Cannabutter (or in this case, since I have a dairy sensitivity and will be using non dairy Margarine, CannaMargarine… Marijuanagarine… Ganjagarine?). 🤷

This is a post about cannabis-infused butter… Aka: weed, kaya, ganja, or the slur “marijuana”.

Hi, my name is Reilly, and I have a college degree from a cooking school (an AAS) and five years of experience working in the restaurant industry. I have worked in the cannabis industry for 2+ years. Cannabutter (A compound word of cannabis and butter), also known as a cannabis compound butter, is a crucial recipe to master for edibles and as a sauce for food. While you could use this as a traditional compound butter, I wouldn’t recommend it since I don’t care for the taste of decarbed weed. More on that term later. Cannabutter is far more effective than the flavor since cooking evaporates the terpenes (the tasty and aromatic compounds) in the cannabis.

In this recipe, I will substitute Earthbound brand Vegetable Oil Spread instead of butter because I am dairy sensitive. This product is vegan and a good 1-to-1 substitute for butter, in my experience. (I am not being sponsored by this brand. I wish I were…)

Song of the post: Mary Jane by Rick James

This recipe is for adults of legal consumption age, age 21 here in Washington State USA. The information in this recipe is informational only for places where Cannabis isn’t legal.

Cannabutter

• 16 oz Earth Bound Vegan Buttery Sticks
• 16 oz water
• 28 grams cannabis (my guess, scale broke.)

Total recipe cooking time: 130 minutes.

Cooling time: on counter– 1 hour. In fridge, about 6 hours or overnight.

Equipment

• 1 baking sheet.
• Parchment paper for your baking sheet.
• 1 large saucepan.
• Optional: 1-liter French press.
• 1 8×8 glass 2-quart pyrex baking dish.
• 1 spatula.
• 1 thermometer.
• 1 oven/stovetop.
• 1 refrigerator.
• 4 cup fine mesh strainer.

TLDR: a blog post instructions:

(Aka Too long didn’t read)

• Step 1: Grind or breakdown your cannabis into small pieces, no bigger than a pea. Spread it evenly on a parchment covered baking sheet.
• Step 2: Bake in a 240 degree Fahrenheit oven for 40 minutes. It should be a golden brown color with a strong cannabis aroma. Put aside for a moment.
• Step 3: Measure 2 cups water into a sauce pan and put it on the stove on medium low. Add your butter and let it completely melt. Be sure to not allow this to go over 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Check temperature with a thermometer.
• Step 4: Scrape the baked cannabis into the butter mixture and stir gently with a spatula to be sure the cannabis is mixed in.
• Step 5: Simmer on medium low for 90 minutes, coming back every 20 minutes or so to check the temperature and to stir the mixture.
• Step 6: Pour and strain mixture into a pyrex glass pan. Ideally you want as little solid material as possible. Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge overnight to cool.
• Step 7: Remove the solid top layer of Cannabutter from the pyrex pan, and discard the liquid below the fat.
• Step 8: Store for later use by putting it in the fridge, or use right away!

Consume Responsibly.

Extended version of recipe, SEO friendly with commentary:

Since my kitchen scale chose today to break… I am not sure how much weed is in this bowl.

My guess is about a 14 to 28 grams. This bowl usually holds about a cup of dried cereal or liquid. And this is a mix of several cannabis strains. (Which is proof that I have really cut down on my weed consumption.)

Step 1 and 2: Grind and bake your cannabis.

To begin, we will be baking our cannabis to convert the THCA to THC by roasting it in the oven at 240 F for 40 minutes.

This is a necessary step to activate our cannabis. The key is to slowly roast the ground cannabis to golden brown. We do so with a lower temperature, 240 degrees Fahrenheit, for 40 minutes.

In scientific terms, this is called decarboxylation.

Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO₂). Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain. The reverse process, which is the first chemical step in photosynthesis, is called carboxylation, the addition of CO₂ to a compound. Enzymes that catalyze decarboxylations are called decarboxylases or, the more formal term, carboxy-lyases (EC number 4.1.1).

Source

Add the activated cannabis buds to the butter on the stove top.

Next, we will be adding the activated cannabis from the sheet pan to the saucepan on the stove top. Turn the heat to a low simmer. The ideal temperature is a simmer, which is 190 F to 210 F.

Step 3: Simmer on low for 90 minutes.

Step 4: Strain? Cool. Then Netflix and Chill

This long trip is almost over. Now, we will be straining the solids from the butter and allowing it to cool. This will take an hour to cool on your counter to reach room temperature. After that a couple more hours before the fats solidify and we separate that to have our finished cannabutter.

Note: you don’t want to save any of the strained cannabis solids. It tastes awful, and all of the desired psychoactive compounds have been absorbed by the butter fats after all this cooking. Don’t feel bad about throwing it away in your food waste.

Step 420: Get Baked.

Finally the trip you’ve been patiently waiting for. You can use this Cannabutter as the fat or butter in any cooking recipe, though I recommend using it in baked goods or something with a dominant flavor because this does have its own flavor.

Which is someplace between spent matcha tea and asparagus. Edit a month after I first wrote this: it made me gag trying to eat it straight up. It’s acceptable in edibles, and not too bad added to a strong flavored tea or coffee.

Warning: Whenever consuming edibles, be patient and wait 1-2 hours between doses. 1 dose may last several hours. Consume responsibly.

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