If you’re a cannabis chef, invariably one of your first ganja “food memories” is a staple for both sweet and savory dishes:butter. Hovering over that sublime green concoction while the scent fills your kitchen (or dorm room). Waiting and waiting. Waiting some more. Wait, how many hours does this take? Tastee Yummees and Full Spectrum Laboratories have the answer.
To truly determine the best way to turn buds into butter, Tastee Yummee’s offered up both bud and trim, as well as selecting two different strains. The first, Soma Seeds’ Lavender, is a potent indica whose namesake reflects its strong sedative effects. The second, Critical Haze by Resin Seeds, is a sativa leaning high yielder. One thing to remember when looking at these results is the mg reporting numbers are based off a gram of butter.
Using a commercial grade crock pot, tests were run for a duration of four hours each and samples were taken on the hour to monitor progress. Since infusion at high temperatures can be harmful to the cannabinoids, only the low and medium settings were utilized. All material was ground to level the playing field, with a ratio of two ounces of dry, raw plant material to every one pound of butter.
Lavender
Raw product: Trim – Cook Setting: Medium – Average Temperature: 234.25 degrees – Highest THC: 3.56mg (Hour 4) – Highest CBD: .15mg (Hour 4) – Highest CBN: >.01mg
While CBD levels were highest in the fourth hour, they spiked dramatically (>.01mg to .13mg) in hour three. THC makes the first big leap, however, in hour two when it reaches 3.21mg. If you’re looking for THC and tight on time, pulling your butter in the second hour will still leave you with a very effective infusion.
Raw product: Bud – Cook Setting: Medium – Average Temperature: 234.5 degrees – Highest THC: 3.26mg (Hour 3) – Highest CBD: .1mg (Hour 4) – Highest CBN: .07mg (Hour 4)
You read that correctly: the trim outperformed whole bud in THC and CBN. Technically peaking in hour four, the butter really plateaus after three with .09mg CBD and .05mg. Not to mention topping out in THC. If you’re looking for an end product rich in rarer Cannabinoids it’s definitely worth being patient, but don’t expect dramatic increases.
Critical Haze
Raw product: Trim – Cook Setting: Low – Average Temperature: 161.625 degrees – Highest THC: .83mg (Hour – Highest CBD: .>01mg – Highest CBN: .05mg (Hours 3-6)
The Lavender trim was higher than the Critical Haze in active cannabinoids (14.63% to 10.93%), but that wouldn’t explain such a wide gap between the two different methods. Obviously the “slow and low” cooking technique simply cannot activate enough compounds in trim, even over an eight hour period.
Again we see trim eclipse bud, even at this paltry level of production. If only the buds didn’t have to be sacrificed for science…
Conclusion
Whether using whole bud or your extra trim, plan on investing two to three hours to have a potent butter worthy of your next culinary creation. Use the medium setting and try to keep your temperature between 220 and 240 degrees. Don’t fret if you only have trim available, it actually outperformed bud in low and mid temperatures. Finally, if you find the butter you have made is too strong, feel free to cut it with a non-medicated stick or two. It’s a good problem to have.
– Highest CBD: .>01mg –
