As I said in a previous post, I took some time off from posting around New Years to do some cooking and you all would be reaping the benefits. Time to show you the best method to make medicated cannabis oil/butter. Supposedly it works better to use a crock pot but I have never used that method, I’ve only done it on stove top.
An important thing to know before making your oil is a good ratio of bud/shake to oil/butter. I prefer using olive or coconut oil as they both have more saturated fat than butter and the THC binds to it much better as a result. THC is lipidic, that means it binds to lipids…fats; THC is also hydrophobic, it cannot bind to water. I used about three ounces of shake for 2 pounds (32 ounces) of oil, and threw some kief in as well. Most recipes I have found online use a ratio of one ounce shake to one pound of oil/butter, for bud it’s more like 1/2 ounce to the pound. I wanted a very strong batch as I have a high tolerance, and it certainly turned out strong.
What will really help the potency of your medicated oil is if you pre-bake the bud in the oven before cooking it on the stove. This is a process known as decarboxylation, this is a chemical process where carbon is evaporated out of the plant matter. All living things are made of carbon and over time exposure to heat and oxygen will cause decarboxylation. Using the oven accelerates this process. This is crucial for making cannabis oil because when cannabis decarboxylates the non-psychoactive THCa and other trace cannabinoids are converted into THC, which greatly raises the potency of your batch. I put my kief into a pyrex dish to keep it separated and cook it better.
Step 1: Decarboxylate the cannabis. You can either use lower heat (240ish degrees) for about an hour, or a flash heat of 5-10 minutes at much higher (about 300). I am skeptical of the flash heating method as the higher heat runs the risk of burning off desirable cannabinoids and terpenoids. I cooked mine at 280 for about 30 minutes and it was a great success.
Step 2: While the cannabis is decarboxylating start heating up the coconut oil on the stove in the jars in water. Use a medium to low heat to not crack the jars, it helps to preheat the jars in hot water before turning the stove on. You want the oil/butter to be liquid before you throw it in with the cannabis to cook it all together.
Step 3: Begin to boil water on the stove, after a couple minutes add the liquid oil to the water. After about five minutes throw the cannabis in and cook it for the next 2-3 hours. You will want to begin on a medium/high heat to boil it and finish any final decarboxylation, but soon cut it down to a low heat, and you will keep it on low heat for the next 2-3 hours. Low heat is important to not burn off the oil or give it a burned flavor.
Step 4: Let the mixture cool off and put it through a metal strainer, letting the water and oil drip into a Tupperware container. After you use the strainer I would recommend squeezing out the additional oil with cheesecloth, or at least press it through the metal strainer with a spoon. This is crucial as most of the oil will still be in the plant matter and needs to be squeezed out. Put it in the fridge overnight, NOT THE FREEZER!!
Step 5: After a night in the fridge the coconut oil will be a solid again, but the water will still be liquid, this is crucial so you can easily separate the oil from the water. Freezing it will also freeze the water making this impossible or at least *really* annoying and time consuming…so if you like being annoyed and wasting time be my guest…or put in in the fridge and voila!
If you put it in the fridge cut out a small corner of the oil and pour out all the nasty waste water. Many people suggest using a double boiler method where the cannabis and oil are in one smaller pot layered inside of a larger one holding the water. Don’t fall for that crap. THC is lipidic and binds into the oils, unlike tannins which go into the water. If you separate the water from the oil those tannins have nowhere to go other than into your oil making it taste awful, by putting it all in one pot the tannins go into the waste water to be discarded.
Step 6: Chop up the oil into little pieces and put them back into the jars. I personally like to label my medicated things so people know what it is and don’t mistake it for just plain oil.
That’s what the final product looks like. I’ll be posting up a recipe in the next couple of weeks using this, and it’s not boring pot brownies. Stay tuned to learn how to make a medicated curry sauce.
Well Suited For Life 
Such a good idea!!
but CBD is what we want and not THC… CBD has a broader spectrum of healing propreties.
While it is true that CBD has a broader spectrum of healing properties, as I discussed in an earlier blog (https://wellsuitedforlife.com/2013/11/14/cannabinoid-profile-cbd/), THC does have numerous medicinal benefits as well and many of them overlap with CBDs. It is presumptive to assume that everyone wants the same cannabinoids, to that end this recipe works just as well for CBD but you need to use a slightly lower temperature to not decarboxylate the CBD. Also make sure you are actually using CBD rich cannabis, most is not and I wouldn’t trust it without lab results to prove it.
For more on the health benefits of THC see my blog on it here: https://wellsuitedforlife.com/2013/12/18/cannabinoid-profile-%CE%B49-thc/
Thanks so much for the comment, great point about CBD, my apologies for overlooking it.
Can you please let me know the amount of water you used in the process? And when you added how much?
Thanks a lot,
Jim
I used enough water to cover the cannabis then added more as needed. The goal is to use as little water as possible without burning the butter/oil/cannabis mixture. I’d say probably about a 1/2 ratio of cannabis to water, maybe a bit less than two parts water for each part cannabis.
If water does not bind to the active ingredients, & there is nothing beneficial in the tannins (?? I don’t know this, but inferring based on your post- I’m a newbie to making anything myself), why does using as little water as possible matter..? I’ve read other posts that said in crock pot method to just pour water to top bc u just pour it off after refrigeration.
My main goal is finding the most potent, least wasteful bang for my buck. Isn’t an oz at least $200? So I don’t understand all these posts in forums (other sites) that seem really non-chalant about wasting that amount on an experiment gone wrong.. Maybe I’m missing something?
Also, why must the plant matter be strained out, just for flavor?
My thinking was I’d drink the nasty water if it had anything beneficial in it, utilize the plant matter, whatever’s least wasteful, as I don’t care about my medicine being tasty as much as I care about it being potent & as inexpensive as it can be. Any thoughts from someone more experienced would be appreciated! Thanks & take care.
You don’t HAVE to use as little water as possible, but since ultimately it will be going into plastic tupperware to chill in the fridge you have an incentive to create as little waste water as possible unless you have an industrial sized fridge. Crock pot would work fine and is very efficient for this but I don’t own one and have never tried that method.
An ounce of medium quality bud sells for around $200 at dispensaries in California, where I live, but you can get bud a lot cheaper than that and generally people just use trim/shake rather than bud. If you are using bud you can scale back the amount of plant material that is going into the mix because bud is much more potent than trim. You can also boost it with hash if you want it to be really potent; in fact you could just dissolve hash into an oil and spare the entire process of using bud and dealing with that plant garbage and waste water at the end.
The plant matter doesn’t need to be strained out but it has an awful texture for eating and it brings *nothing* to the table at this point, because all the worthwhile parts have been cooked out into your butter/oil. I have had hippie brownies where there were stems and leaves in the brownies; I didn’t care how strong they might be they were not edible.
Do not drink the water unless you intend to induce vomiting. I tried to lick the spoon I used to scoop the butter once, it had some of the nasty plant garbage/water on it, and it was one of the worst tastes ever (on par with mescaline).
Whoa… This rules…
Glad you like it, hope it works out for you as well as it has for me.
A question really. What’s the shelf life for the cannabis infused coconut oil?
I’ve kept a batch of olive oil around for nearly a year, at that point it had gone bad, yet at about 6 months it was fine. I would say 6 months based off past experiences. Also, worth noting, when it goes bad it doesn’t become unusable but the THC has broken down into a new cannabinoid with the progression of time. If THC sits around for too long it becomes CBN, cannabinol.
http://www.cannlabs.com/blog/understanding-cannabis-part-3-cbn/
Have you attempted to use the 1/2oz of bud version of this recipe instead of the shake? What was the potency for the batch?
Without doing actual testing for the cannabinoids which is expensive I cannot confirm the potency in any meaningful way, all I can say is it was a strong batch by my standards as a person with high tolerance.
I have not attempted it with using only bud, it should factor out to be the same potency (less of a more potent product versus more of a less potent product).
Do you cook the weed/water/oil mixture for 2-3 hours total or 4-6?
I’ve done anywhere between 2-6 hours with different batches. The time, past two hours, doesn’t seem to do much though more cooking will potentially mean a better infusion. Be careful not to turn the heat up too much and cook off useful cannabinoids and terpenoids.
I’ll come clean your kitchen for a spoonful of that!
I’ll come clean your kitchen for a spoonful of that.
Three years ago, after a prostate biopsy, I was given the diagnosis of aggressive Stage III adenocarcinoma. I didn’t know what to do. The urologist made appointments for me to start radiation, and maybe chemo. Then a friend told me cannabis cures cancer. It just so happened that the first human trials of cannabis treatment of astrocytomas (inoperable brain cancer), were published with encouraging results. So I decided; rather than die from the medical treatment, I would do the cannabis cure. Now… where to get some. There was no dispensary in the area, but a friend made me cannabis butter, so I took that, up to tolerance. In three months the primary cancer was gone, only minor metastatic lesions were left. At that point I found a supplier for Rick Simpson oil and killed off the metastases in the next three months. Now I just take a maintenance dose of locally produced hash oil that is 1:1 THC:CBD with about a 30% potency. This will certainly keep me clear of cancer, anywhere, for ever. My point in telling this story is the fact that in the face of advanced aggressive cancer, all I had was very weak cannabutter, but it was enough to eliminate the primary tumor. Now there are strains of 95% THC. But is this necessary? If you have cancer and want to pursue the cannabis treatment, any at all will be good. More important than extreme potency, is balance between THC and CBD. If you can get high potency, great. If not, common potencies will work perfectly. Finally, if you choose cannabinoid treatment, start small, then increase dosage as rapidly as tolerable. To kill cancer you have to hit it hard, be conscientious about your treatment. Cannabis does no harm to the body, it is a metabolic support for the immune system. IF ANY ONE IS IN NEED OF IT, YOU CAN CONTACT OUR VIA EMAIL ON RICKSIMPSONCANNABISOIL1953@GMAIL.COM
While I appreciate everything Rick has done for the movement, I am wary to refer people to his oil. Everything I have read about it says he does not use all food-grade components, making his productive of a questionable safety for human consumption. The same oil can be made and is made without turpentine, but based off my readings this is a component of Rick Simpson’s famous oil. Know your medicine, know what goes into it, and ideally make sure it is laboratory tested.
my grand Dad has been suffering from kidney cancer for the past 2 years though we tried chemotherapy and surgery it wasn’t helping issues till a family friends of ours told us about a friend of his that was cured from skin cancer through the help of cannabis oil. immediately we contacted the Doctor who had his cannabis oil supplied and just within a month my Grand father health was responding positively to the cannabis oil we bought from Dr Arinjale. as I am writing this testimony my Grand father is completely okay. for your cannabis oil you can contact him through his email address below:
specialcannabisfromarinjale@gmail.com
how are the effects?
They were quite pleasant and also very strong. It was a very good batch, the curry I made with it was bomb.
How much water should be boiled before adding the oil? The shake that is put into the oven… if the shake is already air dried should i still put it into the oven?
I boil the water, oil, and bud all together. The goal is to use as little water as possible to cover the mixture of oil and bud to prevent it from burning. You should always put the trim/buds in the oven before making them into oil because that decarboxylates the THCa into THC and makes it more potent.
Seems like you have double decarb going on here. Heating the pot in the oil also decarbs it. The oven decarb should not be necessary.
I did the oven decarb method this time around based off the test results shown in this post: http://www.marijuanagrowershq.com/decarboxylating-cannabis-turning-thca-into-thc/
They make a compelling case that a slight pre-cook in the oven at low heat will flash decarb some of the remaining THCa into THC, slightly upping your THC percentage. I do not always do that, as it is an extra step. Having done it both ways I feel it is worth doing the oven decarb before stovetopping it.
I’m changing my mind. Here are some graphs showing decarb at different temperatures and time. http://skunkpharmresearch.com/decarboxylation/. The lower temp of an infusion does not yield the same good results as an oven decarb. So I’m now onboard with your oven decarb step.
On a separate subject, I’d like to see some discussion on the horrible taste of infusions and tinctures. That really ruins it for me. Every edible I’ve ever made has a bad undertaste.
Your explanation and process seems easy enough to follow. I’m interesting in making some thca/ and not decarbed for my 6 month puppy with severe epilepsy. He’s on such a strong does of antiseizure meds, and that means he will likely suffer kidney/ liver failure, as well as having a tolerance built up sooner. Most epileptic k9s don’t have seizures til 1-2 years old. It seems as His epilepsy has caused some severe anxiety in him, which causes him to whine, pace, freak out about 18 hours every day. I wish I could give him the full cannabutter treatment but there is not enough info on helping vs harming seizures and anxiety in k9s. I’m sure the thca/cbd Will help. Does anyone here have any suggestions on how to know if my dog creation has a medicinal amount of thca/cbd without being dangerous? Or How to go about making it safely?
I meant DIY concoction not dog creation above.
Hey TJ,
If I am understanding your question you want advice on making a THCa oil, in which case you wouldn’t want to use this method at all. Using any amount of heat will convert your THCa into THC, you want to use a cold-process like juicing fresh cannabis leaves. You could also try mixing fresh or cured CBD-rich bud in with your dog’s food.
In regards to the safety I recommend you check out the cannabinoid profile series I have on here which include lethal doses for humans and animals. That should give you some idea of dosing, or at least what a lethal dose would be (they are quite high compared to other common substances like nicotine, opiates, or alcohol).
I’m new to all this, but just reading up on alcohol based tinctures for cannabis… I already have made tinctures/extracts easily using highest proof alcohol like everclear or even vodka for herbal tinctures- or vanilla extract just by soaking bean in alcohol for a few weeks. From what I understand with weed u can use no heat, just infuse in the everclear (which my non-expert self hypthesizes would be higher in thca). Then u can add a little bit of honey to make palatable & minimize the burn of the high alcohol content & apply drops directly to tongue for sublingual effect (bypassing digestive process) or add to food or water- which will be digested so takes a bit longer to take effect.
Does this blogger have any experience w/this? Just stumbled on your blog & much more informative & specific than most of what I’ve read, I look forward to exploring your posts. I have also seen dispensaries w/oil specifically for pets… So maybe u could find that, or they might know better about dosage. Dunno how large your pup is, but if it were my dog I would feel ok trying a drop at a time, paying attention over the next few hours, take observation notes, & upping dosage a drop at a time until I notice effects (ie- 1 drop today, wait a few hours or a day, 2 drops tomorrow if I didn’t notice anything– I always like to be super cautious when it comes to my baby 🙂
When I made an everclear tincture I was 21 years old and my interest was more in the recreational experience than making a medicinal tincture. I soaked bud and sticks in everclear for a couple weeks, shaking it regularly to help move things around. It’s a pretty simple method but not the most efficient and the taste is pretty harsh. Honey could help this, as you suggest.
Ok. I just followed your recipe. I squeezed it with a cheese cloth. I also put some plastic wrap around the cheese cloth to help ALL the oil go into the container. Even doing this I got a lot or residual oil left on the plastic wrap and some on my hands. There has to be another way of doing this so we don’t waste any of that precious oil. Some sort of unit that we can put the cannabis in and put it under pressure to squeeze out the oil. Is there anything like this that you know of???
Hey Tim,
I’m glad to hear the recipe is working for you. I would personally never use a plastic wrap around something hot I am planning to ingest due to the possibility of the plastic off-gassing some chemicals into what I am making. This is also why I use cast iron pans instead of non-stick.
To answer your question, I just squeeze the heck out of the bundle of cheese cloth by hand and then use a spatula or something to lightly scrape the residue off my hands and into the bowl. I am sure there are numerous other ways to do it that are more efficient and high tech, possibly using some sort of food press re-purposed for this. I personally wouldn’t squeeze it too hard as you may burst the cheese cloth and get garbage plant matter into your oil.
Im afraid we may have added too much coconut oil. We had an oz but I think it may have been a little short. Also my wife had added 8oz of coconut. When I tried it I was expecting some sorta high but it didn’t happen. we were thinking of getting another oz and being conservative with the coconut oil and combining the two. What are you thoughts?
You have a strong incentive to make it as strong as possible the first time around because you can always cut it with something that is not medicated to weaken it. There really is no good way to raise the potency once it is made, applying any new heat to cook new cannabinoids into the mix runs the risk of cooking out everything you infused the first time around, or at least changing it in flavor/potency. I have never tried re-cooking medicated oil to raise the potency, it might work but my brain wants to say it shouldn’t; but again I haven’t tried it so what do I know? I would be interested to know the results, should you try it.
I make infused coconut oil very similarly.
One thing you can do with the oil if it isnt as potent as you want, is, use it as a rub.
When your joints are tight and creaky, your muscles sore, minor muscle cramps, etc. The oil massaged on to problem areas does wonders.
I do that all the time with the oils I make. It’s wonderful that it can work both topically and internally.
Hey, i started making the oil and it became dark right away, and the cannabis became somewhat crispy and very dark. It doesnt smell burnt but it definitely looks like its burning. I only used oil and cannabis (no water) and the oil wasnt even simmering that much, just occasional bubbles. Did I screw it up?!
Thanks
I have met some people who cook their oil without water, but you do run the risk of burning your oil. It sounds like you may definitely have burnt your oil and lowered the quality of your product. I would recommend adding water and trying to recook it with the water. You really want to have the water in the mix, or if not, you need to use a double boiler with a layer of water in a larger pot around a smaller pot of oil and cannabis.
Thanks.
What is the expected change in color and texture while the cannabis is cooking?
It’s nearly impossible to find knowledgeable people for this subject, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about!
Thanks
Hello there,
very nice post. Congratulations on explaining the process so well.
I still have a minor doubt. Where do you store the finished product? Refrigerator or pantry?
I’m making mine with extra virgin olive oil. Where should I store it?
Thanks.
I would store it like you do any other olive oil. I store mine in the pantry.
I made coconut canna oil. I made so far canna dark chocolate covered energy balls made by me. And I put a little canna oil in my hot coco last night before bed and slept so good! The suff I made is potent!!
I did this process and stored the oil on the refrigerator. Within a month fuzzy mold appeared. Not sure why??? Would love your help
I’ve never had that experience with any of the butter or oil I have made over the years, especially when stored in the fridge. Generally, from my experience, for butter/oil to mold it means there is some sort of impurity that is causing the growth.
Can u vape this
No. It is a very bad idea to vape anything containing MCT oil, as a journalist I have interviewed numerous doctors about the issue of lipid pneumonia, which is caused by vaping oils (lipids) into the lungs. Most docs advise against vaping MCT/coconut oil.
This is for eating or topical use.
When cooking for the 2-3 hrs do you stir the mixture to prevent burning or dies the water do that efficiently enough if your cooking on low?
Yes, you want to stir it pretty regularly and check it to be sure nothing it burning.