CannaButter & Decarboxylation

[Dylbecks]

Sorry if this is in the wrong category, I had a hard time deciphering which one would be best for this. I've made CannaButter before dozens of times, I'm also a sous chef with a pretty lengthy background in food & with cannabis in general, and I think I make pretty damn good product, but the potency never comes out to what i calculate out and I want to know why. Here is my process

First, I blanch my material in small batches using a chinois in a pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes, gets nearly all of the chlorophyll & weed taste out of the material.
Second, I let it air dry a little bit overnight, but it's never long enough for it to be dry enough, so,
Third, I pop it in the food dehydrator at 95°F until it's dry again
Fourth, decarb material by itself at 240°F for 1 hour
Fifth, add the butter & continue decarb at 240°F for 2 hours
Sixth, strain through cheesecloth
The color and quality of flavor has never been an issue. Amazing every time, but the potency comes out to about 30% of what I had originally calculated. Where am I going wrong?
I posted pics immediately after straining & after cooling. Will be happy to supply more pics if necessary

 

[Major Blazer]

I'm no chef but I've made oils, butters, and milk concentrates for years and potency is never, ever an issue (maybe too potent lol) so my guess is that you're going way overboard on the decarboxylation. @240 °F decarboxylation is done by 40m from my experience. I would experiment by reducing that bake time down to ~40m and when infusing with the butter, use a double boiler instead to keep the temps lower and preserve the psychoactive properties of the cannabis. So:
First, same
Second, same
Third, same
Fourth, decarb at 240°F for ~40m
Fifth, add dry herb to melted butter in double boiler, leave for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally
Sixth, same

 

[piratebug]

I like using the alcohol method as it makes the strongest, cleanest, best tasting butter. Alcohol has a much lower boiling point than water, so it's temperature evaporation rate is much lower than water(s). My method...

01. decarb (1) zip chopped up bud @ 245F for 24minutes (MAX)
02. place decarbed chopped up bud in small mason jar
03. pour 8 ounces of 190 proof everclear in small mason jar that contains chopped up bud (then once jar is closed shake it a little)
04. place small mason jar that contains chopped up bud in freezer for 1 hour
05. remove the small mason jar that contains chopped up bud from freezer and strain through cheese cloth into a small mixing bowl
06. place the strained cannabis alcohol mixture into another small mason jar, seal it, and place it back in the freezer for 1 hour
07. remove the small mason jar that contains the cannabis alcohol mixture and filter it through (2) unbleached coffee filters
08. place a small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan on a conduction stove top burner or a conventional stove top burner
09. using a conduction stove top burner and set temp @ 140F or use a conventional stove top burner and candy thermometer and set temp @ 140F
10. place (2) sticks of butter into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan that's has it's temp set to 140F
11. pour the filtered cannabis alcohol mixture into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan containing the melted butter
12. simmer for 40 minutes, giving it a quick stirring every 5 minutes
13. add another (2 1/4) sticks of butter into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan.
14. simmer for 10 minutes, giving it a quick stirring every 5 minutes
15. add (1) oz [2 tablespoons] of distilled water into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan, and stir it in good
16. turn off burner and pour butter into (4) 1/2 cup silicone molds, and refrigerate until butter sets fully up

 

[HydoDan]

Why blanching? Seems like this would affect potency..

 

[Dylbecks]

Why blanching? Seems like this would affect potency..

This can be a variable but in the grand scheme it wouldn't take 70% of my potency away. Chlorophyll is water soluble but THC & terps are not. In a case of heavy agitation during the blanching process you might knock off some of the trichomes into the bottom of the pot but not 70% of them. Probably not even 10% unless you put it in a blender or something like that.
Blanching will eliminate every ounce of plant flavor in the finished edible form. I know this isn't causing my drastic fluctuation in potency from doing a side by side comparison my first time doing it because I had the same thought. It will come out relatively the same if the blanch is executed properly. Most people tell me it sounds like a bad idea (because it just does and I get that) but once I tried it I never wanted to do it another way.

 

[Dylbecks]

I'm no chef but I've made oils, butters, and milk concentrates for years and potency is never, ever an issue (maybe too potent lol) so my guess is that you're going way overboard on the decarboxylation. @240 °F decarboxylation is done by 40m from my experience. I would experiment by reducing that bake time down to ~40m and when infusing with the butter, use a double boiler instead to keep the temps lower and preserve the psychoactive properties of the cannabis. So:
First, same
Second, same
Third, same
Fourth, decarb at 240°F for ~40m
Fifth, add dry herb to melted butter in double boiler, leave for 2-3 hours stirring occasionally
Sixth, same

I think this is the new winning strategy

 

[go go kid]

I also use the alcohol method, isopropyl alcohol, to get rid of the chlorophyll just leave the strained weed alcohol in the sun for like 30-60 mins and it’s gone

 

[go go kid]

Dont forget that ovens can fluctuate in temperature, so a thermometer is a great investment if using an oven

 

[Dylbecks]

I also use the alcohol method, isopropyl alcohol, to get rid of the chlorophyll just leave the strained weed alcohol in the sun for like 30-60 mins and it’s gone

My only issue with alcohol methods is the slight alkalinity of alcohol can create some bigger problems down the road if you plan on using the butter in baking like for cookies. Fat + alkalinity makes soap and you can even taste it in the end product if you don't purge the alcohol properly, and even after the alcohol is inevitably purged during the baking process the taste doesn't go away. Only time I'll ever use alcohol is to infuse sugar

 

[VolimPicke]

How do you measure potency of CannaButter?

Rather than boil to get rid of chlorophyll and salts, try "Water-Curing"

Decarbing, I have read not to go over 240F - best is to stay between 230-240 for 40 minutes

I have tried the isopropyl alcohol extraction and it was a big PITA = super messy.

Coconut oil with some lecithin for faster digestion (supposedly)

 

[Bagginski]

I like using the alcohol method as it makes the strongest, cleanest, best tasting butter. Alcohol has a much lower boiling point than water, so it's temperature evaporation rate is much lower than water(s). My method...

01. decarb (1) zip chopped up bud @ 245F for 24minutes (MAX)
02. place decarbed chopped up bud in small mason jar
03. pour 8 ounces of 190 proof everclear in small mason jar that contains chopped up bud (then once jar is closed shake it a little)
04. place small mason jar that contains chopped up bud in freezer for 1 hour
05. remove the small mason jar that contains chopped up bud from freezer and strain through cheese cloth into a small mixing bowl
06. place the strained cannabis alcohol mixture into another small mason jar, seal it, and place it back in the freezer for 1 hour
07. remove the small mason jar that contains the cannabis alcohol mixture and filter it through (2) unbleached coffee filters
08. place a small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan on a conduction stove top burner or a conventional stove top burner
09. using a conduction stove top burner and set temp @ 140F or use a conventional stove top burner and candy thermometer and set temp @ 140F
10. place (2) sticks of butter into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan that's has it's temp set to 140F
11. pour the filtered cannabis alcohol mixture into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan containing the melted butter
12. simmer for 40 minutes, giving it a quick stirring every 5 minutes
13. add another (2 1/4) sticks of butter into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan.
14. simmer for 10 minutes, giving it a quick stirring every 5 minutes
15. add (1) oz [2 tablespoons] of distilled water into the small 2-3 quart stainless steel pan, and stir it in good
16. turn off burner and pour butter into (4) 1/2 cup silicone molds, and refrigerate until butter sets fully up

I know I’m late to this, so, sorry for the zombie, but….
some tips for your procedure?

using the freezer for alc-extraction makes sense, but I recommend being thorough: freeze your weed-in jar, and your 99% ethanol, 6 hours in advance. Cover your counter with a towel to cut down heat transfer while working. Remove both containers from freezer simultaneously, pour immediately, return to freezer rapidly. Shake weed jar 2x, hard, leave in freezer 3 min, shake hard again & freeze, after 3 min, take it out, shake it hard, and pour the alc off the herb. Consider a smaller second wash.

Working with it all below freezing keeps the chlorophyll in the herb, using 99% makes extraction faster/more efficient.

nothing wrong with how you do it, just some suggestions