Canna-Butter: -By: Wilson

Another grower friend of mine loves to cook and he is good at it. Once he got his indoor hydroponic system locked in, he had to figure out what to do with all of those buds. To the kitchen he went. 

First, obviously, you must dry it. And then you grind it. The day I sat in he had three quarters of an ounce (21 grams) ready to go. My contribution was one pound of premium, unsalted butter. Is that a deal or what?

Onto a sheet tray lined with aluminum foil and into a 240-degree oven it went. This is called decarboxylation. It converts THCA to THC. This is what you are doing when you light a joint or turn on the vape. Here you are just using the oven to toast it until it starts to get brown, about 45 minutes to an hour, but start checking it after 30 minutes. Don’t burn your weed. 

Before we go any further, my buddy used a cookbook called Bong Appetit – Mastering the Art of Cooking with Weed to teach himself how to do this. This is not to be confused with the cooking magazine of a similar title. No idea how that title got past legal. 

While the weed is toasting, melt the butter slowly as you would for any other recipe that requires melted butter. You do not need to clarify it, but you are going to add a cup of water to the now melted butter. Don’t let the butter get too warm. Just melt it, don’t make brown butter.

After toasting, what started out as 21 grams is now 14 grams. Kitchen scales are wonderful. Buy one if you don’t have one. 

We are also making oil with unflavored coconut oil. This goes into a 16-ounce Ball jar that goes into a pot full of warm, but not quite simmering, water. Here a sous vide would be the perfect tool to dial in that perfect temperature. He estimates 130 to160 degrees. 

Now he evenly splits the 14 grams between two pieces of cheesecloth. You don’t have to do this, but if you do, you don’t have to strain the butter or the oil to remove the weed when you are done. Why not make life easy?

With seven grams in the butter and the other seven in the oil, now the stovetop does most of the remaining work. The butter is going to take two to three hours to finish. The oil will take six to 10; the longer the better. Think of the oil as slow brewed iced tea.

When the butter is done pour it into a bowl, let it cool and then cover it and put it into the refrigerator. Once it gets cold the water and the butter will separate. Dump the water and the butter is ready to use or freeze for later use. 

He doesn’t use the water, but I am sure you could use it for something. Let me know what you come up with. 

What to do with the butter and oil? Anything you would cook or eat with regular butter or oil. Brownies? Yep. Cupcakes? You bet. Another friend makes garlic bread. Yes please. 

My buddy just uses box brownie and cupcake mix. Try Trader Joe’s brownie truffle baking mix. 

Before cooking or baking you will want to do some math just to make sure you don’t over do it. One of the best things about buying edibles at the store is you know what you are getting into, and we want to get as close to that as we can here. 

This is where Bong Appetit comes in handy again: 

“… [to] determine the remaining THC content in milligrams per one gram after decarboxylation assuming a 70 percent conversion rate of THCA to THC multiply the THC rate by however many grams of cannabis you are using to make your infusion; subtract 30 percent of the total THC, assuming that is the amount lost during the infusion process; divide the total amount of THC by the tablespoons of butter used to determine the estimated amount of THC in milligrams per one tablespoon of the infusion.”

Assuming and estimated are important words here. Go slow at first. Don’t over butter. With this math our butter came out to about 66 milligrams per tablespoon. There are three teaspoons in a tablespoon, so about 22 milligrams per teaspoon. 

Using whatever recipe you are making, figure out how much THC you want in it and use that amount of butter. You can mix the butter with non-THC butter if you need more butter for the recipe than the THC butter you want to add. 

Mix whatever you are making well to get the butter spread through the mix as well as possible. Divide the amount of THC you have estimated in the recipe between the number of cupcakes or equally cut brownies you made. Now you know roughly how strong each one should be. 

My buddy doesn’t bake or cook with the oil, but you can. He just puts it into small glass bottles with an eyedropper. Put small drops of it under your tongue. Start with 20 or so. 

Start slowly. Have fun. You can always add more next time. Don’t drive.