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My best cannabutter recipe - enjoy!

White Beard

Active member
I think the *need* for decarboxylation is accepted, but it seems to me that the actual data has been too limited, and interpretations have been over-broad. It seems to me that there’s a trade off that gets missed: to *completely* convert *all* THCa, you have to keep it at heat for hours, degrading the quality of the herb by converting THC to CBN faster that 100% decarb requires.

But is that even necessary? I have seen a chart tracking the progress of the conversion that tested for conversion @ 30 minutes, and they found that conversion was 89-92% complete at 30 minutes as opposed to ~180 minutes for that last 10th.

Given that there is acknowledged medicinal value in THCa, and my not liking the flavor of cannabis when it’s cooked to death, I now decarb by putting it in the oven (covered), set the oven to 200f; when it reaches temp, I turn off the oven & set a timer. When the timer goes off, I remove from the oven, let cool, and containerize (or whatever).

My operating premise is that the :30 on the front end includes the warm-up period, when the herb gets to target temp, so by bringing up and letting it drift back down undisturbed for the rest of the :30, I should be able to maximize conversion and minimize the potential downsides to too much heat for extended periods. My resulting butter is delicious (to me). I have an enormous tolerance for oral cannabis for some reason, I can feel it and like it, but it’s not anything like high or stoned.
 

Loc Dog

Hobbies include "drinkin', smokin' weed, and all k
Veteran
Isn't low boiling for long period of time with ghee/butter, essential for the binding of cannabinoids and extraction?
 

zachrockbadenof

Well-known member
Veteran
I read that somewhere, Loc Dog.

Heard you shouldn't 'cook' it more than 24 hrs. 12 hrs. seems to me, efficient. Anyone?

Going to get organic unsalted butter and make my own clarified butter (ghee). Will let you know how it turns out.
https://downshiftology.com/recipes/how-to-make-ghee/

i use unsalted butter,water,trim, in a slow cooker for 7-8hrs- the biggest problem is that each batch of trim is never the same, diff weeds, grown at diff times, hence each batch is trial n error to get the dosage rite... but the shit is always strong- i don't do edibles, as had a bad...bad experience... my fault ate waaayyy tooo much, but i make brownies n give me to friends...
 

aridbud

automeister
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i use unsalted butter,water,trim, in a slow cooker for 7-8hrs- the biggest problem is that each batch of trim is never the same, diff weeds, grown at diff times, hence each batch is trial n error to get the dosage rite... but the shit is always strong- i don't do edibles, as had a bad...bad experience... my fault ate waaayyy tooo much, but i make brownies n give me to friends...

Yeah, same here. I don't do edibles as I can't gauge the strength, or I eat one too many.

It's just leaf for someone in nearby medical mj community can use.
I find most people's experiences (pot brownies, for instance) it's too potent.

This is to help those need pain reduction and still function.
 
M

moose eater

I more or less followed the instructions given by the OP, but used only sugar trim in larger volume to the amount of ghee.

VERY potent, no gripes, had to cut dark chocolate walnut brownies into smaller servings if I didn't want to feel like a novice surfer trying to stand on the board between the living room and restroom.

Friend in the bush uses slow-cooker method with regular butter (no specialty stores in the bush, or stores at all, for that matter..), and his butter works just fine... One of his dogs got into a cookie treat they shouldn't have, and took an extended nappy-poo, but did lots of non-ambulatory observing... laying in the corner, head between paws, only the eyes following movements..... much as humans might do in an "Oops, I ate too much" moment.
 

White Beard

Active member
Isn't low boiling for long period of time with ghee/butter, essential for the binding of cannabinoids and extraction?

Not at all sure “how long” is long enough or too long, but as I understand it, the trichome contents are fat-soluble, which means they should dissolve into the butter/ghee much like sugar dissolves in water (basic solvent action), yielding cannabutter in exactly the same sense as dissolved sugar yields sugar water. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were a discoverable point at which it’s ‘done’, but I’m not sure things are ‘legal’ enough for that yet.

They famously also dissolve in alcohol, but everybody knows that.
 
thanks... yeah my loss is def more then 20% - next round i will try a rice.. thanks


Yes, you will have a loss. That is the reason I cook my stuff at least three times. The butter of the third run is weak and if I waste 20 - 30 % of my weak third crop I don't mind. This doesn't mean I waste 20 - 30% of my THC.

If you want to improve this, cook the stuff a forth time without adding butterghee. You will still get a little bit butter out of it. And after that you can still cook the remaining leaves in milk with some soylecithin to dissolve more of the last rests in the milk. But you will still have a little loss. It will be never 100% perfect. You will never get 100% of the THC.
 
Isn't low boiling for long period of time with ghee/butter, essential for the binding of cannabinoids and extraction?


I think it is necessary to cook the leaves for hours to soak it. I cook mostly fan-leaves and my experience is that the butter is stronger when I cook it for long time. I don't think that this is necessary for decarboxylation, but to soak the leaves to dissolve everything what is inside.

I never made scientific researches what time exactly is the best. I have no probs with cooking my stuff six or eight hours. I don't have to do anything, I just have to watch my pot if there is still water left. That is all. And concerning taste, someone wrote he doesn't like the taste of the long cooked leaves - my butter got no taste at all except butter taste.
 
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flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
I make my butter over water in a crock pot. It simmers for maybe 6 hrs. What making over water does is the water absorbes some nasty stuff and turns brown. After overnight in the fridge when I remove the butter from that nasty water. there is a layer of scum on the interface that sticks to the butter. I will run warm water over that and scrape away that scum layer, until that side of the butter slab is clean. That may be some good stuff that is being scraped away, I don't know.

RMS, your butter looks like it still has that brown layer.

The plant stuff that remains I give away for people to make brownies. I imagine that "mash" could be simmered again over water and some more butter, to get the last drop, but I don't.

This is some potent stuff, and it is strange how some people really are sensitive and get flat out wasted. Others just get a nice buzz. My tolerance has gone way up, to the point of taking fish oil tablets to bring the EC receptors up to snuff.

Don't forget the Lechithin!
 
Here is some of mine:





Looks green but tastes neutral, at least mixed with milk and honey.

Surfaces look a bit different, because the left one is frozen from the freezer and the right one is not frozen from the fridge.

Although I do this for years it happens that I underestimate what I'm doing. The last butter was much stronger than expected. Seems this was the jar which contained lots of trim between the leaves. :biggrin: Just 20 g of this butter nearly hamstringed me. I got red eyes and a cotton mouth I could barely speak. When I planned to do something and than this happens - it's always a bit embarrassing.
 
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Snook

Still Learning
Veteran
Here is some of mine:


https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=54461&pictureid=2043808View Image


Looks green but tastes neutral, at least mixed with milk and honey.

Surfaces look a bit different, because the left one is frozen from the freezer and the right one is not frozen from the fridge.

Although I do this for years it happens that I underestimate what I'm doing. The last butter was much stronger than expected. Seems this was the jar which contained lots of trim between the leaves. :biggrin: Just 20 g of this butter nearly hamstringed me. I got red eyes and a cotton mouth I could barely speak. When I planned to do something and than this happens - it's always a bit embarrassing.
I know when I'm smashed on infused butter (I make cookies) when I do not go to the vaporizer for a pick me up pop for hours. I use grade A trim and A+ bud. I've not used lecithin... how much to add? and when? And yes, some will want medical attention (unwarranted) and others only get slight buzz. I have a brother-in-law that takes one cookie and cuts it into 8 pieces for sleep another relative doesnt barely catch a buzz on the whole cookie.
 

flylowgethigh

Non-growing Lurker
ICMag Donor
I add about a tsp of lechithin when I melt the butter in the oven for making the batter. I have Soy but sunflower is supposed to be better. The stuff needs to be stired in pretty well to the warm butter. It seems to make my cookies a little "dryer", and I will use a little more butter than the 1/2cup on the next batch to make up for that.

I keep the ABV in containers in the freezer until I need the butter. Butter stays in the freezer. You can see from the orig packaging how long you can keep butter frozen, before it molds.

People are very different. One guy only eats a 1/4 cookie at a time, others just pop them down. I am at about 6-7 a day, with most in the late evening. No wonder pandemic pounds are hard to shed.
 

TychoMonolyth

Boreal Curing
The freezer is like a time machine. Nothing will, or could mold. But it can dry out a lot with a frost free freezer. I'd wrap it up pretty tight with a vacuum sealer for long term storage (6+ months)
 
I know when I'm smashed on infused butter (I make cookies) when I do not go to the vaporizer for a pick me up pop for hours. I use grade A trim and A+ bud. I've not used lecithin... how much to add? and when?

I add a spoonful or two to 20 - 30 g butterghee into a big cup of milk to dissolve it better and it will work faster and stronger. Lecithin helps to transport fat and vitamins into cells. It does the same with THC.

And yes, some will want medical attention (unwarranted) and others only get slight buzz. I have a brother-in-law that takes one cookie and cuts it into 8 pieces for sleep another relative doesnt barely catch a buzz on the whole cookie.

Generally people are very different concerning THC. But when eating it depends also very much on what you ate before. When your belly is completely empty it will work better, as when you ate a big fat pizza before. And maybe people's bellies and colons are different and it works different from person to person. And my experience is, that it works always a bit different. Some days I'm so stoned that I'm nearly disabled and next day the same amount gives me a much slighter buzz. And I have no clue why.

I know why I warned a lot when I wrote down this recipe. For someone who is very sensitive to THC it can be a bad experience.
 
The freezer is like a time machine. Nothing will, or could mold. But it can dry out a lot with a frost free freezer. I'd wrap it up pretty tight with a vacuum sealer for long term storage (6+ months)


My butter never gets that old ;-) I freeze it in the original box of the butter ghee and use the original lid. I storaged for month without quality loss. Using a vacuum sealer for the frozen butter you can storage it for sure for years.
 
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