The Art of Weed Butter Read online

  When we tap into all the health benefits of cannabis, we unlock and activate receptors in our body’s endocannabinoid system. According to modern science, this means that every human body—and some of our four-legged friends, too—are born with receptors that accept more than 100 cannabinoids, like THC and CBD. The Department of Neuroscience at the University of the Basque Country says, “Cannabinoid receptors, located throughout the body, are part of the endocannabinoid system, which is involved in a variety of physiological processes including appetite, pain-sensation, mood, and memory.”1

  When weed is cooked with fat, such as butter, oil, or even bacon grease, you’re left with an ingredient that can be effortlessly used as the base for any snack or meal. Perhaps this is to entice your appetite, battle the pain of a cancer patient, or help someone who struggles with PTSD looking for a natural remedy to help them sleep without night terrors.

  Combining fat and weed is essentially all you’ll need to get started. But you can’t just sprinkle your stash onto a recipe like salt; there’s more to it than that. Creating truly great weed butter is an art in and of itself. In this book, you will learn the basics of how to extract weed into your coconut oil, fancy French butter from that expensive market, or virtually any fat you prefer. This is a cookbook for grandmothers, stoner bros, stay-at-home parents, soul food enthusiasts, and gourmet chefs alike. Make a small batch of butter for yourself or enough to throw an entire cannabis-infused dinner party. Either way you look at it, it’s a dope skill to have (pun intended).

  What Is Weed Butter?

  Also known as cannabutter, weed butter is one of the most essential components to making edibles. Typically, edibles are made from cannabis-infused fat, sugar, alcohol, or vegetable glycerin. (If you want to learn how to infuse sugar and alcohol, tell my publishers to offer me another book deal!) The fat in butter and oils, however, is the optimal way to transfer the THC from cannabis into an infusion. Turns out, depending on the method you use, you can transfer more than just the THC to the fat, but rather a full spectrum of the chemical components of cannabis. This includes the non-psychoactive properties of THCA, which quietly benefit our health. THCA is similar to CBD, the stuff that doesn’t get you high. To learn more about CBD, check out Healing with CBD: How Cannabidiol Can Transform Your Health without the High, by Eileen Konieczny.

  Let’s get back to fat. You know it, the three-letter word that makes most people cringe, that gives us shame and allows us to think we can fat-shame others. It’s a substance whose name we’ve somehow defamed over the years. But it’s just not the culprit to bad health and heart disease that we think it is. Fat in itself is not as terrible as we may think.

  Here’s the thing about fat—it’s not actually that bad for you. We need fats, and it’s impossible to truly have a healthy diet without them. They keep our skin supple and our hearts functioning better. Think of avocados, fatty oils from fish, and coconut oil. Fat is not only a healthy part of the human diet, but is scientifically the most efficient and most versatile way to infuse weed. Elise McDonough, author of The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook, tells us that “because cannabinoids and fats are both hydrophobic, THC molecules dissolve readily in lipids when they’re heated together in a solution. And this friendly relationship continues in your body.” There, the psychoactive molecules found in THC take up residence in the fat (adipose) tissues of our bodies and stay in our system for about 30 days. When humans consume THC, it stores itself in the fat cells of our body. So when thinking of how to infuse and extract THC, or even CBD for that matter, it seems perfect to use fat. And which fat is most common in a household? Butter! Which are the optimal fats for your infusion process? Word around the street from most weed cooks is that coconut oil, butter, and bacon grease are the top three best binders (see Chapter Four for recommended oils and fats), followed by olive and avocado oil. But not all fats are the same. Man-made and genetically modified fats like polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, and trans fats—found in potato chips and fast food—are the culprits behind many health issues. This is mainly because they are foreign to our bodies. And though they can be found in nature, they are usually in very minute traces, which cause little harm. All in all, it’s a good idea to use a natural fat, butter, or oil when infusing weed.

  Like the brilliant Becky Selengut said in her book, How to Taste, “We’re literally hardwired to seek out fat and it’s foolish to fight it.” Fat is one of the best ways to carry THC molecules and full flavor profiles through its spectacular dissolving abilities. Our taste buds, according to Selengut, are unable to truly taste the entire flavor profile of a dish if it lacks the fat from an oil or butter (even the naturally found fats in vegetables and legumes are important for carrying flavor). And when it comes to heat, another essential element in infusing cannabis into a substance, fat is king as a heat transmitter. This will help along the infusion process, making the weed butter infuse evenly. The fat found in butter and oil will regulate the rates at which the infusion occurs, giving you a consistent distribution of potency within the weed butter.

  It should also be said that not all infusion processes are the same. Different methods result in different quantities of oil or butter due to the ingredients used. Because butter cooks down more than say, coconut oil, you will be left with a bit less material. Though weed and a fatty substance is all you essentially need, some infusion methods also require a slow cooker, a stovetop, or a binder (the element used to help the weed stick to the substance) such as grain alcohol or protein. Don’t get stressed, though, I will take you through each method, step by step. It’s not only easier than you think, but having these skills in the kitchen are invaluable and can also be used for just about any herb you might want to infuse. Think rosemary and cannabis-infused butter. From there, you can choose which method, which fat, and which type of weed works best for your lifestyle, given the materials and ingredients you already have on hand.

  After infusing, you will be left with weed butter, allowing you to easily incorporate weed to any recipe that requires a little bit of fat. Are you one of those millennial coffee freaks who likes to add a pad of butter to your coffee in the morning? Try it with weed butter. Coffee and a small dose of cannabis (especially CBD) is becoming a popular health tool for sustaining focus throughout the day. Do you like coconut oil in your beans and rice, eggs, or soups? Try some with infused weed. Once you realize how easy it is to make weed butter, you can add it into any meal of your choice—and you’ll never want to eat anything without it. However, I don’t recommend doing this recreationally. Medically, sure!

  The best part about making your own weed butter and edibles is that the potency is up to your personal choice and preference. One pot brownie doesn’t have to send you to outer space (unless you’re in that kind of mood). Meals prepared with love with the weed butter you’ll make from this book can be just enough to help with anxiety or an evening of nightmares from PTSD. The edibles game has completely changed. It’s more diverse and healthier than ever before. So much so that Forbes confirmed that edibles are not just one of the most enjoyed ways of consuming weed, but that “in California alone, consumers gobbled up more than $180 million worth of marijuana-infused food and drinks in 2016.”2 If you start an edibles business after this, I get it. Go for it, but know that I will ask for a percentage of your profits (I’m kidding).

  I am a huge fan of low-dose edibles and microdosing cannabis. A microdose is an approach to studying the behavior of a substance in our bodies through a “subtherapeutic dose of a drug administered at a quantity low enough to elicit no adverse side effects yet high enough for a measurable cellular response.”3 This means a small dose that won’t make you feel high but will give you the health benefits needed on a cellular level to help you heal. A small dose is unlikely to produce whole-body psychoactive effects. Less is more: more fun and less intense. It allows you to actually eat and enjoy the edibles you make, because you know what? Food is pretty damn enjoyable. The low-
dose recipe options allow you to savor the food’s taste while enjoying the benefits of weed-infused foods without feeling crazy high. In the book, we will talk about how to decide which dose, which strain of weed, and which type of fat to choose for all of your cannabis-infused cooking needs. And as you know, weed butter is not limited to just butter but I love butter so allow me to just keep rolling with that—another pun intended. That’s the last one, I promise.

  How to Use this Book

  The majority of us infusing weed butter and cooking with cannabis are stoners—highly functioning and highly successful stoners, but stoners nonetheless. No shame! I’m not entirely sure when or how the stoner, slacker stereotype became associated with people who consume cannabis. In fact, studies show that despite the “stereotypical stoner humor, cannabis consumers have been shown to be more intelligent than their non-consuming counterparts. And that applies especially to women. According to a new study, women who smoke weed have higher IQs than those who don’t.”4 But for humor and the sake of better organization, let’s just say that we are all stoners who are forgetful and need extra help when it comes to directions. And what’s better for a stoner than a quick reference guide? This section is your holy grail if you need a reminder of where things are located in the book.

  This cookbook is intended to be your go-to guide for everything cannabutter related. Whether you’re grabbing your favorite box of store-bought brownie mix or taking it up a notch with my mom’s fried chicken recipe (see page 85), all the info you’ll need will be here to help you whip up truly elevated food. I’ve organized the book into a couple of different chapters so you can easily refer back to them whenever you need.

  Chapter One starts with a microdose (see what I did there?) overview of the history of edibles, marijuana, and a couple of lightweight trailblazers who laid the groundwork for cannabis cuisine in modern mainstream culture. I cover the medical, legal, and cultural components of what it means to ingest, inhale, and take pride in cooking with weed.

  Cannabis is medicine, and sometimes it’s prudent to treat it as such. I dedicated Chapter Two to walking you through how to dose weed butter and associate each milligram of dosage with a level of “high.” There are days you only want to eat a 2-milligram THC spoonful of weed-infused Nutella, but sometimes you need more. There will be days where you just want to sit on a sofa and eat enough edibles to rid you of a terrible bout of cramps. You’ll figure out which dosage and what recipes work for treating minor ailments, managing mood, or managing your pain. The important thing to understand is that it’s your choice and your body, and you have full freedom.

  You’ll also learn how eating weed affects your body, and sometimes your mind, differently than smoking weed does. If you’re a connoisseur or just a very detail-oriented Virgo and want to nerd out with pairing strains for weed-infused butter or coconut oil, there’s a section for this on page 25. Find a basic chart guiding you through which flavor profiles and terpenes you might expect from a strain of weed and which dish each terpene teams up with deliciously. Don’t know what terpenes are? Don’t care about pairing? Not a big deal. I’ve tried all types of strains with different butters, oils, and fats, and trust me, they all taste incredible.

  In Chapter Three, we get right to a very comprehensive step-by-step guide to multiple infusion methods and different types of weed butter. Whatever equipment you have on hand, there is an infusion method that will work for you. And before I get on with the actual recipes, in Chapter Four, you will learn to identify which type of oil, butter, or fat to use in your infusion batch.

  Now, let’s get started!

  1 Oier Aizpurua-Olaizola, Izaskun Elezgarai, Irantzu Rico-Barrio, Iratxe Zarandona, Nestor Etxebarria, and Aresatz Usobiaga (2016), “Targeting the Endocannabinoid System: Future Therapeutic Strategies.” Drug Discovery Today, August 20, 2016, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359644616302926.

  2 Mike Montgomery, “Edibles Are the Next Big Thing for Pot Entreprenuers.” Forbes Magazine, July 19, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemontgomery/2017/07/19/edibles-are-the-next-big-thing-for-pot-entrepreneurs/#fd0f6e6576bd.

  3 Ayelet Waldman, A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, (New York, NY: Knopf, 2017), 1.

  4 Madison Margolin, “Women with Higher IQs Are More Likely to Smoke Weed.” Jane Street, October 3, 2017, https://janest.com/article/2017/10/03/women-higher-iqs-likely-smoke-weed.

  Chapter One

  Weed 101

  The First Edible

  Humans have a long history with consuming cannabis. Emperor Shen Nung from 2737 BCE, also known as the father of Chinese medicine, was known to use cannabis as a medicine. He was also known to be an excellent steward of the land and showed compassion and concern for his people who suffered from illness. “According to legend, he compiled the medical encyclopedia called Pen Ts’ao. The Pen Ts’ao lists hundreds of drugs derived from vegetable, animal, and mineral sources. Among these drugs is the plant cannabis, [named] “ma.”5

  The history of edibles—food containing weed—dates back as early as 1000 BC. Before the “space cake” or “pot brownie,” in the region of South Asia there was bhang. Bhang is a preparation of cannabis in a form both ingested as a food and drink. Like a thick ganja smoothie, it was known to have been originally made in the ancient subcontinent of India, used during the spring festival of Holi both for medicinal and spiritual purposes. And what better occasion than the entering of spring to celebrate with an edible? The birds are chirping, the earth is blooming and rebirthing herself, and so is your consciousness and potential for healing.

  Bhang is packed with an all-star lineup of nutritiously fortifying ingredients similar to what you might find in chai: milk, masala, cinnamon, anise, rose water, honey, sugar, and weed. This energy cannabis drink was recommended for various health reasons. It was given to ancient Indian newlyweds who were looking to increase their libido, to ancient warriors trying to calm their nerves before a brutal battle, and to patients battling the life-threatening symptoms of malaria. With a wide range of beneficial and healing properties, despite current federal and international regulations toward marijuana, it’s no wonder that we are still to this day consuming food infused with cannabis for its health reasons.

  The First Pot Brownie

  The first time cannabis appeared in a cookbook was in 1954, when the epic Alice B. Toklas published her “Hashish Fudge” pot brownie in The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. Her pot brownie recipe was borrowed from the brilliant and successful painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist, Brion Gysin. It has a glorious funky mix of spices, nuts, fruit, and our bestie, weed. My pot brownie recipe on page 103 is a nod to this original version. Either make the brownie mix from scratch and re-create your favorite recipe, or add it to your favorite store-bought boxed mix. I don’t judge, but I do recommend you add a handful of buttery cashews whether it’s a box or from scratch. Unless you’re allergic to nuts—then please don’t do that.

  Alice, a San Francisco native with Polish Jewish heritage, shared an abundant life as a writer and a beautiful partnership with girlfriend, Gertrude Stein, in France. There, they were known to throw salons and cooked for some of their besties, including Ernest Hemingway, Matisse, and Picasso—yes, I said Picasso. If this isn’t the ultimate inspiration for you to throw a weed dinner party tonight, nothing else in this book will do it.

  My other favorite OG in the weed cookbook game was Chef Ra, born as Jim Wilson Jr. in West Virginia. Chef Ra is pretty well-known to the old heads in the cannabis community, but his clout came from his Psychedelic Kitchen column that was featured in the High Times magazine for 15 years.

  Medical Cannabis

  Medical cannabis administered in the form of edibles is by and large considered one of the best alternatives to expensive, overprescribed, and highly addictive pain medications. “Medical marijuana has been shown to be an effective treatment for pain that may also reduce the chance o
f opioid dependence,” said Dr. Howard Zucker, the New York State Health Commissioner. “Adding opioid replacement as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana offers providers another treatment option, which is a critical step in combating the deadly opioid epidemic affecting people across the state.”6

  According to the American Nurses Association, all types of marijuana, including cannabinoids such as THC, CBD, CBN, THCA, and others, have been widely used medically to treat certain diseases and/or suppress symptoms. “It has been used for alleviating symptoms of nausea and vomiting; stimulating appetite in HIV patients; alleviating chronic pain; easing spasticity due to multiple sclerosis; decreasing symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders and psychosis; and relieving intraocular pressure from glaucoma.”7 This means that something as simple and delicious as a weed pancake or salad with infused olive oil can provide just as much or more pain relief as an expensive prescribed drug.

  As the positive benefits of cannabis begin to swell into common, mainstream knowledge, and as we learn that these benefits outweigh the risks (are there any risks other than extreme munchies and sleepiness?), we see more headway in academic studies. Many labs are increasing their research in this area. In June 2018, the United Nations Drug Committee had its first ever meeting to address, analyze, and discuss the safety and health benefits of cannabis. Here’s what they found: Cannabis is a “relatively safe drug”8 that millions of people have already been using globally to help manage a wide range of medical conditions.9 I know what you’re thinking: “Duh.”