My first attempt at making cannabutter (longish)

I'd like to share my first attempt to make cannabutter, and get some feedback: what I did wrong, what I did right, and some answers to a few questions. Finally, If they load OK, are some pics of my efforts at the bottom of this unfortunately long post.

I got hold of a bunch of stem "waste" from a couple of dispensaries. After putting it in one of those little plastic grinders thingees I had about two full medical vials (1-5/8" x 5-1/2" plastic screw-top pill bottles) worth of small stem pieces. I then put these in a food processor for several minutes and then sifted out the smallish pieces with a strainer, ending up with about 1/3 cup of very small flakes.

I took 5-1/2 quarters of unsalted butter and melted them over low heat in a large pot. I then added the 1/3 cup of pot flakes, covered the pot, and simmered the mess for about 3 hours, occasionally stirring.

I then poured the liquid into another bowl, through 4 layers of cheesecloth in the metal strainer, and pressed down a small bowl into the cheesecloth to get out as much butter as possible.

The liquid was a dark black or very dark brown, with NO particulates; the mess left in the cheesecloth was a dark brown mass (mess) of slightly "swelled" (from soaked up butter?) flakes, a little bit larger than the original 1/3 cup of flakes.

I let the strained liquid cool in the bowl for about an hour, then transferred it into a small square storage container with a lid. This went into the fridge, overnight.

When I checked it the next day I had the equivalent of about 3 "quarters" of dark olive green cannabutter, with a thin (about 1/16" or less) layer of very dark brown, almost black, residue on the bottom.

Since a butter package is one pound or 16 ounces, each quarter is 4 ounces. Each quarter also has 8 TBSP. Therefore, each TBSP is 1/2 ounce of cannabutter. I cut the cannabutter into quarters, and tried about 1/2 of a TBSP, or 1/4 ounce, on a piece of toast.

I've noticed the following types of results to different mmj vehicles:

1) A joint has an immediate effect, that starts low and ramps up to a spike in maybe half to one hour. Total time till effect wore off about 2.5 to 4 hours.

2) A half segment of Bhang Cannibis Ice Chocolate (22.5 mg THC) gives the same SHAPE as a joint, but over a greater period of time, and the spike is much higher (almost to the point of nausea). Total time till effects wore off about 6 to 7 hours.

3) A cup of cannabis tea, made from stems, gives a very low, steady high, with no spike. Total time till effect wore off about 4 hours.

4) That 1/4 ounce of cannabutter gave me a really decent buzz, (much higher than a joint, but a little lower than the Bhang), that started about 3 hours after ingestion and lasted for over 12 hours, but WITHOUT any "spike". The "shape" was more like a "mesa" with fairly steep sides.

The cannabutter smells and tastes.... weird.... a little unpleasant... to me. Can't really describe it, except as "overpowering" and fatty. Interestingly, my wife likes both the smell and the taste.

I'm planning on making two bunches of Betty Crocker cookies: 36 each Oatmeal Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Spice cookies. Each recipe calls for one quarter (4 oz, 8 TBSP) of butter. Each cookie (36 for each recipe) uses 1/36 of 4 ounces (or 4 / 36 = .111 ounce of butter. Since I used 1/4 or 0.25 ounces on my toast, that means (I think) that TWO cookies will give about the same that I experienced.

Questions:

1) The overpowering smell/taste; is that normal? Did I burn or overcook it?

2) The dark olive color; it looks about like the cannabutter I've seen in dispensaries, but a bit darker. Good sign?

3) What is the thin dark brown residue on the bottom?

4) Is my reaction to the four mmj vehicles noted above normal?

5) Why does bud butter give that very long, steady "mesa" buzz?

6) How long my bud butter will keep in the fridge?

7) Is two cookies about right as a "dose"? I think my strength is actually about 50% low, since the cookie edibles I see are single cookies. (I'm going to bring some as gifts to the people at the dispensaries where I got the stems, and I want to caution them about dose.)

8) The butter went from 5-1/2 quarters to maybe 3 quarters. What happened to the missing 2-1/2 quarters? I don't think it was all absorbed by the flakes. Did it evaporate? And is this why the result tastes bad?

9) Finally, can I substitute cannabutter for the "oil" listed as an ingredient for all the commercial brownie mixes on the market?

Pics:

"Questions:

1) The overpowering smell/taste; is that normal? Did I burn or overcook it?

2) The dark olive color; it looks about like the cannabutter I've seen in dispensaries, but a bit darker. Good sign?

3) What is the thin dark brown residue on the bottom?

4) Is my reaction to the four mmj vehicles noted above normal?

5) Why does bud butter give that very long, steady "mesa" buzz?

6) How long my bud butter will keep in the fridge?

7) Is two cookies about right as a "dose"? I think my strength is actually about 50% low, since the cookie edibles I see are single cookies. (I'm going to bring some as gifts to the people at the dispensaries where I got the stems, and I want to caution them about dose.)

8) The butter went from 5-1/2 quarters to maybe 3 quarters. What happened to the missing 2-1/2 quarters? I don't think it was all absorbed by the flakes. Did it evaporate? And is this why the result tastes bad?

9) Finally, can I substitute cannabutter for the "oil" listed as an ingredient for all the commercial brownie mixes on the market?"

Wow!
"You sure ask a lot of questions for a guy from" Stanton! -R. Rosanadanna

1. Probably not, it's hard to burn if you use enough water.
The nasty taste is from using twigs, and from grinding them.
Twigs have <2% actives, but plenty of "smell and taste"
Most of what we seek, is in trichome mounted glands, or in sessile glands that are flush with the surface.
There is no need to grind.

2. That is mostly chlorophyll.
It, along with assorted waxes and terpenes add a bitter note.

3. That is mostly cooked cellulose.
Also tastes nasty.
You get less when you don't grind.
(are you seeing a pattern here?) :D

4. There really is no "normal" kine normal.
We are as different as our fingerprints in how we relate to cannabis.

That, and ratios of THC isomers like delta 9 and delta 6, and the ratio of cbd, cbn, thc, etc., are quite different for different strains and
for when and how those strains are harvested and cured.
There are even variations between lower and upper buds on the same plant.
So, tough question.

5. See above.

6. As long as butter. :)
But almost indefinitely in the freezer

7. What I shoot for in cookies, is a low dosage per.
And cookies so good that you can't eat just one. :)

Then, the rule is;
Eat 1 cookie, wait 1 hour.

That's important!
Butter/resin gets absorbed in the lower intestines so takes about 45 minute to an hour to come on.
Longer depending on what else one eats.

8. Most of it is in the cheesecloth.

Use whole buds, or sugar-leaf.
Then strain with a metal sieve.
Rinse them in the sieve with boiling water.
Let cool, pop in fridge, wait.

The butter will lift off clean and will be a more yellowish green.
Don't let that fool you.
If you either decarboxylate the material, before boiling, or boil for several hours to de-carb. that butter will spur legendary tales.

9. Yes, however, if you are going to make cookies, let me suggest peanut butter cookies.
They have twice the oil to start with and go well with the taste of good cannabutter.
Easy to bake and the time/temperature is such that a pre-decarb of the buds is not needed.
Less cost/work.
And I'm all about both. :D

I'll send you the recipe if you wish.

Aloha nui,
Good to see some new old farts hereabouts.
I miss the hell out of OldMac

Weezard

Thanks for the info.

Excellent information Weezard.

One note on the substitution of butter for oil in the standard brownie mix (usually 1/3 cup oil), oil is just as easy to use when infusing thc into fat. Also the oil that does get left behind in the leaf makes for a great addition to any sauces.