What is the best temperature to infuse cannabutter?

Cannabutter is, undoubtedly, the starting point for a myriad of cannabic preparations. In essence, it is extremely simple to prepare, and you can find numerous recipes available online to make this versatile cannabis-infused preparation. Nevertheless, getting a proper infusion in your cannabutter has its tricks, and there are small details that can significantly influence the overall quality of your final product.

You can overcook cannabutter, and in fact, this could happen very easily and quickly, compromising the cannabutter taste, smell, and effects. If you are in the search for a more detailed explanation of how your cannabutter can be overcooked and how this can influence the quality of your resulting product, you have slipped to the right place.

In the following article, we will talk a little more about the factors that can lead to poor cooking of your cannabis and, therefore, an inadequate infusion of weed in your butter. We will give you some tips to avoid overcooking canna-butter to make the best out of your buds.

What Happens if you Overcook Cannabutter?

As we already mentioned, overcooking your cannabutter can happen much easier than you might think. You can overcook it in terms of time or temperature. 

As you may already know, to cook cannabutter, you must simmer the mixture for a relatively long period. Most of the recipes recommend not letting the temperature rise more than 200° F when infusing cannabis with butter or oil to avoid the degradation of cannabinoids. Nonetheless, there is a lot of confusion and forum debates about the appropriate time to cook the best and most effective cannabutter.

The truth is that as long as it's low heat and the right temperature, you can cook your cannabutter for as long as you want. However, you must make sure that your butter doesn’t end up evaporating or scorching, or your will lose your materials. Moreover, you should know that the cooking time and the temperature will influence how cannabinoids are transformed and degraded. 

Some recipes speak of up to 48 to 72 hours of simmering to extract the cannabinoids from your buds. The problem is that when you cook cannabis for that long, the THC content in the bud begins to degrade to CBN, which is a highly sedating and narcotic cannabinoid perfect for patients recovering from traumatic injuries. But if you don't need CBN, the effects of this cannabinoid on your body can be pretty annoying and leave you feeling drowsy or tired for a long time.

To obtain an effective cannabutter, simply simmer it for a couple of hours to extract enough cannabinoids for a high-quality product. Some users often experiment with different cooking times to highlight some cannabinoids as desired. To sum it up, proper cooking time for your cannabutter will depend on the result you’re looking for.

Can You Overcook Cannabutter when Baking Weed Edibles?

Yes, it is a much more common mistake than you think. Overcooking cannabutter can affect the medicinal quality of your baked edible since a very high temperature would end up degrading the cannabinoid content in your medicinal recipe. Many baked goods recipes start with a base temperature of 350⁰F, which can be very hot for cannabinoids and could cause them to degrade too quickly. To avoid this, cook your edibles at a temperature of 300⁰F or below, and extend the cooking time by 50%. This means that if your regular recipe calls for a cook time of 30 minutes at 350⁰F, you should lower the temperature to 300⁰F or 275⁰F and increase the cooking time to 45 minutes.

Tips for Cooking Cannabutter Properly

Cooking with cannabis is much more than just throwing buds into the usual preparation. You must follow certain processes to get the best out of your flower and transfer them to your favorite edible recipe. These processes can vary a bit depending on the preparation you want to make. However, there are two for cooking cannabutter properly that many don’t take into account:

Decarboxylation is a must

Decarboxylation is the process that activates the cannabinoid content in your buds and converts THC-A and CBD-A into THC and CBD accordingly. Activating the cannabinoids allows them to bind to CB2 receptors in our body and cause the effect that people generally expect. Otherwise, you would be consuming raw cannabis, which also has its benefits but doesn’t display the effects people usually expect from cannabutter. 

To decarboxylate the herb, you just have to break your buds into smaller pieces to ensure uniform cooking. After this, take a baking sheet, cover it with aluminum foil, spread your herb on the tray, and put it in the oven at a temperature of 220⁰F for 45 minutes. Then, remove the tray full of decarboxylated cannabis from the oven, let it cool, and you're ready. The cannabinoids in your herb are now active and ready to be infused with whatever preparation you want. 

Grinding, not pulverizing

Some recipes and cannabic chefs grind the herb using a blender or mixer. Nevertheless, this causes cannabis to give off a grassy flavor that can be unpleasant for users, and in the case of oil or cannabutter, it causes them to turn a dark green color. 

To properly grind your already decarboxylated herb, we recommend using your KLIP grinder and placing a medium screen to obtain a grind with the consistency of coarse salt. This ensures a homogeneous infusion and prevents plant matter from being transferred to the butter in the straining process.

Can You Overcook Cannabutter with a Double-boiler?

While it is less likely to overcook cannabutter with a double boiler, it can totally happen. The water prevents the embrace of direct fire and makes it more difficult for the butter to burn, but if the temperature is high enough or the cooking time is too long, you can overcook cannabutter. 

To avoid overcooking your cannabutter, make sure to adjust the temperature and the cooking time according to your needs. If you follow some of the tips above, you will certainly achieve a high-quality cannabutter to cook delicious and potent edibles.

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