Certified Marijuana Doctors

Many cannabis recipes start with canna butter, or weed butter.  Butter infused with cannabis can be used in a wide range of recipes. Including baked goods, sauces, spreads, dips, casseroles, pasta dishes, etc.  The list goes far beyond brownies and cookies.  Dosing ranges widely.  Always start low and go slow. You don't want a recipe so strong that you are unable to fully enjoy your meal.  A little bit goes a long way.  Especially if you are using the butter in more than one dish for a meal.  

• 1/2 ounce (14 grams) decarboxylated cannabis
• 2 cups (500 ml) of water
• 2 sticks of butter (approximately 8 ounces or 225 grams) Not margarine!
• 1 medium-sized saucepan with a lid
• 1 wooden spoon
• 2 cheese cloths
• 1 medium-sized glass bowl or container

1. Decarb the cannabis. Preheat your oven to 240ºF. Place cannabis buds on a non-stick, oven-safe tray. Cover the tray with parchment paper to prevent sticking. Insert the tray into the oven and set a timer for 30-40 minutes. Older, drier cannabis may require less time. Every 10 minutes, gently mix the buds with a light shake of the tray to expose the surface area of the buds equally.
2. Grind. Grind the decarboxylated cannabis coarsely with a hand grinder.  Do not use a coffee grinder. You do not want the particles so small that they go through the cheesecloth later. 
3. Melt the butter. Add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of butter into a double boiler, or saucepan. (to use a crockpot see below). Use a thermometer as the temperature is critical. Simmer on low and let the butter melt. Adding water helps to regulate the temperature and prevents the butter from scorching.
4. Add the cannabis. As the butter begins to melt, add in your coarsely ground cannabis product.
5. Simmer. Maintain low heat (ideally above 160ºF but never exceeding 200ºF) and let the mixture simmer for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture should never come to a full boil. High heat destroys the cannabinoids.
6. Strain the cannabutter. Strain the butter from the plant material through a cheesecloth. Tip: squeezing the cheesecloth may push through some plant material giving it a bad taste.
7. Refrigerate the container of butter in glass or pyrex kitcheware. If excess water forms at the bottom, you can remove the solid butter with a knife and drain the water out. (The butter will need to refrigerate for about an hour before removing the water.)
8. Dose carefully. Refer to dosing information below before adding your butter to any snacks, dishes, or desserts.
9. The greener the butter the more of the plant material went through the cheesecloth. If you squeeze the cheesecloth you will have greener butter. Using the water helps keep the butter less green.  

Directions for Crockpot

1. Grind your cannabis coarsely with a hand grinder. (Tip: A coffee grinder will finely pulverize the flower and prevent effective straining of bad-tasting plant material.) In other words do not use a coffee grinder.
2. Set your slow cooker to low, or somewhere around 160ºF. (Tip: Avoid exceeding 200ºF to prevent burning or wasting cannabinoids. You can also add a little water to help prevent scorching.)
3. Add the butter and ground cannabis. Stir occasionally.
4. After about 3 hours, turn off the crockpot and wait for the butter to cool.
5. Strain and store as above. 

Cannabutter Dosing

Your butter’s potency depends on many factors. Depending on how strong the strain was and how long, and hot it was cooked.  Even the type of cannabis used (indica vs. sativa strains) can be a factor. To test the potency of your finished product, try spreading ¼ or ½ teaspoon on a snack and see how that dose affects you after an hour. Decrease or increase dose as desired. You can then use this personalized “standard” dose as a baseline for your recipes. Use the butter in sauces, spreads, baking, etc.  You can also use CBD bud to make cannabutter.