Easiest DIY Cannabutter Recipe Ever

Has the pandemic got you stuck at home for long periods of time and you’ve found yourself out of creative ideas or bread recipes? If you enjoy getting baked and baking (who doesn’t?) then our DIY cannabutter recipe is perfect for you. Being able to make your own edibles at home frees you from the tyranny of lackluster options at your dispensary and allows you to customize their flavor and potency.

It can seem daunting for sure to consider making your own cannabutter at home, but it’s actually a lot easier than you’d expect. Plus, this recipe uses a slow cooker, and what method of cooking is better suited for a stoner than a long, slow, set-and-forget method like a Crockpot? Let’s dive into this recipe!

What is cannabutter

If you’ve never heard of cannabutter before, no worries – we’ve got your back. Cannabutter is cannabis-infused butter, and it provides the basis for most edible cannabis products. The only ingredients (unless you want to get fancy and add flavors) are de-carbed cannabis and good-quality butter.

Wait, what is de-carbing?

Don’t worry, you didn’t stumble onto a keto diet article. De-carbing is short for decarboxylating your cannabis. Raw cannabis flower doesn’t contain a lot of THC, but it does have a lot of THCA. To convert THCA into THC, it needs to be heated – this is what happens when you smoke. For edibles, however, smoking isn’t what we’re doing, so we need to slowly heat the cannabis for a long period of time to create THC from the full-spectrum of cannabinoids in the flower.

While some recipes might suggest that the cannabis can decarb while cooking, it’s not fool-proof and can lead to less activation and a bitter taste. Always decarb first!

How to decarb cannabis for cannabutter

Though the name might sound complicated or sciencey, we can assure you it’s very simple.

1. Take your cannabis and spread it on a baking sheet (get it?), and put it in a 240 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes. You’re going to want to decarb enough to have 1 cup total when you’re done decarbing and grinding it down.

2. Remove your cannabis from the oven and allow it to cool, about half an hour.

That’s it! Now your cannabis is nice and decarbed and ready to join the butter part of this recipe.

Making cannabutter at home

Take your now-cooled cannabis and grind it into a coarse mixture with a hand grinder. You want to have about a cup, or around 9 – 10 grams worth of finished, decarbed cannabis.

Now for the fun part.

DIY cannabutter recipe

• 1 cup decarbed cannabis flower, ground coarsely

• 1 cup of water

• 1 cup good-quality butter. You can also use coconut oil if you’re vegan or simply prefer coconut oil.

Once you have assembled the ingredients, it’s time to combine them.

1. Bring the water and butter to a simmer in a pan.

2. Mix in your cannabis.

3. Let it simmer between 160 and 195 degrees for 2-3 hours. What you want here is temperature control; never let it go over 200, and don’t let it get too high for too long, else the butter will scorch and NEVER let it boil.

4. Strain the cooled mixture through a cheesecloth or very fine mesh strainer into a glass container and refrigerate.

You can also do this process in a slow cooker. Simply mix in the water, butter, and cannabis and set the temp as low as it will go (usually no lower than 160 degrees). If you’re using a slow cooker and you don’t know the temp of the lowest setting, do a trial run with just butter and water first and use a thermometer to get a temperature reading after an hour or so.

Let it cook on the low setting for 3 hours, and then strain and refrigerate as normal.

Dosing and baking with cannabis

Since you’re not a professional and you’re not making this in a lab, dosing with homemade cannabutter can get tricky. The best advice is to start with a very small amount – a 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon – and work your way up. See how you feel in 30 minutes to an hour and then up your dosage, if you like. Assuming you get the same kind of cannabis from the same source every time, you can reasonably accurately dose your cannabutter.

Chances are good this won’t be the case, however, unless you’re growing it yourself. The best advice is to pace yourself and don’t plan on doing anything important or that involves heavy machinery when you’re testing your dosages. You can find many recipes online that will tell you exactly how much cannabutter to use when baking with cannabis, and these can offer a good starting point for dosage as well.

When you buy from a trusted dispensary like Standing Akimbo, however, you can feel secure knowing that the product you’re getting is accurately explained. We have the lowest prices in Denver on some of the highest quality flower, and we have our own in-house strains that you simply have to try.

Safety for our employees and customers is our number 1 priority right now as well, so we are implementing up-to-date COVID mitigation procedures in our stores. Come check out what we have to offer or stop by and see what sets Standing Akimbo apart from other dispensaries.