The first step in mastering homemade marijuana edibles is to master your main cannabis ingredient: cannabutter. The process is fairly simple and you can use your cannabutter in place of butter in just about any recipe.

In this post, we’ll explain how to make cannabutter in five steps, discuss storage methods, answer FAQs, and more.

Cannabis butter is butter that has been infused with marijuana. It’s a popular ingredient in creating your own cannabis edibles at home. Because it’s made with decarboxylated cannabis flower, cannabutter itself has intoxicating properties and can be considered a type of marijuana edible all on its own!

A good cannabutter recipe will set you up for success in all your marijuana cooking and baking endeavors. Before getting started, you’ll need to gather your tools and ingredients.

Tools:

• Baking sheet
• Saucepan
• Thermometer 
• Cheesecloth or metal strainer

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of your favorite butter
• 1 cup of water
• Thermometer 
• 1 cup of cannabis flower

When you’re choosing flower for your cannabutter, make sure you choose something that’s good quality and has the effects you enjoy. You should also keep in mind the terpene and cannabinoid profile of the flower you use, as this will have a large impact on how you experience your edibles.
 

Before you can turn your flower into cannabutter, you’ll need to decarboxylate it. Why? Because the cannabinoids (e.g. THC) have to be activated in order to provide intoxicating effects. This is accomplished by exposing the cannabis to heat, called decarboxylation. Once activated, you’ll be able to add it to the butter.

Check out our guide to decarboxylation to help make this step as smooth as...butter!

After decarbing your flower, break it apart with your fingers or use a cannabis grinder. Make sure you don’t grind too much, as you don’t want bits of flower to end up in your cannabutter.
 

Add equal parts butter and water to a saucepan (e.g. one cup of butter and one cup of water), and fully melt the butter. The water will keep your butter from burning, but you’ll still need to keep an eye on it.
 

Once the butter is completely melted, add your flower to the mixture of butter and water. If you are making one cup of butter, add one cup of flower to the saucepan. Let it simmer for two to three hours, stirring occasionally. 

When infusing oil or butter, you want to stay in a similar temperature range as when you’re decarbing the flower. Ideally, you should keep butter or oil at 160 - 200 degrees Fahrenheit when making cannabutter or cannaoil. A candy thermometer is a useful tool to test the temperature of the oil or butter every few minutes, maintaining a consistent temperature throughout the infusion process.

When your butter has been properly infused with cannabis, you need to get all the ground flower out of it. Pour the mixture through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer to get rid of all the chunks of flower and you’ve got DIY cannabutter that’s ready to use in your favorite marijuana brownies recipe.
 

Now that you’ve got your cannabutter, you’ll need to keep it somewhere that it can stay fresh so you can use it as needed. To store your cannabutter, put it in an air-tight container and place the container in the refrigerator. If there’s still water in your butter, you can wait for the butter to solidify, remove the butter, and dump the water.
 

Cannabutter is a simple ingredient to make, but they don’t exactly teach it in cooking class! Here are a few frequently asked questions to help you in your culinary journey.

Is cannabutter necessary for edibles?

No, there are plenty of cannabis-infused ingredients you can use to make edibles, including tinctures and cannabis oil. Check out our guide to cooking with cannabis to learn more.

Can you make your own cannabutter?

Yes! Just follow our recipe to make your own homemade cannabutter.

Is it easy to make cannabutter?

Yes, it can be easy to make cannabutter. However, you may need to take several passes to ensure you have the right cannabis-to-butter ratio.

Is decarboxylation necessary for making cannabutter?

Decarboxylation is an incredibly important part of making cannabutter. If you don’t decarboxylate your marijuana, you’re infusing THCA and CBDA into your butter rather than THC and CBD. These are non-active cannabinoids, meaning the psychoactive properties will be significantly less if your flower isn’t decarboxylated.

How much should I grind my decarboxylated flower?

One of the biggest mistakes when it comes to decarboxylating your marijuana is over-grinding the flower. The finer you grind your cannabis, the harder it’s going to be to strain it out of the finished product. You want a grind that’s fine enough that you get a strong finished product, but don’t grind your flower too much.

How much flower should I use to make cannabutter?

One of the biggest mistakes when it comes to decarboxylating your marijuana is over-grinding the flower. The finer you grind your cannabis, the harder it’s going to be to strain it out of the finished product. You want a grind that’s fine enough that you get a strong finished product, but don’t grind your flower too much.

How long does cannabutter last?

As long as you store your cannabutter right, you can expect it to last for up to two weeks in the refrigerator. For longer storage, place your cannabutter in the freezer.
 

What can I make with cannabutter?

When most people think of edibles, they think of things like cookies and brownies. However, there’s no limit to what you can do with cannabutter. Basically, cannabutter can be used in place of butter in any recipe. If you’re making an alfredo sauce that needs butter, you can jazz it up with cannabutter. You can even make grilled cheese or sautée meats and vegetables for dinner with cannabutter if you want to make a marijuana-infused meal.

Keep in mind that cannabutter does have a cannabis flavor, so it may work better with some recipes than others. Ultimately, your flavor preferences will help you determine what works and what doesn’t. The best thing you can do is experiment with your cannabutter and find recipes you enjoy.

Now that you know how to make cannabutter, you’ll need to visit your local dispensary to choose your marijuana flower. Once you have this, you’re ready to start cooking with cannabis!