Ever wanted to make your own cannabis oil or butter but just felt too overwhelmed? Trust me, I get it.
It took me over 5 years as a medical cannabis patient before attempting my first homemade infusion. I chose coconut oil instead of butter because I prefer baking with it. If you want to use butter instead, the same mason jar method will work.
I won’t sugarcoat it, making cannabis oil from scratch is labour intensive. It isn’t difficult to make the final product but for someone with chronic health issues, it can be absolutely exhausting. That’s why I make 4 jars at once. You can easily divide the recipe below by 4 to make a single jar, or make 2 of coconut oil and 2 cannabutter for variety.
- A crockpot
- 4 mason jars
- 6 cups coconut oil (or butter, olive oil etc)
- Cheesecloth
- 7 – 10 grams decarbed cannabis
- Mortar and pestle (optional)
Decarboxylating your weed
Consuming raw cannabis in smoothies, salads, and other foods is delicious. However, for cannabis oils, you need to decarboxylate the flower first. By heating the cannabis at a controlled temperature and timeframe, we turn raw cannabinoids from their acid form to a more potent form. Under heat THCA and CBDA turn into THC and CBD respectively.
The process happens naturally when a person smokes or vaporizes cannabis. When we make oils and butter, it needs to be done manually. You can break apart the bud onto an open baking sheet or tent the cannabis in aluminum foil to preserve more terpenes and authentic flavours. Make sure the cannabis is in a single layer, like when roasting vegetables.
Preheat oven to 250°F and bake for 25 – 30 minutes.
It’s Crockpot Time!
My favourite thing about this recipe is using the sealed mason jars and crockpot. Making cannabis oil stinks, from decarbing to infusing. I live in an apartment building so anything I can do to reduce the smell is worthwhile. You can also make cannabis infusions in a double boiler or fancy machine like Magic Butter.
Steps
- Fill crock pot half full with water, turn on low setting
- I like to further break down my decarbed cannabis into smaller pieces in my mortar and pestle. I find I get more use of the plant matter in the infusion, I do not know if this is science.
- Divide decarbed cannabis into four equal parts
- Combine cannabis and 1 1/2 cups of coconut oil per mason jar.
- Stir and seal
- Place jars gently into crockpot
- Let cook 2 hours, checking to make sure the oil doesn’t exceed 200°F
You’re almost done!
All that is left is strain and store! Carefully remove jars from the crockpot and open lids to cool. When the oil is cool enough to handle, pour into a cheesecloth-lined bowl. Make sure to thoroughly squeeze the cheesecloth-wrapped plant matter to get every last drop of oil. Alternatively, you can use a french press to the same effect without the wasted product. Regardless of how you strain it, make sure to save the leftover cannabis. It can either be composted or repurposed.
Refrigerate and freeze in portions that work for your needs. Personally, I store in mason jars and in frozen cubes.
