The Mystery of the Lost Cannabutter

So recently, I made cannabutter for the first time, and from the 100g of the normal butter I used, I only got around 66g of butter - 1/3 of the butter just disappeared.

Now, where I think it might have gone, is that it simply vaporized - when I put the cannabis in with the water/butter mix, it was at the edge of boiling temp, so it had a little bit of bubbles going up, and some hot vapors, but hardly any. This makes me afraid some of the butter just vaporized, since the lid wasn't 100% air tight.

If that was the case, did the THC held by the vaporized butter went with it, or did it stay and got absorbed by the remaining 66g?

Butter contains water (I'm not sure what %) and some of that water evaporated. Thc is not water soluble so it stayed in the oil part of the butter

I think what you have there is some dank ass clarified butter!

superman123 said:

Butter contains water (I'm not sure what %) and some of that water evaporated. Thc is not water soluble so it stayed in the oil part of the butter

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I guess that's logical. So I got about 1g of ~20% THC weed per 8g of butter *shudders*. Oh well, thanks!

TheGreenestMile said:

So recently, I made cannabutter for the first time, and from the 100g of the normal butter I used, I only got around 66g of butter - 1/3 of the butter just disappeared.

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You can potentially lose around 15% of your total weight due to evaporation of the water that's in most butter. Add a couple more percentage points due to leaving behind milk solids, and toss in some more loss due to fats left behind on the plant material after straining / pressing.

Using clarified butter should help you more accurately track your yield, as you'll have already boiled off the majority of water and extracted milk solids from the butter. A way to increase your yield is to have a pot of hot water ready to use for multiple rinses after you strain your plant material the first time, then all you have to do is cool the mix and collect the fats that separate from the water and congeal.

Good luck.

Wilksey said:

You can potentially lose around 15% of your total weight due to evaporation of the water that's in most butter. Add a couple more percentage points due to leaving behind milk solids, and toss in some more loss due to fats left behind on the plant material after straining / pressing.

Using clarified butter should help you more accurately track your yield, as you'll have already boiled off the majority of water and extracted milk solids from the butter. A way to increase your yield is to have a pot of hot water ready to use for multiple rinses after you strain your plant material the first time, then all you have to do is cool the mix and collect the fats that separate from the water and congeal.

Good luck.

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Ya, after reading the earlier reply I was cursing myself a bit for not clarifying the butter beforehand. Will do so next time.

Just a small question, since you seem to be experienced with it - when I made this butter, I only strained the plant once with water (about an hour, boiling water, stirring occasionally), before adding it into a new pot with butter+more water.
Would straining like this multiple times, or changing the water 2/3 times (adding the time new water takes to boil) make the final result significantly (or even, noticeably) more pure?

TheGreenestMile said:

Would ... changing the water 2/3 times .... make the final result significantly ..... more pure?

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Yes. There are two approaches you can take to clarifying your end product. One is to clarify before you extract, and the other is to clarify after the extraction. For the first method, decarb your weed, then add it to a pot and add cold water and let it soak. After some hours, you'll notice the plant material will become saturated and sink, and the water will start to turn color as it extracts water soluble shit from the plant material. Skim off and discard the water from the top without disturbing the plant material and trichomes that will settle at the bottom of the pot. Add more cold water and repeat the process. Over time, the water will become clearer as more of the water soluble shit will get removed after each rinse. Some folks will take the time to do a 3 day clarification, changing out the water once in the morning and once in the evening. You be the judge of how long you want to soak your weed based on the color of the water. The clearer the water, the less contaminants will be in your butter. After you are satisfied, simply add your fat and some water to the pot and simmer to extract the THC as usual.

The second method clarifies the butter / oil after the extraction process. Using this method, you simply add fresh water to the product and allow it too cool. Once your fat has congealed, you can cut it out, discard the water, and add fresh clean water and your fat. Heat the fat up again and stir it around, then repeat the cooling process to congeal the fat and allow the contaminants to settle on the bottom. Repeat until you have achieved your standard for clarification, and enjoy.