Turning cannabis into butter is a great way to use it. We explained in our article “How to consume CBD?”   that cannabis molecules must be mixed with a fat body in order to ingest and feel the effects of cannabis. You can learn more about the dilution of cannabis in fats around here.

So we’ll explain how to easily make cannabis butter commonly known as Marrakech butter. Once you’ve got the butter, you’ll just have to replace all or part of the butter in your favourite recipes with Marrakech butter. 

Beware, the power of butter effects will depend on three factors:

The quality of your cannabis

The more leaves you add, the more your butter will taste like chlorophyll. If you only use flowers, you will have a more interesting ratio of green matter and cannabinoids. If you use cannabis that is very loaded with CBD or THC, it will be very loaded with cannabinoids. Conversely, if your cannabis is low in CBD or THC, and you put a lot of leaves, your butter will be less potent with a very pronounced herb taste.

The amount of cannabis

The more you have a ratio of 1 gram of butter to 1 gram of cannabis flowers, the more loaded your cannabis will be. It is also possible to put more butter and less flowers, so that it is less dosed and easier to use in your recipes. Limit the ratio to 1 gram of cannabis for 5 grams of butter.

The quality of the decarboxylation

As we explain in   this article on decanroxylation,this is a crucial step for your cannabis-based preparation to have an effect. 
To feel the effects of cannabis, whether it is the drug effects or the therapeutic effects, it is essential that the plant is heated in order to release the molecules of CBD, THC and other cannabinoids. For decarboxylation to be successful, cannabis must be heated to a constant temperature of about 100 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes. If you do not de-oxylele your cannabis before turning it into butter, it is imperative that you incorporate it into a recipe requiring a cooking phase that ideally does not exceed 160 degrees. If your cannabis is decboxye before being turned into butter, you can incorporate it into any recipe, even eaten raw, provided you do not exceed 110 degrees, the temperature at which the cannabinoids burn.

Marrakech cannabis butter recipe

Ingredients

• Water
• 25 grams of CBD flowers
• 50 grams of butter

The amounts of butter and flowers are indicative. If you want it to be very concentrated, you can use 1 gram of flowers, for 1 gram of butter. Conversely, you can also use only 1 gram of flowers for 10 grams of butter if you prefer a butter with a lighter effect.

If you mainly use trim, you will need far more raw materials than if you use flowers, but your preparation will remain less concentrated. 

What to do

1. Select the cannabis flowers you want to process. Remove leaves that do not have cannabinoids – leafy leaves – and coarsely chop your raw material. You don’t want to have powder.
2. You can deboxyle your cannabis in your oven   by following our advice in this other article. You can also   go straight to step 3 for a simpler recipe.
3. The first step is to rinse the cannabis to remove the excess chlorophyll, and possibly impurities. This will prevent your butter from having a bitter herb taste too strong. Immerse your cannabis in a large amount of boiling water for 10 minutes. Don’t worry, cannabis molecules are not water soluble, so they will remain attached to the plant. 
4. Collect the raw material in a colander and discard the water that has become green because of the chlorophyll. Rinse your pan.
5. Put your cannabis in the pan and just cover at water level, being careful not to put too much. Heat everything, add the butter and mix gently.
6. Simmer at a constant temperature for about 3 hours while stirring occasionally. Ideally, the mixture should be at a temperature of about 60 degrees so that cannabis molecules dissolve in fat. Don’t overheat, as butter may burn. You can use a double boiler if you wish. It takes time, because the molecules come off slowly. You can shorten this step, but you will lose some of the effects of the plant. We advise you to let the whole thing macerate for at least 1 hour.

7. Collect all the liquid in a tupperware or bowl. Flip the pan through the sieve of a sieve or cloth to separate the liquid while keeping the vegetable matter. Depending on the instruments you have at your disposal, you will then have to press the vegetable matter to extract the butter and cannabinoids. You can use a puree press, or a clean towel. Be careful, the vegetable material will be burning, it should not be pressed with bare   hands! Don’t wait for it to cool down, as the butter will also harden and you won’t be able to extract it from the vegetable material. We advise you to use gloves that are suitable for keeping warm and not to come into contact with plant matter (use a mashpress, a pestle, or whatever). Don’t hesitate to extract the plant matter little by little to make it simpler and make sure there is not a drop left. 
8. Put your container with the liquid in the refrigerator for 24 hours while the butter   hardens!
9. The butter will have solidified on the surface, but water will remain at the bottom of your container. You will have to cut the butter to extract it and shelter it in a Tupperware, a fresh bag or in plastic   wrap! You can throw the water away.
10. If you didn’t uncardify your cannabis early on, you can now incorporate your butter into recipes that will require 100-degree baking to feel the effects of cannabis. Check out our recipe for chocolate and cannabis fondant for example!
11. If you’ve already de-briboxyled your cannabis, you can incorporate your butter into any recipe – even eating it in tartine, and you’ll benefit from the effects of   cannabis! Be careful not to heat it to more than 160 degrees, or you will lose cannabinoids!

Bon   appétit!