Wet trim & blanching cannabutter method

beornn

Well-Known Member
As promised in another thread, here's my take on making cannabutter. I employ a lot of what can easily be found in all the other various threads on this, but I do use a few other tricks that I haven't seen anywhere else that really cater to my tastes when it comes to edibles. That is, when I eat an edible I'd rather taste everything but cannabis in what I'm eating as it's a rather big turnoff for me personally, so I thought I'd share with everyone.

So we'll start off with some freshly harvested wet trim that was frozen for a few days until I found the time to do this. Just to echo what's already been stated before, it's perfectly fine to freeze your trim for this purpose.

Utensils used:

Stockpot, large
Chinacap w/wooden pestle
Food dehydrator
Cheesecloth
Scale
French coffee press
Silicon molds


IMG_305719.JPG


Using a large stockpot, bring enough water to boil to completely submerge our material.

IMG_305822.JPG


Once your water is at a rolling boil lets drop the trim right in. Make sure everything is covered, but don't mix too much. Cook for three minutes.

IMG_306018.JPG


Drain your blanched trim into the chinacap into your sink.

IMG_306121.JPG


While this is draining (notice the green water draining off, the whole purpose of blanching is to rid ourselves of as much chlorophyll as possible. This is where most of the undesirable flavor comes from) pour some cold water from your faucet into your stockpot. This serves two purposes; it'll allow you to get the remaining leaves loose from the sides of your stockpot, and it will shock the trim that's draining in your chinacap. Pour it into your chinacap, clean the stockpot and set aside for now.

IMG_306319.JPG


I want to mention here that your trichomes will still be clearly visible on your trim, further illustrating that they're not water soluble and are perfectly safe to blanch.

IMG_306422.JPG


Using your pestle, press as much water out of your trim as you can.

IMG_306521.JPG


Now we need to get that trim dry so we can decarb. I use a food dehydrator to speed things up a bit, but you can simply spread it out on a cookie sheet and leave it out overnight to dry naturally as well. I use a bit of cheesecloth to ensure none of the leaves fall between the layers of my dehydrator.

IMG_306719.JPG
IMG_306819.JPG


Dehydrate till your trim is dry. Usually takes mine around an hour or so. Take your trim and place it on a cookie sheet lined with foil, cover, and decarb in your oven for 40 minutes at 240 degrees Fahrenheit. This activates your medicine so we can finally infuse our butter.

IMG_306920.JPG
IMG_307021.JPG


After decarbing, fill your stockpot again with water and cook over medium heat. Take your French press and place one pound of unsalted butter into it, place the lid on it, and place the press into your stockpot. Melt the butter and ensure there is enough water to reach the butter line on your press.

IMG_307119.JPG
IMG_307218.JPG
IMG_307417.JPG


I have larfy bud in my trim so I typically use an ounce of my product for this purpose. If only using trim I'd recommend using around 1.5oz per pound of butter. Weigh out your trim, place it into your butter and depress the plunger until all the trim is completely submerged in the butter.

IMG_307522.JPG


Place this back into your par-boiling water and let it steep for 3 hours, making sure you top your water off just enough to keep that water line level with the butter in your French press. After we've allowed the trim to steep in the butter for the allotted time remove the press from the water and dry the outside with a towel (this is so we don't drip water into our molds). Go ahead and pour your butter into the silicon molds.

IMG_307717.JPG

IMG_307816.JPG


Most French presses will not allow their plungers to completely reach the bottom, so in order to get that last little bit of butter out we'll use the chinacap again. Drop your saturated trim into the chinacap over a container that you'll be using to catch the last bit of butter. Place this along with your molds into your refrigerator and allow to set.

IMG_307921.JPG


Finally you're able to pop out your butter and store it until you're ready to use in whatever recipe you see fit. I typically store mine in freezer bags in the freezer but it will keep in your refrigerator safely for a few days.

IMG_308013.JPG


And that's it really. I know it seems like a long process but it's really only a couple extra steps on an already established procedure. I just like how it really allows you to be creative in what you make with it in that there's virtually no taste or smell of cannabis, almost like a stealth edible, without having any sort of discernible effect on the potency of your butter. Bon appetit!
 
re: Wet trim & blanching cannabutter method

Ive been looking for a guide with blanching and very few people touch on it. My biggest problem with any edible ive had is the plant flavor. I dont mind the marijuana taste i just cant stand the chlorophyl taste.

"When the going gets weird, the weird go pro"
Hunter S. Thompson
 
Great guide... Potent butter, no overpowering chlorophyll flavour... Just one question though. After blanching, rather than drying the trim overnight, or in a food dehydrator, could the same be achieved by popping it in the oven at the lowest setting (mine being 170f), then cranking it up to 240f for the decarb process?

Edit : Nevermind, it seems you have answered this question in Fanleaf's Cannabutter from fresh frozen trim post.

Appreciate it anyways!
 
Never tried this method, but now I want to. Although, I dont get a clorophyll taste in anything I cook and I dont blanche. Does this method eliminate the little bit of green water that separates from the oil when cooled? If so, then I am surely using this method.

It eliminates almost all of it except for the last bit that I pour out into my last mold, I usually get a very small amount of water in that one. The other butter bricks are always nice and tight and void of any moisture. Hope this helps!
 
I’m interested to try this method as I have never worked with fresh trim or bud before and am researching how. I was worried about to much moisture while decarbing and thought maybe there was a step before. The process sounds great my question is blanching the trim won’t cook out thc? As I alaways cooked in water and butter right under boiling while it slightly bubbled because I thought if it came to a hard boil it ate at the thc. So when you say boil do you bring the water to a boil let it calm and then pour over... or is the roaring boil for a few not affect it for some reason... would like to try this method but want a little reassurance on this
 
The process sounds great my question is blanching the trim won’t cook out thc?
Not at all. If you check out the pics you'll see that the trichomes are perfectly intact even after boiling for a few minutes. The reason why is the oil is not water soluble, meaning they do not dissolve in water.
So when you say boil do you bring the water to a boil
Yes bring your pot to a rolling boil and then dump your trim in. Let it cook for about three minutes, what this does is release the chlorophyll into the water which will in turn not go into your butter, making for a much less "weedy" flavor in your butter but retaining all the potency. I still use this exact method and I promise you you'll end up with just as potent butter as throwing it all in your slow cooker. It's sorta like having stealth edibles really, you can't really taste the weed at all which is exactly what I was after.

Hope this helps!
 
I stumbled upon this thread looking for more info on making butter. I grew my first big crop this year and have lots of material to work with. That being said, I don’t have a lot of drying space and edibles are my preferred method of consumption. I actually tried this method in steps as I didn’t have time to do it all together. I blanched and dehydrated one day, decarbed the next and put that in jars. Made butter last night using my magical butter machine and made cookies immediately after. They really are the best tasting cannabis cookies I’ve ever made and potent AF!! Had me squinting and not feeling a thing!
I was worried about potency but can say without a doubt, I will be doing it this way from now on!
 
Back
Top Bottom