Cannabutter

Cannabutter is an oil/fat/butter based solution which has been infused with cannabinoids. This is achieved by heating the raw cannabis along with the oil or butter and allowing the cannabinoids (THC and others) to be extracted by the fat. The exact procedure for this varies greatly. The equipment necessary for the manufacture of cannabutter can be as simple as a sauce pan and spatula or as complicated as a double-boiler, or crock pot, and cheese cloth and funnel.

Another way to produce cannabutter is to boil a large pan of water and then add a block of butter and add cannabis trimmings (the leaves and stalks). The water stops the THC from being damaged by heat as the mixture will never reach over 100 C. After half an hour or so of boiling sieve the mixture to remove the leaves and cool the liquid in a fridge. When it has cooled you are left with a potent layer of cannabutter on top of dirty water. This method works well because THC and other cannabinoids only dissolve in oil whereas many other undesirable chemicals in the leaves dissolve in the water.

Cannabutter is intoxicating but the high from ingested cannabis (like cannabutter or foods containing it) is reported to be somewhat different from that obtained by smoking the plant. Particularly the effects are much slower to begin and last much longer, due to the time it takes to digest the fats, rather than the near instantaneous absorption of THC from smoke in the lungs.

Cannabutter can be used just like butter, or baked into anything that would require butter such as brownies. Recipes using this butter should avoid high temperatures (in excess of 300F/150C degrees) as this may damage the potency of the butter by causing the THC to be vaporized. The flavor and color of the oil or butter used are changed depending on the method used.

External links

Totse.com – How to make Cannabutter
Stoner Chef – Another Cannabutter recipe