Crock Pot cannabutter for dummies

A couple of my patients have asked me how to make cannabutter. One patient has mobility issues and they can stand only for short periods. While this method takes longer than some, it is absolutely reliable and very easy for most people to master. So... here we go!

We need a Crock Pot, butter (real butter is best), trim or bud, and water. Later you will also need a large pot, strainer, cheese cloth, and storage container.


I usually cook with trim and use the ratio of 1oz of trim to 1lb butter. When using bud, I use 1/4oz bud to 1lb butter. For this batch I'm using 2oz of trim and 2lb butter. Your results will vary depending on how strong your trim or bud is, and you can only dial it in through experimentation. Final product too strong? Dilute by melting in a pot with more butter. To weak? Run it again with more trim / bud. You can't really screw it up.



This photo is very important. Notice how fine the trim is ground up. The first part of the chemistry is releasing the trichomes from the trim / bud. You will release more of the active ingredients in the marijuana if the bud is finely ground and all of the trichomes are exposed. You can dry out your trim / bud until it's crispy, then put it in a ziploc bag and crunch it up. If it's not crispy dry, you can freeze it in a ziploc bag and then crunch it up. Just crunch it up, that's the message.



So here is our starting mash. I put all eight sticks of butter in the bottom of the pot, add the 2oz of trim, then add 2.5 quarts of water. The amount of water isn't really important, but you want enough to top off your Crock Pot and wet all of your trim / bud. Mix it a bit to make sure everything is wet, then put on the cover and turn your crock pot on low.



Here is our mash after an hour or so. Notice that the butter has melted and is blending with the water and trim / bud. Stir once in a while, but don't go crazy. The crock pot does its best work with time, the lid on, and the power on low. I probably only stir the mash three or four times over the whole process. Not quite "set it and forget it", but close.



Here is our mash the next day. Yeah, the next DAY. I usually cook for 24 hours. The simplified chemistry is as follows: The active ingredients in marijuana are fat soluable, not water soluable. The butter will absorb the active ingredients released from the marijuana, which is broken down by the water mash mix. So now we have our potent butter, how do we seperate it from the water and mash?



Position a large pot and strainer over each other.



Drape cheese cloth (available at your grocery store with baking or canning supplies) across the strainer. This is optional, but if you don't strain really well you may have a bitter, weedy taste to your butter.



Strain. I start by using a ladel to get most of the mash out of the crock pot. Once you have all of the mash in the strainer and all of the liquid out of the crock pot, just let it sit for 15 - 30 minutes. Every drop that drains out is precious! USE CAUTION, the mash will be VERY HOT!! After you have waited to let the strainer drain, gather the edges of the cheese cloth and squeeze out any remaining liquid. It will be mostly butter as the trim / bud and butter LOVE each other. Trash or compost your trim / bud mash. It is completely spent at this point.



Here is the pot with our water / butter mix. Notice the bubbles seem to be looking at me...



Put the mix in your refrigerator overnight. The butter is lighter than the water and will float to the top and solidify. I didn't show the lid to the pot. If you don't cover the pot, your whole fridge will smell like bong water. At least that's what my wife told me, lol.

 

So here we are the next morning. The butter is on top and solid, the water is on the bottom. Cut the butter up with a sharp knife and remove it.



This is optional, but I usually melt the chunks of butter and pour them into a smaller container. Notice the butter is starting to melt. It looks brown when melted but will return to the familiar green color when solid.



I poured the melted butter into a tupperware style container and will put it back in the refridgerator or freezer. It will stay good for a couple of months in the refridgerator (like regular butter). It will stay good and just as potent nearly forever if left in the freezer. I just defrosted some from two years ago and baked with it, no potency loss.



Using this method, the butter comes out very smooth tasting. Here are some sugar cookies made with this butter. They look, smell, and taste like any other sugar cookie and the marijuana is completely imperceptable... until an hour or so after eating!

Enjoy!

PS You will end up with less butter than you started with, usually a loss of about 2oz per pound of butter. You just can't recapture everything you put in there, so if you need exactly a pound or two pounds of butter, start with a little more.

 

Honestly the ratios will depend on your tastes and the strength of the bud. A quarter oz of bud and a pound of butter works just fine for me. My only input is that you may want to use a smaller crock pot so you don't have to fill it with a gallon of water.

 

One last thing... you will lose some butter in the cooking process. If you need exactly 1lb of butter, you might want to start with 1.25lbs just to be sure. I usually lose about 1-2oz per pound of butter because it's just impossible to get it all out of the mash.

 

The water will help break down the plant matter and free the trichomes, which are then absorbed by the butter. The water also acts as a temperature regulator. It boils at 212 degrees, below the point that the butter will burn. Excess heat will be released as steam rather than continuing to build. You don't HAVE to use water, but I'm not sure how you would fit enough plant material into the crock pot to use nothing but butter.

 

Thanks guys, and thanks for the +rep! Let me know how your batches come out.

 

Nice signature link! Well presented information.