Herbies

Learn How To Make Cannabis Stem Weed Butter

Last updated: 20 March 2024

how to make weed butter with stems

Cannabis-infused butter, or cannabutter, is the gold standard when it comes to making weed edibles. Did you know that cannabutter can be made with weed stems? If not, no worries! It’s just as easy as making regular cannabutter, and a great way to utilize resources when times are scarce.

Is There THC In Weed Stems?

Although there is still THC and other cannabinoids in cannabis stems so it can make you high, the trouble is getting them out. In theory, you could simply grind it up and smoke it. However, smoking it raw will taste extremely harsh and likely cause headaches and no high. That's why learning how to make weed butter with stems is so great, as you can enjoy the high from the weed stems without any nasty side effects!

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How To Make Weed Butter With Cannabis Stems

Other than the obvious fact you’re using stem instead of bud, making weed butter with stems is entirely the same as making it from flower. It’s a simple process, if a little time consuming, so gather everything you need and let's learn how to make pot butter with stems!

cannabutter with stems

Ingredients For Weed Stem Butter

Before making cannabutter with stem, you’ll need to prepare the following ingredients:

  • Cannabis stem – as much as you can get (minimum ¼ cup per person)
  • Unsalted butter – 250g (2 sticks)
  • Water – 300ml (10fl.oz) + 50ml (1.7fl.oz) per hour

You will also need some everyday household items:

  • A pot or saucepan – heavy-bottomed if available
  • Strainer – cheesecloth or clean tea towel
  • String

Once you have all the ingredients and equipment ready, you can start making weed stem butter – just follow our instructions.

cannabis stemsREAD NOW

Step 1. Decarb Your Stems

weed stem butter

The first step to making stem cannabutter is converting the THCA into THC to make it readily available to the human body. To do this, lay your ground-up stems on a baking tray and put in the oven for 40 minutes at 100-110°c. This activates the THCA by decarboxylating it and converting it to THC.

how to decarbREAD NOW

Step 2. Simmer In Butter

stem butter

The next step is to melt your butter at medium temperature and add the 300ml (10fl.oz) of water before bringing it to a simmer. Once simmering, add your stems and stir through.

Now the waiting begins. The longer you leave it for, the stronger it will be. However, 3 or 4 hours will be enough time to create a decent potency. Stir every 15 minutes or so and add 50ml of water every hour of simmering, or when you notice there’s only butter and stems left in the saucepan.

Step 3. Drain

how to make pot butter with stems

Once you’ve waited as long as you can to finish off your cannabutter, set up your cheesecloth or clean tea towel over a heat-proof container and secure it in place with string. Then, slowly pour the cannabutter into the cloth, allowing the butter to drain through into the container. Once the butter has stopped flowing, bundle the edges of the cloth together and squeeze tightly, pressing out as much butter as you can.

cannabutter from stems

Now all you have to do is put the container in the fridge and wait for the butter to set. In a few hours, you’ll see that the butter has formed into a layer on top of the water. Simply collect all this butter and store in an airtight container in your fridge or freezer.

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How Strong Will Cannabutter From Stems Be?

While making cannabutter from stems will still work, it won’t be as strong as cannabutter made from bud or leaf, as stems contain less THC. To get around this, use as much stem as you can get your hands on. Another excellent way to utilize stems is by adding it to your bud or leaf when making regular cannabutter. It will add some potency to any batch and will taste better than cannabutter made only from stem.

How To Dose Stem Cannabutter

We’ve all heard horror stories of what happens when you eat too high a dose of cannabis edibles. Luckily, as cannabutter made from stems is less potent, it’s a lot harder to overdo the amount. Still, care should always be taken when eating edibles, so start slow and eat more if you don’t feel the effects within about an hour, or if the effects are too mild. Before cooking with cannabutter, it’s always a good idea to do a test run - on a free day, have a teaspoon of cannabutter, and watch the effects - this wil give you a rough idea of how strong the cannabutter is, and how much you’ll need per portion of cooking.

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Many Ways To Enjoy Weed Stem Butter

weed butter with stems

Now all you have to worry about is how first to eat your weed stem butter! You can substitute it into any recipe that calls for regular butter, like brownies, cookies, and cakes, or you can simply spread it on some toast or pancakes, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

FAQ

How to Make Weed Butter?

At Herbies we made a recipe for making cannabutter with weed stems. To find out more about the recipe, just scroll up and read this recipe in more detail. You can also go to our Blog - there’s a recipe for weed butter made from fresh bud.

How Much Weed Butter to Use?

It all depends on what you use it for, but in general, before using any cannabutter do a test by taking a teaspoon of it to check the effects. Then you can adjust any recipe and make it cannabis-infused by partly or fully substituting regular butter or oil for weed butter.

How Strong Can Cannabutter From Stems Be?

While making cannabutter from stems will still work, it won’t be as strong as cannabutter made from bud, as stems contain less THC. That’s why in this recipe we recommend using as much stem as possible.

What Can I Cook with Weed Butter or Where Can I Use it?

You can use weed butter in any recipe that calls for regular butter, like brownies, cookies, cakes, pasta and sauces - possibilities are endless! Or you can simply spread it on some toast or pancakes, sit back, and enjoy the ride.

You’ve reached the end of the article – thanks for following through! As a reward for your interest in our blog, we’ve hidden a special promo code for an awesome bonus seed that you can add for free to your next order. Hint: open the first recommended article, your promo code might be waiting for you right there...

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IO
Thank you for the info, I am currently making a small batch using a quarter oz of stems & quarter oz of bud, but I am using a crockpot. Gonna let it "work" for 24 hrs, I will report on my finished product.
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Herbies
You're welcome, IO, we hope that the product will fit the expectations, please let us know about the result
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Jumper
What if you have a fan focred oven?
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Herbies
Hello Jumper, Is it possible to turn the fan off and use only the heater? If not, you would need to calibrate the oven to provide a desirable temperature and the drying period will be shorter
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K.s
If you have fan assisted turn the heat down by roughly 30•c
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Pot head
What do you mean exactly by 1/4 cup per person? How much stems would I need to make a batch of potent cookies?
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Herbies
Hello,It depends on your tolerance. You can use the full cup or 1/2 of the cup, so if you use more for one portion the effect will be stronger.
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Brandy
The lowest my oven will go is 170...help
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Ali
100 degrees Celsius is like 220 Fahrenheit !
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Herbies
Hello Brandy,This is too much, we would suggest to use another oven. You can go with this one on but roast it for a shorter period of time, but the final result will probably be worse
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Celle
Now making my second “stem batch” of canna butter now with roughly 1 1/4 ounces of total plant matter for a full pound of butter. My last batch was very strong, even at well under 1 ounce, but since it’s actually much easier diluting the canna butter based on the recipe (just blend softened plain butter in a mixer) I decided to use all of what I had anyway.I also burned my last stem batch a bit by letting too much water cook off and having a burner whose lowest setting was still too high (using a grill’s side burner outside to keep the fat-bound weed from stinking up my entire house for days or longer) and if I hadn’t burned it then the strength would’ve been even better and I wouldn’t have had as much waste.This batch should turn out just right. After over 2 yeas of saving stems, getting a couple large donations from friends, and stressing over them growing moldy before I get the chance to use them, my patience is about to be rewarded. Using an induction cooktop (again outside) I can’t imagine the process going more smoothly than this time. I should end up with the strongest and best tasting butter I’ve ever made.Stems actually make BETTER butter because there is much less chlorophyll, waxes, and other non-fibrous plant matter that have the most negative effects on taste.
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Herbies
Hello Celle,Thank you for sharing your experience in such a lovely manner, describing the benefits and the process. A real pleasure to read!
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Callie
Hi! If you could could you please describe how you made it? I want to make sure it’s really potent for a pound of butter too. The way they described this doesn’t quite make sense to me. Thanks!
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Dom
If I am using butter in a brownie mix that is in the oven for 20 mins do I still have to boil stems in butter
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Herbies
Hello Dom,The idea is to get steams ground in small pieces and boiled in butter so the butter soaks it's taste and properties
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Blazed57
Hello how many leaves to make tea ? And once the stems are ground would one cup be enough or should I use two ?
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Herbies
Hello,We reccomend 2 tsp for one cup of tea, you can always add more or less depending on your tolerance. The more ground stems you use - the more final product you'll get :)
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Stinky
Weight wise, what is a good amount of stems for a strong edible? I have a high tolerance and want to make sure I use enough
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Herbies
Hello Stinky,As much as you can, you can use 1/2 of a cup or even a full cup.
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Dom
Does the stem need to be ground
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Herbies
Hello Dom,That depends on your preference, if you don't want the "scale" you can do so
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Connor D
So when you grind the stems up to get them ready how grounded up do they need to be? Second if im trying to make some for like 3 good sized meals how much stems should i use and if i wanna add bud how much should i do? Other then that thank you can't wait to make some tasty food😍.
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Herbies
Hello Connor,This is mostly up to your taste and how much would you like them to be, the larger amount of ground stems the larger amount of the final product, you can have, and the more you use for one portion the stronger the taste
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Dj
So you grind up the stems before placing in oven or after? I think after would make more since! Right?
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Herbies
You can but not 100% necessary, it's like a common cooking, the wide place for variations :)
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Please help
Do i add the leaves also
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Herbies
You can, however it will change the taste. You may use leaves for tea instead
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Keltner J
Thank you I shall enjoy the kind butter😉
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Herbies
You're welcome, Keltner! We wish you best of luck with your cooking :)
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