How Much Weed Do You Need to Make Cannabutter?

Making your own edibles at home can be an enjoyable way to combine quality and product with cannabis consumption. Learning how to extract THC from cannabis and understanding the combination ratios can ensure potent and quality edibles when making them from scratch. If you want to make your own edibles, cannabutter is a great place to start. Below we’ll discuss what cannabutter is, how to make it, and how much weed you’ll need for the recipe.

What Is Cannabutter?

Cannabutter is an infused combination of cannabis and butter. Cannabutter can be used in an array of cooking recipes from sweets to savory dishes. In the process of making cannabutter, cannabis must be heated to release THC for the infusion. The heating process is called decarboxylation. Decarbing is essential to making an edible with potency.

Determining the potency you prefer in your edibles is important for you and others consuming the edible. If you are making your own edibles, you have control over the strength if you plan properly. Paying attention to how the cannabis is heated and the amount and potency of the cannabis used in the recipe will ensure quality edibles that won’t overpower you or your guests.

If you live in a state with recreational cannabis laws, it is best to purchase cannabis from a licensed dispensary. They will give you a laboratory certificate of analysis of the percentage strength of the cannabis. Picking quality ingredients, from butter to buds, when making your own edibles makes a difference in quality of the end product.

Researching THC potency and considering your desired effect of your edibles will determine what types of products you buy. If you want a high-tolerance edible, consider buds of 20 percent THC potency. Many people simply look for the most potent strain they can find, but it is also possible to consider other factors like the energizing effect of cannabis and scent and taste.

Lower potency strains of cannabis are often better for consumers who are not as experienced with edibles. Some strains have a balanced ratio of THC and CBD. These strains will be more likely to produce a mellower buzz. For example, using hemp flowers in your cannabutter will create a milder edible because hemp flowers have 3 percent THC or less.

How Much Weed Do You Need to Produce Cannabutter?

It is possible to analyze the amount of THC you have in your cannabutter with a little math.

[Grams of flowers] x 1000 x [percentage of THC] = total milligrams of THC in the sample

Not all of the THC in the sample will end up in the cannabutter, but this equation will give you a sense of potency and can make for a useful guide for creating edibles that produce specific effects.

When decarbing the cannabis, the THCA is converted to THC, activating the cannabis so it can be used for edibles. Roughly 87 percent of THCA is converted to THC. When creating cannabutter by combining heated cannabis with butter, 70 to 90 percent of the THC will remain.
For those who home cook their cannabutter, the amount of THC in the butter will be closer to 70 percent. Several variables affect the potency of cannabutter, including the heat during decarbing and the time and heat cooking the cannabis into the butter. However, extractions done at home can yield some of the best cannabutter if you follow the rules and recipes.

The standard dose of THC in an edible is 10 milligrams for edible companies. Taking a look at home extraction and how many edibles it can potentially make at 10 milligrams, we use the formula assuming seven grams of 25 percent THC cannabis that will be extracted at 70 percent:

7 grams x 1000 x .25 x .7 = 1225 milligrams of extracted THC for edibles

This means you can make 122 edibles with 10 milligrams of THC in them with your seven grams of .25 percent THC cannabis.

Depending upon the occasion, you may want stronger edibles for your consumption, or you may want something mellower. This method of analyzing the strength of cannabutter will give edible producers the flexibility to produce edibles with the desired potency.

Another way to make cannabutter with precision is to use an infusion machine like the LĒVO ll.  LĒVO II will do streamline the extraction process, including decarboxylating the flowers and cooking the weed with butter. You do not have to monitor the infusion machine because it does everything automatically. The machine has presets you can adjust based on your knowledge of making cannabutter with the potency you desire.

This is an excellent alternative for many edible producers because you get fresh cannabutter any time you want that is less expensive than purchasing it at a store.

Can You Store Cannabutter for Later Use?

Cannabutter can be stored in an air-tight jar. A glass mason jar is adequate but storing it in an opaque jar is better because light spoils cannabis over time. Refrigerate the cannabutter, and it will last three to four weeks. Freezing the cannabutter will not affect the taste or the potency and will make it last up to six months.

What Can Cannabutter Be Used For?

Cannabutter can be used in a variety of recipes. Overall, cannabutter can be used as an alternative for most recipes that call for regular butter. This exchange makes cannabutter’s uses almost limitless.

Brownies are a common edible that can be made with cannabutter, along with cookies and other sweets. If you want something savory, pesto pasta is terrific with cannabutter. Make the pasta, add cannabutter, add herbs like basil and maybe some garlic cooked in olive oil, and sprinkle in some cheese. The combination of the pasta with the cannabis buzz can become another level of comfort food.

Making your own edibles like homemade cannabutter can be fun, and the recipe possibilities are endless because of cannabutter’s versatility. With knowledge of the process and fresh cannabutter on hand, it’s time to start cooking.