There are lots of ways to consume cannabis – medically and otherwise. One way is to eat it. If you have ever heard of cannabis edibles, you know what this means. If not, you have some things to learn. Cannabis edibles represent just one way to consume THC and CBD products.
Edibles can take just about any form. They can be soft gummies similar to the gummy bears you ate as a kid. They can be oils or tinctures you consume by placing them under your tongue. Edibles can even be cookies and brownies. The possibilities are endless, which leads us to cannabis butter.
Also known as ‘cannabutter’ or cannabis-infused butter, this edible is really as simple as its name suggests. It is butter or margarine mixed with processed cannabis flour. You use it like any other type of butter. You can spread it on your toast or put it on your muffin. You can use it as an ingredient in baking. You can fry your fish in it.
Easy But Time-Consuming
There are some places where you cannot find any edibles other than gummies, oils, and tinctures. That is due to state laws. For example, weed is legal in Utah for medical use. Yet Utahmarijuana.org says the Beehive State doesn’t allow pharmacies to sell products like cookies and brownies. Utah weed laws restrict most edibles. But users can make their own at home.
Making cannabis butter is not especially difficult. However, it requires patience. Cutting corners in order to speed things up only reduces the quality of the finished product. So if you’re planning to make any type of edible at home, be prepared to invest the time.
Decarboxylating the Cannabis
Before you can effectively make any type of edible at home, including cannabis butter, you have to decarboxylate the plant. Essentially, you have to remove the carbs. Raw cannabis contains THCA and CBDA – the acid forms of the two most well-known cannabinoids in the plant. Decarbing gets rid of the acid component so that you’re left with pure THC or CBD.
As with most things cannabis related, there are several different methods for decarbing cannabis. One method is to stick it in your oven. You preheat the oven to 245°F, put your buds on a cookie sheet, and bake them for 30-40 minutes. If you have got older plants that are especially dry, you might be able to get the job done in 20 minutes or less. The key is to go slowly. Turning up the temperature to speed things up will only reduce the quality of your butter.
Making the Butter
Once the buds are decarbed, your grind them up coarsely. Then you actually cook them into the butter. Some people do this on the stove, combining butter and cannabis with a bit of water, then letting the whole mixture simmer for several hours. Other people make their butter in a slow cooker or crock pot. The process is basically the same.
The point of cooking the butter is to release the THC or CBD from the buds. When all is said and done, you’re going to strain the mixture through some cheesecloth to get rid of what’s left of the plant. Then you put the finished butter into the fridge, where it cools and solidifies.
And that’s cannabis butter in a nutshell. If you’re thinking of trying to make it at home, you’ll find plenty of recipes online. Just be cautious. It is nearly impossible to effectively tweak dosages when you’re making edibles at home. Go easy on your consumption until you know what you’re working with.
