If you’re an edible aficionado, you’re probably wondering how you can save money by making them at home. Luckily, it’s pretty easy! You can make hundreds of different edible recipes as long as you have a good supply of cannabis-infused oil on hand. This is perfect for people who like to get high but don’t like smoking. If that’s you here’s how to infuse your own cannabis cooking oil and a recipe for making your own cannabutter so you can get started on your own cannabis concoctions.

Cannabis cooking oil recipe (the ol’ fashioned way)

The most challenging part of cooking with cannabis and making edibles is infusing the cannabis to a fat. THC sticks to fats like oil or butter, making them more potent. All in all, it’s still pretty easy to do, as long as you keep an eye on it to prevent burning your cannabis. Here’s how to make cannabis-infused cooking oil

You will need:

1 cup ground cannabis
1 cup oil (coconut, peanut, sunflower, olive, vegetable, etc)
Strainer or cheesecloth
Saucepan, slow cooker, or double boiler

How to do it:

Combine your cannabis and your oil into a saucepan, slow cooker or double boiler. Heat on low or warm for a few hours. Never allow the temperature of your cookware to reach temperatures over 245 degrees. (see tips)
Strain the plant material out of the oil using the strainer or a cheesecloth. Reserve the oil in a separate container for future use
Cooking oil is good for about two months, though this time can be extended by refrigerating it.

Pro tips:

Avoid using ground cannabis. Anything smaller than your strainer or cheesecloth will end up in your final product, which you don’t want.
For slow cookers, cook on low for 4-6 hours and stir occasionally
For double boilers, cook for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally.
For a saucepan, cook on low for at least 3 hours and stir frequently. Saucepans are more likely to burn or scorch your material.
You can add a small amount of water while you cook to help you avoid burning.
When straining, don’t squeeze the cheesecloth. That introduces chlorophyll and plant matter into your finished oil.
Use cannabis cooking oil at low temperatures, and never microwave it.

Cannabutter recipe

Cannabutter, while not as easy to make as cannabis-infused oils, is another simple way to make edibles. To make cannabutter, you need to decarboxylate your cannabis before infusing it to the butter. You can learn how to do that below. In the meantime, here’s how to make cannabutter – another stoner kitchen essential.

You will need:

1 cup of butter
1 cup of decarboxylated cannabis (use guide below)
Saucepan or slow cooker
Strainer or cheesecloth
Glass jar

How to do it:

Coarsely grind your decarboxylated cannabis if you haven’t already.
Melt your butter in a saucepan or slow cooker and add a cup of water. Simmer on low
When the butter is fully melted, add your cannabis to the mixture.
Maintain low temperatures between 160-200 degrees and simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Never let the mixture boil.
Strain the mixture with a strainer or cheesecloth and allow the butter to fall into a glass jar.
Refrigerate the jar of cannabutter for an hour or more. If water forms at the bottom of the jar, separate the solid butter and dump the water out.
Cannabutter keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

Pro tips:

Butter burns pretty quickly, so be sure to keep an eye on it as it cooks
Adding water helps to regulate the temperature of the pan and keep your butter from scorching.
Don’t squeeze your cheesecloth. It introduces chlorophyll and other unpleasant plant flavors into your final product.
When using cannabutter in recipes, be sure to dose carefully. You can find details on that below.

Other ways to decarboxylate cannabis

Decarboxylating cannabis makes for better edibles. If you want to make edibles that aren’t weak or lackluster, decarboxylating marijuana is normally your first step. The decarb process applies low heat to dried cannabis flowers to convert non-psychoactive THCa into THC, which is the cannabinoid responsible for getting you high. This isn’t just a step for edibles, either. When you spark a bowl or light a joint, you are decarboxylating the cannabis and activating THC by heating it up with your lighter. Without decarbing your weed, your edibles won’t get you very high, if they get you high at all. Luckily, there are several different ways to do it, including using the oven, a mason jar, or by the sous vide technique.

How to decarboxylate cannabis in the oven:

You will need:

Cookie sheet
Parchment paper or foil
Oven mitts
Weed

How to do it:

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees and set the oven rack to the middle of the oven
Spread parchment paper over the cookie sheet
Crumble cannabis flowers in a single layer on the cookie sheet and place in the oven. Pieces should be about the size of a grain of rice.
Bake the cannabis for about 45 minutes. When it’s finished, it should be golden brown and lightly toasted
Cool at room temperature and store for later.

Pro tips:

Ovens tend to fluctuate 20 degrees warmer or cooler, so stay close by to avoid burning.
If you use aluminum foil, crumple it up a bit to encourage better heat distribution.
You can use a grinder, but grinding too much or turning your cannabis to a fine powder can cause your cannabis to burn too quickly.
If your cannabis browns too quickly, turn the temperature down.
Older, drier cannabis may require less time to cook.
Use an oven thermometer to get a better understanding of your oven’s capabilities.

How to decarboxylate cannabis in a mason jar:

You will need:

A mason jar with a lid
Cookie sheet
Oven mitts and kitchen towel
Cannabis

How to do it:

Preheat oven to 220-240 degrees F and set the rack to the center position.
Crumble cannabis into pieces about the size of a grain of rice and place inside the mason jar. Tightly shut the lid.
Lightly wet a kitchen towel and place it on the cookie sheet. Place the mason jar on its side on top of the damp towel.
Bake for an hour. Every 15 minutes, pull the jar from the oven and give it a shake to evenly disperse and heat the cannabis.
After an hour, remove the jar and let it cool at room temperature — store for later.

Pro tips:

Decarboxylating in a mason jar keeps the smell in the jar and leaves terpenes intact. It also makes it less likely for your cannabis to burn since it never directly meets the hot air in the oven.
The kitchen towel holds the jar in place and keeps it from making direct contact with the cookie sheet.
Older, drier cannabis may require less time to cook.

How to decarboxylate by sous vide:

You will need:

An immersion circulator (here’s a list of affordable ones)
Large pot or plastic tub
Ziplock bags or a vacuum sealer
Ganja

How to do it:

Fill up your large pot or plastic tub with hot tap water. This will be your water bath.
Place the immersion circulator into the tub and set it to 203 degrees.
Grind your cannabis into a fine powder and place it into a freezer bag.
You can either use a vacuum sealer to seal the cannabis in as flat and as tightly as possible, or, if you don’t have a vacuum sealer, you can use the water displacement method to get the air out.
Place the sealed bag into the water bath for about 90 minutes.
Cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the bag and store it for future use.

Pro tips:

The sous vide technique utilizes heat and pressure to reach the perfect level of “doneness.” It is one of the more expensive methods to decarb cannabis, but it produces the best results.
The sous vide method uses vacuum-sealed materials and cooks to the perfect temperature using a water bath. This method can preserve terpenes and hold the smell in.
Sous Vide (pronounced sue-veed) means “under vacuum” in french.
Be sure to follow the instructions for your specific immersion circulator. Some require less water to operate than others.
Make sure to flatten your cannabis as best you can in the bag. A finer grind makes for a maximized surface area.
Dry the vacuum-sealed bag carefully, as water contamination will ruin your cannabis.
Older, drier cannabis may require less time to cook.

Making oil and butter with the MagicalButter machine

If you burn everything you touch in the kitchen, have no fear. You can still make your own delectable edibles without all of the steps involved with infusing the oil or butter yourself. With the MagicalButter machine, you can make your own butter, oils, tinctures, infusions, and more. It has an all-in-one decarboxylation solution, so all you have to do is put in your raw materials and wait. It’ll do the rest.

Dosing tips for Cannabutter and Cannabis Cooking Oil

It’s pretty impossible to accurately dose cannabis oil or butter for many different reasons. For one thing, each strain of cannabis contains different cannabinoids and potency levels. In some cases, you can slightly burn the cannabis while decarboxylating it and lower its potency. All in all, no two batches of cannabis oil or butter will be the same. To accurately dose cannabis oils and butter, be sure to test the final product.

As with any homemade edibles, you’ll want to start low and go slow. Start with ½ teaspoon of butter or a teaspoon of oil to see how that dose affects you after one hour. From there, you can either increase or decrease the dose as you see fit. This will be your personal standard dose for your recipes. If you find you can catch a good buzz from a teaspoon of infused butter, you won’t want to use a cup of it in a recipe. The same goes for oil! You can use your dose of infused oil and supplement the recipe with ordinary butter or oil.

All in all, making edibles at home is fun and rewarding! These tips can take you from newbie to cannabis culinary expert in no time. But if you just want to buy potent edibles from a professional check out our list of the best edible businesses in DC.