Cooking with Cannabis: How to Make Cannabutter & Decarboxylation Weed

Decarboxylation is a bigger word than most people want to deal with when it comes to marijuana. However, it is a critical, and actually a fairly accessible component of the cannabis cooking process.

Marijuana baking and cooking is a quintessential part of cannabis culture. From the classic marijuana brownie, all the way to the much more intricate, even gourmet recipes that are often seen today cannabis has a rich culinary tradition.

In this article, we talk about all things having to do with cannabis cooking. This includes a little bit of science such as the decarboxylation process.

We will also talk about how to use cannabutter (the main ingredient in any cannabis recipe) and we will look at some delicious cannabis-infused treats.

To close the article out, there will even be a section highlighting some delicious cannabis eateries and cooking classes you can take advantage of the next time you find yourself in a green friendly state. Let’s get right into it, shall we?

Decarboxylating Weed & Marijuana for Cooking

So what exactly does it mean to attempt the decarboxylation of weed? Well, before cannabis can be effectively used in the cooking process it’s chemical composition needs to be altered slightly.

Cannabis that has not gone through the decarboxylating process will be rich in a chemical known as THCA—a non-psychoactive ingredient with little to no recreational benefit. THCA cannabis will be only mildly effective in an edible if indeed it works at all.

In other words, before you can get much of anything done with cannabis in the kitchen, you will need to decarboxylate weed.

How to Decarb Weed For Cooking

Decarb Marijuana in a Mason Jar

There are a couple of other methods to decarb and attain the same result.

For example, do you want to avoid making your house smell like cannabis? If so, you can conduct a virtually identical process but with a mason jar.

The process is similar but before you stick the marijuana in the oven, you make sure that it is contained on a mason jar resting on its side.

You can place the mason jar on a cookie sheet the same way you would with anything else that you are baking. Cannabis cooked in a mason jar requires a sixty-minute cook time. Every fifteen minutes you will need to shake the jar to make sure that the ground bud bakes evenly. Let the jar cool for thirty minutes before any additional handling.

Decarboxylating Weed with Sous Vide

As an alternative to the baking approach, you can also prepare your cannabis via the sous vide method. For this process, you will need some equipment that deviates from the standard kitchen fair.

Sous vide preparation requires a tub, an emergent circulator, and a tightly sealed plastic bag. For optimal performance set the temperature of the circulator to 203 degrees.

While you won’t need to worry about burning the cannabis it will still be to your benefit to grinding the bud up with your fingers. Place the cannabis in a sealed bag and allow it to cook in the water for twenty minutes.

How Long to Decarb Weed?

Figuring out how to decarboxylate weed is largely a matter of nailing the cooking time. As illustrated above, each method is a little bit different. However, the cooking time tends to hover around 20-30 minutes.

Decarboxylation Temperature Charts

How to Make Cannabutter

When it comes to adding cannabis into an edible, most cannabis chefs use cannabutter. Cannabutter is a key and main ingredient in the world of cannabis cooking. Here you’ll learn what cannabutter is and the exact steps on how to make cannabutter at home or in a commercial kitchen.

What is Cannabutter?

Cannabutter is butter that has been infused with cannabis which is then used as a baking ingredient to make any edible or treat you can imagine.

How to Make Cannabutter at Home

Well now go through the step on how to make cannabutter at home!

Step 1: Decarboxylate Weed

Let’s assume you’ve already done this using one of the methods discussed above.

Step 2: Measure it Out the Marijuana to Make Cannabutter

Cannabutter tends to require a decent quantity of cannabis. Cooks are often using round 6-8 grams of bud to produce cannabutter.

Cannabutter requires equal measures of butter and water. In other words, for every cup of butter, you will use one cup of water. Fortunately, the best cannabutter recipe is very simple and won’t require anything you don’t already have in your fridge.

Step 3: Combine the Cannabutter Ingredients

Now it is time to combine the ingredients. Melt the butter, stir in the water, and dump in the decarboxylated grounds.

Step 4: Cook the Ingredients

This part of the process doesn’t ask much of you. How long to cook cannabutter will depend on your heating setting. Butter tends to brown if left unchecked which is counter-intuitive to your purposes.

Allow the butter to simmer on low for 2-3 hours. Stir occasionally to avoid burning.

Step 5: Strain & Set

Once the cannabutter has cooked you will want to extract the used up flower. To do this you will want to place a cheesecloth over the top of a bowl or storage container, then slowly pour the mixture over the cloth.

You can then store your cannabutter in the refrigerator. It’s now ready to enjoy so all you have to do is figure out what to make with cannabutter.

How to Make Cannabutter Stronger

Making cannabutter stronger is mostly a matter of increasing the number of flowers that you use. You can always add more cannabis to your mixture to increase the potency.

Incidentally, you can also focus on using more THC dense buds for your cooking. Weed butter recipes don’t change much but you can always play around with cannabis quantities to attain different results.

How Long does Cannabutter Last?

Now you know how to make marijuana butter, but how long will it last? Cannabutter tends to last about three weeks in the refrigerator or six months in the freezer. It is a pretty decent shelf life but even with that said it won’t last forever.

Once you make the stuff you will want to figure out what to make with cannabutter pretty soon after.

Cooking With Cannabutter

You’ve made the stuff but how do you cook with cannabutter? First, we will go over a few different cooking methods, then we will get into some awesome recipes you can use them for.

Baking with Cannabutter

Baking with marijuana is an old past time. Figuring out how to bake with weed is actually a pretty simple matter. Every chef does things a little bit differently. That said, recipes using cannabutter usually split the ingredients in half to avoid overconsumption.

For example, if there is a cookie recipe you really like that uses one cup of butter, you may use half a cup of cannabutter and half a cup of regular butter. The same process extends towards figuring out how to make weed brownies. At the end of the day, they are basically ordinary brownies but with a couple of tweaks.

It is also worth noting that some people find it best to undercook weed-infused baked goods to bring out the best in the psychoactive properties. Once you get more comfortable with the psychoactive ingredients, you can adjust the recipe somewhat to suit your preferences.

Cooking with Cannabutter In a Skillet

We all know that you can bake with cannabutter but did you know that it also works well on the skillet? It is actually essentially the same process you use for regular skillet cooking. The difference? You split the recipe between ordinary and cannabutter.

In other words, if you would usually use a tablespoon of butter on your skillet, you may instead use half a tablespoon of cannabutter and half a tablespoon of the regular stuff.

Raw Cannabutter

You don’t actually have to cook with cannabutter to enjoy the psychoactive properties. Now that it has been properly prepared the effects of THC are already infused in the butter. Consequently, you can enjoy it in a quick snack.

Making a bagel? Toast? Some nice pumpkin bread? Basically, anything you’d put regular butter on is also perfectly compatible with cannabutter.

List of Popular Cannabutter Edible Recipes

Cannabutter Steak

Cannabutter Pan Seared Steak

Cannabis Brownies

https://eatyourcannabis.com/cannabis-brownies/

Mac And Cheese with Cannabutter

https://recipes.laurieandmaryjane.com/medicated-mac-cheese/

Cannabutter Burgers

How to Make Weed Burgers

Cannabis Cooking & Dinner Private Events

Last, we close this guide out by looking at some legal opportunities for cannabis-infused dining. Colorado features a variety of different cannabis-friendly tours, dining experiences, and cooking classes.

Denver 420-friendly restaurants

It is not currently legal to smoke and eat cannabis-infused food at the same time and place. However, there are private dining options that treat you to a more personalized experience.

Cannabis dinner parties tend to be pricey but they are an awesome way to treat yourself or even your friends and family to a unique dining experience.

Introductory Cooking with Cannabis Class

While we did feature some awesome cannabis recipes in this guide today the process of mastering this art takes time.

If you are in the Colorado area you may enjoy the opportunity to get a little bit of professional guidance. Colorado cannabis cooking classes are headed by professional chefs. In them, you’re not just learning how to make weed brownies like a high schooler. On the contrary, the chefs are able to teach you true skills that will apply well even to ordinary cooking.

This particular class is 3 hours long and includes a wide range of information. The course is headed by Jarod Farina—a professional chef and expert on the art of micro-dosing.

Private Cannabis Cooking Class

There are also private cannabis cooking classes available. The courses are customizable and available at a range of different skill levels to ensure that people of every background are represented.