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, turn the machine off. Open it up and make sure that the buds are ground. Scrape any plant material (that may have clung to the sides of the canister or to the bottom of the lid) back down into the butter mixture.
Secure the lid of the machine and run it again for another 2 hours at 130 degrees F.
Once completed, strain the cannabis pulp out of the butter using a fine mesh strainer while the infused butter is still warm.
Pour the strained infused butter into a mould. As it is still warm, it will be a liquid which makes it easy to pour but also easy to spill.
Refrigerate the mould for 4 hours or until the butter returns to its solid form.
Respect To The Herb:
I used a glass bowl with a lid secured in place so that in case the infusion got bumped while it was in the refrigerator, it would remained contained. I then put the left over cannabis pulp into the freezer and froze it for future use.
You’ll recapture about 1/3 of a cup of cannabis pulp in which you will be able to bake right into cookies or squares. Once you do this, each baking recipe should yield between 35-40 cookies or squares. This will produce a comfortable dose (per portion) for a person who regularly eats cannabis.
If you are new to edibles, start with a 1/4 of a portion and wait 2 hours before you eat another piece.
- At this point, you can easily remove the infusion from the mould by slowly running warm tap water around the outside of your mould.
- Cut the infused butter into portions and freeze it in individual portions for longer term storage.
In most recipes, a 1/4 cup of infused butter will get the job done nicely.
Lets take a closer look:
Now how about a practical application?
...like melted over organic, gmo-free popcorn that was popped by using cannabis infused mct coconut oil for double the high.
I welcome your comments and I invite you to follow me on my journey...not even popcorn is safe from the green herb, in my hands. ;)
~ Rebecca
Thank you so much for this great recipe! I did not know about the different decarb temps of THC and CBD. Now I’m wondering if there are different decarb temps for CBN, CBC and the other cannabonoids? Last question, you say 45 min for THC, what would going longer then that achieve? Thank you
Yes. There are many charts available on-line...
Try this one:
https://goo.gl/images/5SMt9U
Can be helpful for calibrating better quality vaporizers too.
The generally accepted info on icmag.com is 240F for 30-40 minutes, depending on how decarbed the cannabis already is (heat, storage over time) and the specific conditions during the decarb process. It seems to do the best job with all types of cannabis, regardless of whether it's THC or CBD rich.
Personally, I let the 8-12hrs of low heat in a crock pot do the decarbing. Test at 8hrs and every hour after, to find your specific sweet spot with the cannabis you're working with. :)
Great post! I have some tips to add...
I have found coconut oil to be the best for THC absorption and have been using it for about 8 years, even before I stopped consuming animal products. Keep in mind you can use any type of oil such as olive, grape seed, etc.
You don't need a magic butter maker to make canna-butter;
Thanks for providing the crock pot and stove top method @jayanarchon! It’s valuable content and I appreciate that you took the time to share it on this post. I would encourage you to write this as an independent post with some personal pics. There’s a new cannabis curation trail and (canna-curate), you can use it as a tag and you can join the trail on Discord (if you haven’t already).
Cheers,
Rebecca
Thanks @rebeccaryan!
So glad coconut oil works for you, it seriously does not work for the A blood type. :( Makes everything in the digestion system slippery because it's not being absorbed.
Ghee has been shown to absorb more cannabinoid oils per gram than all other oils. It's also extremely easy for all blood types to digest, making it an awesome carrier oil. When I make oil for consumption by others I always use ghee or a certified olive oil.
Crock pot cooking works awesome, you're correct. :)
Starting With Clean Cannabis is AWESOME!
Washing cannabis removes terpenes, terpenes you want infused into the carrier oil. Unless your cannabis was grown cleanly, it will most likely have one or more contaminates in and on it which will go into your canna-ghee.
I'm holding a raffle for a copy of my book which explains the variables behind growing clean cannabis. Clean cannabis is also trichome dense and very potent cannabis. ;) Enter today for a chance to win a copy.
Secrets to Growing Trichome Dense Cannabis (the raffle)
Go BE Awesome! :D
Popcorn drizzled with cannabis-infused olive oil has got to be one of the best foods in the world! Thanks for sharing :)
Thanks for taking a look @girlsofgreen!
interesting receipt rebeccaryan
Why, thank you @brothermic!
Hey @rebeccaryan how are you? It is undoubtedly an extremely good post. Find out some unknown things in your post. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful writing with us.
Hi @king007!
My favourite royal spy. I’m unbelievably good on this fine Friday and you?
Great. Just don’t waste perfectly good cannabis and it’s all good, my friend. ;)
Damn you're awesome!
.gif)
When I see your posts like these, this is what I see....
Bad Ass!
Not too far off @bigblueleadsled...except I am armed with a big ol’ Blunt (instead of a sword)...and I cut my hair much shorter. Lol! Coming at you with water, rocks and trees sans ice, all the way from Canada. Lmfao!
Lol..... I see you girlllll!!!
You prefer a regular strainer over the magic butter one I see. That strainer they provide is very difficult to pour into also cleaning it is a hassle too. I do love the machine but my handle broke on the first one I bought and they gave me hassles on the warranty. So I ended up having to buy a second. They wouldnt even let me purchase a replacement handle even though it was technically still on warranty. Well there's my rant. I do still like the machine. Its very easy to just set it and forget it.
Hi @olafurthotr,
Yeah the bubble bag is useless and I refuse to use it and provide my clients with a fine mesh stainless steel strainer instead. I’ve had guys lose whole batches on their garage floors because the bag slipped right out of their hands, full of oil or butter.
I actually sell this machine in my shop. We have had excellent service right from Magical Butter. If you’ve bought your machine from a shop that sells authentic MBM they will replace the entire machine if you present your receipt of purchase and a photo of the malfunction directly to MBM as opposed to the shop you bought it from. I warrantee for all my customers.
In the early days (a few years back) MBM did have an issue with the whole handle coming apart (2nd generation). They are onto about 4 generations of the machine now. If you originally bought it off of Amazon directly, than MBM will not warrantee it because of “knock offs”.
I have personally warranteed several 2nd generation machines with handles that completely came apart.
It was definitely a “thing” with that particular generation.
Say no more. You crack me up, Becca 😆
Hahaha! Nothing is worse than wasting perfectly good cannabis. Don’t do it or I will haunt you! Lol!
Kind a like not changing your bong water...show some respect to the herb. Lmfao!
Hi rebeccaryan,
LEARN MORE: Join Curie on Discord chat and check the pinned notes (pushpin icon, upper right) for Curie Whitepaper, FAQ and most recent guidelines.
Thanks so much for actually reading my content @curie!
I appreciate the support too! ;)
Amazing post, never seen such an extensive guide for preparing cannabutter (and with pictures too!).
Thank you very much @medicalmarijuana!
Just trying to get accurate info that people can actually use, out there. ;)
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and passion! Now I follow! :)
Welcome aboard @trayan!
I have been looking for a way and now I got it!! Thank you sooo much for taking the time to make this post I fucking love u!!
Cool @debo4200!
If you look at @jayanarcon ‘s comment (close to the top) you’ll see decent directions for a crock pot and stove top method. Just don’t throw the pulp that you filter off, out. It will still contain activity that can be baked into a recipe. ;)
niceee thanks for the info!!!
Ooow i wanna smoke it all my life I want to laugh I want to forget everything It 's the best thing in my life lol give me saame
It does help with all those things @chichano!
Awesome Writeup!
Stoked you used ghee in the recipe and did such a great job. Keep BEING Awesome!! :D