Making edibles isn’t as challenging as you might think, and it’s also more affordable. The process is pretty straightforward; first, you prepare the flower, then you infuse the butter, then you use it in a recipe. I have an article that details the how-to for preparing the flower, but I’m going to include it here so you don’t have to go back and forth. For an example, I’m going to use one gram of flower at 20% THC. Substitute your actual amount and THC level into my Marijuana Edibles Calculator to get your results. My results are 16.67 mg of THC per serving, which is a teaspoon. You don’t have to spend a lot making edibles, just make a Small Batch of Cannabutter.
Decarboxylation
Decarboxylation, simply put, is adding heat to marijuana in order to change the THCA into THC, thus making it active. You add heat when you light a joint or bowl, this is for making it digestible and psychoactive.
5 minutes to preheat, 30 minutes to bake 35 minutes
Decarbing the Cannabis
- EQUIPMENT
Aluminum foil, an oven (I use a toaster oven, it works great), and an oven safe dish
- INGREDIENTS
1 gram of cannabis buds
- Preheat
Heat your oven to 240° Fahrenheit (115.5° Celsius)
- Grind
While the oven is heating, tear up or rough grind your buds. Don’t overdo it, just break it down so that it bakes evenly
- Plate it
Place the weed in an oven-safe container, cover it with tin foil, or even better, just wrap it in the foil. Covering your dish in foil helps keep the smell down, while wrapping accomplishes this even better
- Bake
Put the covered dish or wrapped marijuana in the oven and let bake for 30 minutes
- Cool
Let it cool for safe handling, and that’s it. Your pot is activated, and ready to use
Make the Cannabutter
Now it’s time infuse the butter..
CannaButter
Equipment
- 1 Double boiler I use a pot and 1 cup glass measuring cup
- 1 Mesh strainer The finer the mesh, the less cannabis debris will get in your butter
- 1 Cheesecloth You can use a coffee filter if you don't have cheesecloth
- 1 Mold Use some kind of container to hold the butter. I usually use a small plastic container
- 1 Spoon You can use your finger, but it will be hot
- 2 Containers For straining
Ingredients
- 4 tsp Ghee or clarified butter It's important to use ghee due to the higher fat content, which binds better to the THC
- 1 gram Decarbed marijuana see above
- 2 cups water for boiling, add more as needed
Instructions
- Place Pyrex measuring cup in pot, the put enough water in pot to 2/3 cover the measuring cup
- Add 4 tsp. ghee to measuring cup
- Bring water to a gentle boil
- Add decarbed cannabis to measuring cup
- Set a timer for 60 minutes
- After the ghee is liquid, stir every couple of minutes
- Add water as needed, do not let it boil all away. Keep it gently boiling
- After 60 minutes, but while the butter is warm enough to be liquid, pour it through the strainer (into a second container or cup) to remove most of the cannabis
- Use a spoon or gloved finger to squeeze all the liquid out of the strainer
- Throw away the used-up flower, maybe compost it
- Strain your liquid cannabutter from its container through the cheesecloth to remove any fine particles, into its mold or final container
- Allow the cannabutter to cool into its mold or final container, where it will harden into its solid form
- Your cannabutter is now ready to add to any recipe that has butter in it. Bon Appetit!
I like to make canna rice crispy treats, or I use a brownie mix and substitute the butter
