Cannabutter takes about an hour of hands-on work spread over a day: 40 minutes to decarb, 4 to 12 hours on low heat that mostly looks after itself, and a night in the fridge. The ratio THCFarmer members quote most is 1 ounce of bud per pound of butter, which is about 14 grams per cup. Start there, and change one thing at a time once you know how strong your first batch is.
This guide covers making cannabutter and canna oil at home with a slow cooker, a stovetop or a jar in a water bath, then working out how strong it is and cooking with it. It is for adults where making edibles at home is legal. It draws on the forum's long-running butter threads, including the crockpot vs double boiler thread and Canna butter recipes vary widely in timing and doneness. For choosing a recipe and dosing a whole batch of food, start with the edibles hub.
01 · Quick answer How to make cannabutter
- Decarb 1 ounce (28 g) of broken-up bud in a covered dish at 240°F for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Melt 1 pound (4 sticks, 2 cups) of unsalted butter with 4 to 6 cups of water in a slow cooker.
- Stir in the decarbed bud and cook on low for 6 to 12 hours, stirring now and then and topping up the water.
- Strain through cheesecloth with one gentle squeeze.
- Chill overnight, lift the butter off the water and pat it dry.
- Label it with the date and the estimated milligrams per tablespoon.
02 · Guide What you need
Butter
Unsalted is easier, because baking recipes count on adding their own salt. Salted works fine for toast and savory food, as members point out in Why unsalted butter when infusing cannabis?
Cannabis
Buds, popcorn buds or sugar leaf trim, dried and cured. Leave out fan leaves and stems, which add bitterness and very little THC.
Water
Optional but recommended for the slow cooker and stovetop methods. It keeps the pot at or below 212°F so the butter can't scorch.
Something to cook in
A slow cooker ($30 to $60), a double boiler or heavy saucepan, or a mason jar in a pot of water.
A thermometer
An oven thermometer for the decarb and a kitchen thermometer for the butter. Both together cost about $10 to $20.
A strainer
Cheesecloth, a nut milk bag or a fine mesh strainer, plus a bowl or container that fits in your fridge.
03 · Guide How much weed per cup of butter
The table assumes decarbed bud and that about 80% of its THC makes it into the butter. Real batches often get less, but labeling on the high side means your butter is never stronger than the label says.
| Bud per cup of butter | THC per tablespoon, 15% bud | THC per tablespoon, 20% bud | How members describe it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 g (1/4 oz) | About 50 mg | About 70 mg | Mild, good for a first batch |
| 14 g (1/2 oz) | About 105 mg | About 140 mg | Standard, 1 oz per pound |
| 21 g (3/4 oz) | About 160 mg | About 210 mg | Strong |
| 28 g (1 oz) | About 210 mg | About 280 mg | Very strong, 2 oz per pound |
A teaspoon holds a third of those amounts. For sugar leaf trim, use two to three times the weight of bud, because members estimate trim at about 5 to 10% THC. Members who make butter or capsule oil from kief or bubble hash use about 7 to 15 g per cup, and hash is far stronger by weight than bud, so treat a 15 g batch as very strong.
Why 1 ounce per pound became the standard
It is the most common answer in the butter threads, and one long-time member calls it "the min to get a decent effect". Two ounces per pound gets described as overwhelming. Going stronger rarely helps anyway: if a batch is too strong you can mix it with plain butter, but a weak batch can only be fixed by making another.
04 · Step 1 Decarb the cannabis
Raw buds hold mostly THCA, which does little when eaten. Baking them first turns it into THC. Members cluster at 230 to 250°F for 30 to 45 minutes, and a lab study found THCA converted almost completely in 30 minutes at 230°F (Wang and others, 2016).
Break the buds into pea-sized pieces, not powder, and spread them in one layer in a glass dish. Cover the dish with foil to hold in the smell. Bake at 240°F for 30 to 40 minutes, or 40 to 50 if your dish is thick or full, because the bud needs time to reach oven temperature. It is done when it is light to medium brown and crumbles easily. Let it cool before it goes in the butter.
Skipping decarb and relying on a long infusion gives unpredictable results, because butter in water never passes 212°F. The decarb guide covers the oven, sous vide and slow cooker in more detail.
05 · Method 1 Slow cooker cannabutter
This is the forum's favourite method, and the one most of the butter threads use. It holds a gentle heat for hours with almost no attention.
- Put 4 to 6 cups of water and 1 pound of butter in the slow cooker on high until the butter melts.
- Stir in 14 to 28 g of decarbed bud and turn the cooker to low.
- Cook for 6 to 12 hours. Stir when you walk past, and top up the water if the level drops below the cannabis.
- Turn it off, let it cool for 15 minutes and strain.
Members run anywhere from 4 hours to a full day. Natural's version in the timing thread is "at least 12 and under 24 hrs" with 4 to 6 cups of water per pound. Longer cooks also pull more green taste into the butter. Some slow cookers run hot even on low, which is one more reason to keep water in the pot.
06 · Method 2 Stovetop or double boiler
A double boiler, or a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, gives the same gentle heat as a slow cooker in less time. Melt the butter with a cup or two of water, stir in the decarbed bud and hold it at 160 to 200°F for 2 to 8 hours. Members who use a double boiler usually go 6 to 8 hours.
A plain saucepan works too, but it is the easiest way to scorch a batch. Keep the heat at the lowest setting, keep water in the pan, and never let it reach a rolling boil. The first poster in Microwave Cannabutter? burned their first saucepan batch, which is why most replies pointed to a slow cooker. Stay in the kitchen and use a thermometer.
07 · Method 3 Jar in a water bath
This is the low-smell, low-mess method, and it suits small batches. Put the butter or oil and the decarbed bud in a mason jar, set the lid on loosely, and stand the jar in a slow cooker or pot of water held at about 175 to 200°F. Leave it for 2 to 6 hours, shaking the jar now and then with an oven mitt.
There is no water in the butter itself, so you skip the separating step. Ninjadogma's routine in Need help making oil, then gummies is a cup of coconut oil with an ounce of bud in a jar, held in a slow cooker water bath for at least 2 hours. A short jar infusion is where weak batches happen, though: one member decarbed properly but infused for only an hour and felt nothing (Looking For A Canna Butter Method That Works).
08 · Guide Strain, chill and separate
Line a strainer with two layers of cheesecloth or use a nut milk bag, and pour the butter through into a bowl. Give the bundle one firm squeeze and stop. TSD's advice in the unsalted butter thread is to "only do one good squeeze", because wringing the cloth pushes fine plant matter and chlorophyll into the butter and that is where the grassy taste comes from.
If you used water, put the bowl in the fridge overnight. The butter sets into a solid disc on top of the water. Lift it out, scrape the soft wet layer off the bottom and pat it dry with paper towel. Water left in the butter makes it spoil faster.
A common belief is that the water "pulls out the chlorophyll". It doesn't: chlorophyll dissolves in fat, so it stays in the butter. The water's real job is to stop the butter from overheating and to carry off some water-soluble plant material.
09 · Guide Canna oil and clarified butter
Everything above works with oil, at the same ratios. Members in Looking to make canna oil in a slower cooker use the same bud-to-fat ratios for oil as for butter, and one runs it 8 hours on low.
Coconut oil
Sets solid below about 76°F, so it is the base for chocolate, gummies and capsules, and it keeps longer than butter. Refined coconut oil has almost no coconut taste.
MCT and olive oil
Stay liquid in the fridge, for drinks, dressings and dropper doses.
Clarified butter or ghee
Butter with the milk solids and water removed. Graywolf found clarified butter extractions tasted far cleaner than raw butter in Butter vs Coconut Oil. It also takes higher heat without browning.
Storage
Well-strained, dry cannabutter keeps a few weeks in the fridge and 6 months or more in the freezer. Coconut oil keeps longer, but leftover plant matter can mold it at room temperature, so members keep it in the fridge or freezer. One member freezes oil in ice cube trays at 2 tablespoons per cube, so a recipe that needs a cup takes 8 cubes (Cannabis Coconut Oil?).
10 · Guide How strong is your cannabutter?
Grams of bud x THC% x 1,000 gives the milligrams of THC in the bud. Multiply by 0.8 for what reaches the butter, then divide by the number of tablespoons. A cup of butter holds 16 tablespoons. For example, 14 g of 18% bud in a cup of butter: 14 x 0.18 x 1,000 = 2,520 mg, x 0.8 = about 2,000 mg, or about 125 mg per tablespoon.
That is a lot. One tablespoon of standard butter in a batch of 12 cookies puts about 10 mg in each cookie, which is the single serving size many legal markets use. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction tells new edible users to start with no more than 2.5 mg, so if you are new, cut small pieces or mix the cannabutter with plain butter.
If you don't know your bud's THC, assume 20% for good homegrown bud and 10% for sugar leaf trim. The edible potency guide has the full math, and How much thc is in my butter shows members working through a real batch.
Warning: label it and lock it up
Cannabutter looks exactly like the butter in your fridge. Label the container "contains cannabis" with the date and milligrams per tablespoon, and keep it, and everything made with it, in a locked box out of reach of children and pets. If a child or pet eats some, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 in the US, or your vet, right away.
11 · Guide Cooking with cannabutter
Use cannabutter anywhere a recipe calls for butter, and mix it in thoroughly so every piece gets the same amount.
Baking
Bake at the recipe's normal temperature. A 350°F oven does not mean 350°F inside the dough. While the batter still holds water it stays at or below about 212°F, so normal baking doesn't burn off the THC. The cannabutter chocolate chip cookie recipe and the canna butter fudge recipe are both simple starting points.
Turning the dose down
Replace half the cannabutter with plain butter and the dose per piece halves. This is the easiest way to use a strong batch.
No baking at all
Spread a measured amount on toast, stir it into pasta or melt it over vegetables. PipeCarver's wife has a slice of raisin bread with cannabutter at 9:30 pm and sleeps through the night. One member adds half a gram of strong butter to coffee, which they estimate at about 10 mg.
Covering the taste
Chocolate, peanut butter, cinnamon and coffee hide the herbal taste best. Light recipes like shortbread or sugar cookies show it most.
For chocolate, gummies, drinks and more, see the recipe ideas in the edibles hub and the THC chocolate guide.
12 · Pitfalls Common cannabutter mistakes
Boiling the butter
A rolling boil scorches the milk solids and wastes potency. Keep it at a bare simmer, 160 to 200°F, with water in the pot.
Grinding to powder
Fine powder slips through the cheesecloth and makes the butter green and gritty. Break the bud into pea-sized pieces by hand.
Wringing the cloth
One firm squeeze gets most of the butter. Wringing it dry adds the grassy taste.
Too little cannabis
40 g of trim in 2 cups of oil for about 3 hours made a weak batch in Coconut oil potency disappointing. Replies suggested more trim and 6 to 12 hours.
Leaving water in the butter
Scrape the wet layer off the bottom of the disc and pat it dry, or the butter spoils much sooner.
No label
Unlabeled cannabutter in a shared fridge is how someone ends up eating it on their toast. Label it the moment it sets.
13 · Guide Do you need a butter machine?
No. A slow cooker ($30 to $60) does the same infusion. Machines like the MagicalButter MB2e (about $175 to $225) or the LEVO II (about $210 to $350) stir, hold a set temperature and cut the smell, which is what members who own them like. The MagicalButter's standard setting is about 160°F, so decarb in the oven first; the LEVO II has its own dry and activate cycle. THCFarmer has no relationship with either brand. Members compare machines in Infusion Machine which one and why?
14 · FAQ Making cannabutter
6 to 12 hours on low in a slow cooker, 2 to 8 hours in a double boiler, or 2 to 6 hours in a jar in a water bath. Members in the timing thread range from 4 hours to a full day, and very long cooks mostly add green taste. From Canna butter recipes vary widely in timing and doneness.
Both work if the heat stays low. The crockpot needs less attention and suits long cooks with water. The double boiler is faster and better for small batches, but you have to watch it. From Cannabutter Recipe Using Crockpot vs Double Boiler.
Not well. A microwave controls power, not temperature, so you can't hold butter at 160 to 200°F for hours. Members steered the original poster to a slow cooker, which is built to hold a low temperature. From Microwave Cannabutter?.
For baking, unsalted is better because the recipe adds its own salt. For toast and savory food, salted butter works the same. From Why unsalted butter when infusing cannabis?.
It is optional. Sunflower lecithin is an emulsifier, so it helps butter or oil stay mixed in gummies and candy. Members use 1 to 3 teaspoons per cup and say it makes edibles stronger, but that part is anecdotal. From Should I use Lecithin when making canna butter?.
Not directly, because peanut butter is mostly solids. Members infuse peanut oil, or the oil poured off natural peanut butter, then stir it back in. From cannabutter with peanut butter instead of butter.
Members often say coconut oil holds more THC because of its higher saturated fat, but the ratio, decarb and cook time matter far more than the fat. Choose by recipe: butter for baking, coconut oil for chocolate, gummies and capsules. From Butter vs Coconut Oil.
Decarb first, an ounce per pound, low heat with water, one squeeze through the cloth, and a label before it goes in the fridge. That is the whole job.
Batch came out weak, green or too strong? Post it in Cannabis Recipes with your bud weight, decarb time and temperature, butter amount and cook time.
Sources: THCFarmer butter and oil threads from 2008 on, including Cannabutter Recipe Using Crockpot vs Double Boiler (2010) and Canna butter recipes vary widely in timing and doneness (2013), with staff and brand accounts excluded; THCFarmer's earlier guide "A Guide to Cooking with Marijuana-Infused Butter and Oils"; Wang and others, Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research 1:262 (2016); Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, 7 Things You Need to Know about Edible Cannabis (2019). Prices checked October 2026 and will change.
More Cooking questions?
Batch came out weak, green or too strong? Post it in Cannabis Recipes with your bud weight, decarb time and temperature, butter amount and cook time.
logic has been posting on THCFarmer since 2008 and now carries 547 learn guides for growers who want the real numbers, tradeoffs, and failure points before they spend time or money.