How to Make Weed Butter in 5 Steps: Jointly's Cannabutter Recipe

Homemade weed butter (also known as cannabutter) is easy to make and is used as an ingredient in various cannabis edibles. While it may seem a bit intimidating at first, this article shows just how easy it is to make your own weed butter. We’ll explore how to make cannabutter with a simple 5-step cannabutter recipe, and we will discuss how to modify the recipe based on whether you are making weed butter on the stovetop, in a Crockpot, or in an Instant Pot. In addition, this recipe also includes a step-by-step guide to the essential first step called decarboxylation, which is the process of heating and activating the cannabinoids in your flower.

How to Make Cannabutter

Cannabutter is made by infusing butter with cannabis. Butter is one of many versatile carrier oils for fat-loving cannabinoids. Before whipping up cannabutter, it’s worth noting that butter is more fragile than other carrier oils and will burn faster at lower temperatures. To prevent burning your butter or spoiling the flavor, keep the heat low and keep a close eye on your cannabutter while preparing it. If you want to use your cannabutter to make sweet or savory edibles, but you don't like the taste of cannabis, we have a solution for you. Check out Chef Jeff's foolproof method to make weed edibles that don't taste like weed.

Easy 5-Step Cannabutter Recipe

Here is an easy 5-step recipe to make cannabutter. For a visual reference, check out the cool infographic created by Choom on how to make weed butter. Ingredients 1 cup of butter 1 cup of water 1 cup of ground, decarboxylated cannabis flowers Step 1: Hand Grind and Decarb Your flowers To avoid a weak final product, don’t skip this crucial first step, which requires low heat to activate the cannabinoids. Here’s some helpful tips for Step 1:

• Using a hand grinder offers the best results to avoid a powder-like consistency. A coffee grinder will pulverize all plant elements (including stems and seeds), which you don’t want as they can alter the taste–for the worse.
• Decarb the flowers by placing the ground buds on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and bake in the oven at 250°F for 30 minutes.
• Give the cookie sheet a shake at five-minute intervals to reposition the buds so that all surface areas get equal attention.

Step 2: Combine Butter and Water in a Saucepan To avoid uneven heating and scorching, place 1 cup of butter in 1 cup of water and simmer on the lowest setting. Here are some helpful tips for Step 2:

• Use a meat thermometer to ensure butter stays between 160°F-200°F.
• All water will be removed during the final step.

Step 3: Add Decarbed Flower to Melted Butter  For even heat distribution and max cannabinoid infusion, cover and simmer the cannabutter low and slow for 2-3 hours. Never allow the mixture to boil. Step 4: Strain The Cannabutter Place a few layers of cheesecloth or a coffee filter and secure with a rubber band over a glass storage jar. Then, pour the cannabutter mixture through the cheesecloth/filter, allowing it to strain naturally by avoiding pressing down on it. Here’s a helpful tip for Step 4:

• Pressing the flowers leads to tannin release, which can cause the cannabutter to have a bitter flavor.

Step 5: Refrigerate (and separate) the Cannabutter Place the jar of cannabutter in the fridge for about an hour. Any leftover water will form at the bottom of the jar, so simply scoop out the solid upper portion with a knife or spoon and voilà! You’ve got homemade cannabutter!

How to Make Crockpot Cannabutter

The Crockpot method is an easy set-it and forget-it alternative to the conventional stove-top method. After decarbing, simply add the ground cannabis flowers, water, and butter to the crockpot. Set the crockpot temperature to 160°F (or lowest setting) and cook for three hours. Strain, refrigerate, separate as noted above from Step 4.

How to Make Instant Pot Cannabutter

If you are pressed for time, you can quickly whip up cannabutter in an Instant Pot using the above cannabutter recipe. And it turns out that you can also decarb your flower in the Instant Pot:

• Place cannabis flowers in a 16 oz canning jar and secure with the lid.
• Place 2 cups of water inside the Instant Pot.
• Gently sit the canning jar in the water so that the water level is in the middle of the jar.
• Set the Instant Pot on high for 30-40 minutes. Once complete, remove the canning jar and let it rest until cooled.

Add melted butter to the canning jar and secure a new lid to the jar. Put the jar back into the Instant Pot so that the water reaches the midway point and cook for 20 minutes on the high-pressure setting. After cooking, allow the Instant Pot an additional 40 minutes to rest and release the high pressure naturally. Be sure to keep the Instant Pot on the “Keep Warm” setting while doing so. Once the jar is cool enough to handle, carefully remove it and continue from Step 4 above.

How to Make Potent Marijuana Butter

Use 1 cup of high THC marijuana flower in the above cannabutter recipe to make an extra potent marijuana butter.

Cannabutter Dosing Tips

It’s a known fact that the potency of homemade cannabis edibles is difficult to gauge accurately. The cannabutter potency varies depending on the strength and strain of the flowers used. Additionally, the length and temperature of cooking also play a considerable role in the potency of the end product. The best way to test the strength of your cannabutter is to spread ¼ - ½ of a teaspoonon a cracker and see how you feel after a few hours. Then, increase or decrease the amount as desired. Cannabis-infused edibles take a while to “kick in,” so you have to be patient when trying to determine your ideal dose of cannabis. The last thing you want is to ingest too much THC and experience side effects like paranoia or drowsiness.

Ideas for Cooking with Weed Butter

You can use cannabutter in any recipe that calls for butter. Many people like to use a ratio of regular butter and cannabutter to make less potent edibles. Cannabutter can be spread on how toast, or use to create delightful desserts like cakes, brownies, cheesecakes, tarts, and cookies.

How to Store Weed Butter

Refrigerated cannabutter lasts about a month in the refrigerator. However, if you want to extend the life of your cannabutter, it can be frozen for up to six months, as freezing does not affect the quality of cannabinoids. Expired cannabutter will have a rancid odor similar to other spoiled oils. Discard anything that smells “off.”

Use the Jointly App to Get More Out of Cannabis

Have you started your cannabis wellness journey? Jointly is a new cannabis wellness app that helps you discover purposeful cannabis consumption so you can achieve your wellness goals with cannabis and CBD. On the Jointly app, you can find new cannabis products, rate products based on how well they helped you achieve your goals, and track and optimize 15 factors that can impact your cannabis experience. These 15 factors include your dose, the environment in which you consume cannabis, who you are with when you ingest, how hydrated you are, the quality of your diet, how much sleep you got last night, and more. Download the Jointly app on the App Store or the Google Play Store to get started on your cannabis wellness journey.