Can I make my cannabutter taste better?

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Question: I am very new to using cannabis. My friend made me a batch of pot butter by grinding the bud and putting that and the butter in my crock pot and told me to cook it overnight. I asked about putting the weed in the oven first but was told no need. I don’t want a high. I need pain control and help falling asleep. I was told not to strain it as that would be wasteful. The finished product is very strong tasting and I am pretty sure I did get buzzed but it really tastes pretty bad. Anything I can do to make this more palatable?

Answer:

Bummer about your current butter situation, but fear not, you may be able to still improve it a bit.

The crock pot method overnight is fine for making cannabutter without decarbing first because over the 8-12 hours, much of that process will occur naturally while also infusing into the oil.

To help with taste and palatability, I’d melt your butter and strain it through a mesh strainer to remove most of the plant matter. You may lose a little potency, but you’re not trying to get high so that’s okay.

Determining the true potency of an oil can be near impossible at home without the proper tools, so you’ll need to depend on trial and error to find your ideal dose.

You can also improve the taste and make your butter less potent at the same time by simply by adding more non-infused butter, diluting the taste and concentration. However this is probably not necessary, as you can always substitute a small serving of the infused butter in any recipe and use regular butter for the rest, thus reducing potency and unpleasant taste.

Next time, if you don’t want to get as high from the oil, you can try to conserve the cannabinoid acids (THCA and CBDA). Consider a shorter infusion time — I’d estimate about 2-3 hours with the slow cooker on low. This method will not maximize the extraction of cannabinoids, but likely deliver some neutral cannabinoids (THC) and also some cannabinoid acids (THCA), which will be less high-inducing.

You may also consider an infusion machine to make your life a little easier.

Try taking your dose with a high-fat snack an hour or two before bed to help slow how hard the weed kicks on and extend how long the high lasts.

Hope that helps!

Codi Peterson, PharmD
Scientific advisor, The Cannigma
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