Cannabis Butter 101: How to Make Cannabis Butter, Ratio Calculator, and Recipe

Cannabutter is exactly what it sounds like—cannabis-infused butter. 

Cannabutter is a favorite among cannabis chefs and medical patients because it is so easy to make, and because it is such a versatile cooking ingredient. You can quickly add cannabis butter to any number of recipes or dishes to make them truly special. What’s more, cannabis edibles are highly effective and long-lasting.

If you’re looking to make your own cannabis edibles at home, a good batch of cannabutter is a great place to start. Don’t be afraid to dive in regardless of your experience level. You don’t have to be a chef or cannabis expert to make top-notch butter! 

Keep reading to find out more about how to quickly and easily make your own batch of cannabis-infused butter at home.

First Thing’s First

Before beginning the infusion process, you will need to decarboxylate your flower. Decarboxylation is a heating process that heats the THCA covering your flower (crystals) until they are converted into THC, but not so much that they are destroyed.

By decarboxylating your flower before infusing it into butter, you’re ensuring that as much THC as possible can be extracted into the butter. Decarboxylation is usually done by using an oven or on a stovetop. Think of it like cooking your flower before cooking with it. 

How to Make Cannabutter: A Simple Cannabutter Recipe

With an oven and some basic cooking utensils, cannabutter is actually quite easy to make. This simple 5 step recipe takes less than an hour to prepare and will have you cooking with infused butter in no time. 

1. Grind your flower up fine (but not too fine!).
2. Melt some butter in a saucepan on low heat.
3. Add the ground buds to the melted butter and let simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Take the butter off the stove and pour it into a glass jar. Use a cheesecloth or similar straining material to ensure that the plant matter is separated from the infused butter. 
5. Place the jar in the fridge or freezer to allow the mixture to solidify and for long-term storage.

Be careful not to overgrind your flower! Grinding it too finely can make it harder to strain out from your cannabutter and result in a more bitter-tasting final product. You also don’t want to just have little flecks of flower suspended in your cannabutter. Be sure to clearly label all cannabis infused foods so they aren’t accidentally ingested. You may also want to include the potency of your butter on the label for future reference (keep reading to find out how to calculate the potency of your butter).

How to Make Cannabis Butter In a Slow Cooker

If you want to avoid a messy stove situation, you can also infuse butter in a slow cooker. 

To infuse butter in a slow cooker:

1. Grind your flower into a fine (but not too fine!) powder.
2. Turn on your slow cooker and set it to about 150 or 160. Make sure not to set it too high so as to avoid destroying cannabinoids like THC.
3. Add butter first and let it melt.
4. Add cannabis and stir well.
5. Allow to cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove from the slow cooker and pour into a glass jar through a strainer. Strain well in order to remove all plant matter.
7. Store in a fridge or freezer to solidify and for long-term storage.

How to Make Cannabutter Milder or Stronger: Cannabutter Ratio Calculator

There’s no “one size fits all” dosage for cannabis. After you make your first batch of cannabutter, chances are you’ll want to tinker with your dosage. Fortunately, you can become a human cannabutter ratio calculator with the help of a few variables:

• Percentage of flower’s THC or CBD (learn more about the differences between them in Cannabinoids 101)
• Mass of flower (in grams – you can find this on its container)

Here’s how the cannabutter equation works. All you need to do is multiply the mass of your flower by the percentage of its cannabinoid content. Let’s look at an example. Say you have an eighth of cannabis (3.5 grams or 3,500 milligrams) that tested at 20% THC. That would give you 700 mg of THC. 

From there, you can simply divide your butter into smaller doses. Say you melted your hypothetical flower into a cup of butter (about 2 sticks). If you want to use 350 mg of butter, you can simply use half of your total cannabutter. Easy, right?

Putting Your Cannabutter to Use: What to Make with Cannabutter

Once you learn how to make cannabutter, you’ll naturally want to learn a new recipe or two that will use your cannabutter. One of the best things about infused butter is how many different ways you can use it. Here’s some inspiration you can channel to create your own cannabutter recipes.

Add Cannabutter to Dishes

You can melt cannabis butter on top of popcorn and enjoy it with your favorite movie. You can also start your day with a simple and effective dose of cannabutter by slathering it across a piece of your favorite toast (or a bagel). For evening doses, you can melt cannabutter into broth to help ease anxiety or for trouble sleeping.

Use Cannabutter as an Ingredient: Making Infused Pancakes

You can also substitute cannabutter as an ingredient in any recipe calling for butter. Want to enjoy your medicine with breakfast? Add some to your breakfast pancakes! Here’s how to do it:

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp of cannabis butter
• ¾ cup of milk
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tbsp baking sugar
• 2 tbsp white sugar
• ½ tbsp salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• Cannabutter and maple syrup for topping

Instructions:

1. First, mix the salt, baking powder, baking soda, and flour in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix milk, cannabutter, and vinegar together in a bowl and set it aside for 5 mins to sour. Once it does, whisk the egg into the mixture. Then, whisk in the contents of the first bowl to create the batter.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray it with cooking spray. Pour batter onto the skillet and cook it until it starts bubbling. Then, flip it over and cook until browned on the other side. After you finish cooking, add a hefty slice of cannabutter and coat it with maple syrup.

Infuse Your Own Cannabutter with Green Goods

Do these cannabis butter recipes have you itching to flex your culinary chops? You’ll need some flower, first. That’s where Green Goods can help. Find your closest Green Goods dispensary to stock up on the most important ingredient in cannabutter!