Are you looking for a one-pot, set-it-and-forget-it option for making cannabutter and other oil infusions? Look no further! This easy, quick, and efficient method using the Instant Pot will significantly decrease the smell while leaving you with a fully decarbed and infused final product. Learn how to simplify the process with this helpful guide today!
Features
- A quick and easy method to decarb and infuse all at once
- Significantly decreases the order associated with the process
- No special equipment is needed, just an Instant Pot!
- Can be used for making cannabutter OR infused oils
- Just want to decarb but NOT infuse? Check out this simple guide for decarbing in an Instant Pot
Why You Will Love This Recipe
It's no secret that I love using the crockpot for cannabutter and other oil infusions.
But when I learned you could kill two birds with one stone by using the Instant Pot to decarb AND infuse butter or oil - I was hooked.
Not only is this process so simple, but it also significantly decreases the odor associated with the decarboxylation process.
Just place all ingredients in the Instant Pot, and you are free to clean the house or make dinner while the cannabis is decarbing.
Then, add your oil of choice, set the slow cooker option, and get back to work (or relaxing!).
I'm constantly trying to make life easier for my Well With Cannabis Community, so I created this post with step-by-step instructions on how to decarb and infuse quickly and easily.
Read on to learn how to decarb and infuse simultaneously.
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Ingredient Notes
- Cannabis flowers: Use your desired amount of cannabis, ranging from 3.5 grams up to 1 ounce. Check out the Flower to Oil Ratio Guide below if you need help deciding how much to use. Next, select your preference for THC, CBD, or CBG dominant flowers. You can purchase from your local dispensary or from my online shop here.
Depending on the flower you use, with this method you can create:
Butter or Oil, choose one:
- Butter or ghee: Unsalted butter, clarified butter, and ghee all work great in this recipe. However, clarified butter and ghee are preferred by many because it eliminates a final step at the end.
- Oil of choice: Coconut oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil, MCT oil, hemp seed oil, and more
Depending on the oil you use, with this method you can create:
Note: a complete list of ingredients with amounts and printable instructions is located in the recipe card below.
The Step-by-Step Process
- Step 1 - Place your desired amount of cannabis in a mason jar and add a lid to fingertip tightness (not too tight). You do not need to grind the cannabis, just break it up into small, popcorn-sized pieces.
- Step 2 - Place the jar on the trivet or in the steamer basket.
- Step 3 - Place the trivet or basket in the Instant Pot.
- Step 4 - Add 4 cups of water to the Instant Pot.
- Step 5 - Secure the lid.
- Step 6 - Set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure for 40 minutes.
- Step 7 - After 40 minutes, carefully release the pressure.
- Step 8 - Remove the jars from the pot and set them aside to cool.
- Step 9: Add your desired amount of butter or oil to the jar.
- Step 10: Add a lid and twist to fingertip tightness (not too tight).
- Step 11: Place the jars back in the trivet or steamer basket and return them to the water bath.
- Step 12: Select Slow Cook - LOW mode and set it for 4 hours.
- Step 13: While the butter is infusing, prepare your straining area. Whether it be a paper filter and funnel, cheesecloth, French press, or a simple coffee filter, you will want to set up a straining station to separate the plant matter.
- Step 14: After 4 hours, remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Once cool enough to handle, strain the butter with your method of choice. You can save the leftover cannabis pulp for use in future recipes.
- Step 15: Add the strained butter or oil to whatever jar you would like to store it in. If making butter, place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely. You will need to drain off the milk solids at the end of the process.
- Step 16: Enjoy your infusion!
Note: complete step-by-step printable instructions are located in the recipe card below.
Storage Instructions
Store the butter in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used, or store it for even longer in the freezer. Oil can be stored at room temperature for several months.
If you are storing the butter in the fridge or freezer, never use the microwave to soften or thaw the butter as it could destroy the cannabinoids and ruin the final product.
How to Determine The Dosing
Want to get a more accurate guesstimate of the potency of your cannabis infusions and extractions? Try our popular edibles calculator!
Not sure what your perfect dose is? Learn more here.
Choose The Right Decarb Time
Each cannabinoid decarboxylates at a different temperature, so it's important to select the appropriate time based on the flower you have.
Use this guide to select the decarb time that is right for you.
- THCA to THC → bake at 240° F for 40 minutes
- CBDA to CBD → bake at 240°F for 90 minutes
- CBGA to CBG → bake at 220°F for 60 minutes
- THC to CBN→ bake at 240°F for 180 minutes
Notes and Expert Tips
- If using butter, note that you will end up with less butter than you started with. This is because you will be removing the milk solids and evaporating off the excess water.
- Using clarified butter or ghee eliminates the need for you to clarify your butter and strain milk solids at the end.
- If doing an oil infusion, you can optionally add in lecithin. Do not add this if infusing butter.
- You can make a more potent cannabutter or oil by adding decarbed kief or cannabis concentrates like distillate or FECO.
- Helpful Tip - If you are using butter molds, we recommend using a spoon to get the pure, infused butter into the first full stick of the mold. That way you will then only need to remove the milk solids from one stick.
Frequently Asked Questions
Instant Pot infusions can be brand new to even the most seasoned cannabis consumer, so here are some of the most common FAQs I get asked from my Well With Cannabis Community.
No worries! You can also use a crockpot, find out how here.
There are SO many! From sweet to savory, check them out here.
Check out my beginner's blog posts and also join the Well With Cannabis Community. for additional support and resources.
It depends on how potent you want your end product to be. For a less potent product, add more butter. For a more potent product, add less. Follow my cannabis flower-to-oil ratio chart to make a batch size that is perfect for you. If you're using trim or kief, adjust accordingly. If you want a very potent product, make kief butter instead.
Want To Make This Easier? Use A Machine!
If the process of decarbing and infusing feels like too much work, an all-in-one countertop device may be a perfect all-in-one solution.
My personal favorites? The LEVO and Ardent FX, but you can review the most popular infusion machines here.
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More Infusion Recipes You Will Love
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Instant Pot Cannabutter or Oil Infusions
Ingredients
- ½ ounces cannabis flower, buds, trim, or kief
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
Instructions
- Place your desired amount of cannabis in a mason jar and add a lid to fingertip tightness (not too tight). You do not need to grind the cannabis, just break it up into small, popcorn-sized pieces.
- Place the jar on the trivet or in the steamer basket and place the trivet or basket in the Instant Pot.
- Add 4 cups of water to the Instant Pot.
- After your selected time, carefully release the pressure. Remove the jars from the pot and set them aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, add your desired amount of butter or oil to the jar.
- Add a lid and twist to fingertip tightness (not too tight). Place the jars back in the trivet or steamer basket and return them to the water bath. Select Slow Cook mode on LOW and set it for 4 hours.
- While the butter is infusing, prepare your straining area. Whether it be a paper filter and funnel, cheesecloth, French press, or a simple coffee filter, you will want to set up a straining station to separate the plant matter from the butter or oil.
- After 4 hours, remove the jars from the Instant Pot. Once cool enough to handle, strain the butter with your method of choice. You can save the leftover cannabis pulp for use in future recipes.
- Add the strained butter or oil to whatever jar you would like to store it in. If making infused oil, the process is over.
- If making butter, you will need to drain off the milk solids at the end of the process. Place the container in the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely. During refrigeration, the infused butter will harden and solidify. Remove the solid block of butter and drain the remaining liquid which is the unwanted, leftover water and milk solids.
- Store this in the refrigerator according to the expiration date on the butter you used, or store for even longer in the freezer.
I
Hello Emily, are all mason jars safe to put on the instant pot?
Emily Kyle
Hi there, I! I recommend sticking with mason jars that are specifically meant for canning, so they can withstand the pressure and heat 🙂
J. K.
How much water do you add if you have the biggest instant pot?
Emily Kyle
J.K - I would place the filled jars (lid on) on the trivet inside the IP and then add water until the contents of the mason jars are covered. So, if you're mason jar is ½ way full of butter and flower, the water goes ½ way up the outside of the jar. You don't need to submerge them. I hope this helps 😀
DB4Y
I've made many attempts over many years trying to perfect the DIY decarb/infuse process. I've never been able to get it right... until now. HOLY WOW! I followed the instructions exactly and the final product is way better than I could have ever expected. Super potent and the unrefined coconut oil makes it taste good straight out of the jar. I used popcorn buds so they were perfect size and I didn't have to mess with them. I was *slightly* paranoid about the mason jars under pressure even though they are intended for canning. Store bought edibles are expensive around where I live so this a game changer being able to make my own at a fraction of the cost!
The only problem I encountered was that I underestimated the smell. Even with great ventilation (multiple fans, open windows, etc.) it took quite some time to get the smell out of the house. I did this in the furthest corner of basement and it still managed to make its way up to the main floor. So if you're worried about smell I'd suggest doing this outside or in a garage/shed if possible.
Emily Kyle
Hey Db4y - thanks so much for sharing your experience with us, I am so glad it worked out so well for you 😀
Tom
I followed your instruction and the end result was a beautiful golden yellow canna-coconut oil! I have used other methods to make canna-coconut oil and the results have always been good but the color was greenish.
I can't wait to try this oil in my gummies recipe.
Emily Kyle
I am so glad to hear you've had a successful batch, Tom, thanks so much for letting us know 🙂 I hope your gummies turn out great!
Judy de G
Hello Emily! Fast question for you - can I cut the recipe in half? I'm just experimenting with CBD oil and I don't want to make quite so much. I'm borrowing an Instant Pot, so don't have any experience with it yet either! Thanks - Judy
Emily Kyle
Hello, Judy! Yes, you absolutely can. You can also always refer to this flower-to-oil ratio guide to help you make different sized batches 😀
Melissa
Do you UN-vent your instant pot when on the Slow Cooker mode for 4 hours?
Connie Land
I would not recommend putting any mason jar in the Instant Pot, I have had a jar break in there!
Emily Kyle
Hey Melissa, no I personally do not.
Raoul Delward
Hi, new member, here! I followed your Instant Pot MCT oil recipe to a “T” and I’m pretty sure I just ended up making CBD, not THC-infused MCT oil. (The latter was my objective.) Am I right in understanding that the only options with Instant Pot decarb and infusion are as follows?:
Depending on the flower you use, with this method you can create:
[CBD Oil]
[CBG ‘Focus’ Oil]
[CBN ‘Sleep’ Oil]
[AVB (Already Been Vaped) Oil]
I did decarb, as instructed here, for 40 minutes on high pressure:
Each cannabinoid decarboxylates at a different temperature, so it’s important to select the appropriate time based on the flower you have.
Use this guide to select the decarb time that is right for you.
THCA to THC → bake at 240° F for 40 minutes
CBDA to CBD → bake at 240°F for 90 minutes
CBGA to CBG → bake at 220°F for 60 minutes
THC to CBN→ bake at 240°F for 180 minutes
So I’m guessing that I wasted an ounce of flower using an Instant Pot instead of a crock pot? I’ve had luck with a crock pot and butter in the past, but the decarb and infusing I did with the Instant Pot and MCT oil didn’t yield similar results in terms of desired efficacy. Should I just use a crock pot for all THC infusions? And is it necessary to use the mason jar/hot water bath method in the crock pot for butter, coconut oil, or MCT oil? I had luck with butter without mason jars in the past. That being said, the last couple batches I made didn’t taste great, but were effective. Any advice you have regarding all these questions is greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Emily Kyle
Hi @Raoul_Delward! I responded to you in the community as well 🙂
1 - Can you explain to me where you think you went wrong? You’re saying you decarbed the flower for 40 minutes first and then put the oil in and infused for another 4 hours on slow cook?
2 - You cannot “create” CBD if it is not already present in the plants genetics. So if you’re thinking that by cooking for longer you have created CBD, that’s not possible, unless there was already CBDA present in the flower. In which case, THC remains - THC does not ever turn into CBD. They’re two separate things.
Let me know your thoughts!
Katie
Hi Emily! I accidentally skipped the straining step, and just put the jar straight into the fridge (making butter). Did I just ruin everything, or can I let the butter melt, strain, and put back in the fridge?
Oops,
Katie
Emily Kyle
Hey Katie - truly no worries at all, you did not ruin anything 🙂 Yes, you can just let the butter melt, strain, and put it back in the fridge and enjoy as normal.
Emily Kyle
Hi Connie! I am sorry to hear you had a jar break 🙁 Mason jars meant for canning are meant to withstand both the temperature and pressure, but if you're nervous in the future, you could always vacuum seal the flower and oil or butter in a bag and cook it that way to avoid any glass at all. I hope this helps!
Dude
Is it 40 minutes after it gets to pressure? Or should I time from the moment the bell tolls signifying the IP is on?
Emily Kyle
Dude, I just go with 40 minutes from the time the IP is on and the jar is inside 🙂
Donna Mcland
Straining techniques could use some clarification, especially with coffee filter method, since that's likely what most have available. I found that in order to express the butter/oil completely, and not break the coffee filter, I had to use 3-4 filter layers, and then about 1/4cup of the plant material or oil at a time, hold the coffee filters closed at the top with one hand, and express the liquid through the filters with the other, squeezing lightly at first and changing pressure applied as more liquid is removed, and the plant material needs squeezing to remove the remaining liquid. Then either reserve that plant material into another container and get new filters, or in my case, as I was using cbd trim, just dispose, and get new filters for more of the remaining unfiltered butter/oil, and repeat, until it was all filtered into a clean jar with lid with a good seal.
Note, if your product ends up bitter tasting and green, don't toss it...add a little pink sea salt and a packet of Splenda - adjust for taste based on the volume of end product you have - the salt and touch of sweet counteracts the bitter from the chlorophyll from the plant.
Emily Kyle
Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Donna!
Kendra
Hello! When I use the potency calculator, do I put in the amount of MCT oil before infusion (4 hour slow cook) or after? I used 1/2 cup MCT oil and after straining I only had 30 mL. Just trying to figure out the potency as it seems really concentrated! Thank you for all the helpful info by the way!
Emily Kyle
Hey Kendra! Great question, and thank you for the kind words 🙂 I would use the after amount (30mL) to calculate. If it seems too concentrated, you can add more MCT to the mix to dilute it.
Sarah
Hello,
My instant pot does not have a "low" slow cook option, just "normal". Should I cook for less than 4 hours?
Emily Kyle
Hey Sarah! I would keep it at 4 hours, it won't hurt it 🙂
Glenda
My slow cooker will not get to 180 degrees (85 C) will I cook for longer than for hours? My first time.
Emily Kyle
Glenda, if it's anywhere in the range of 160°F and up, I would keep the cooking time the same.
Travis
Does the infused oil need to be stored in the refrigerator? Or does that only apply to butter?
Emily Kyle
Hey Travis! Butter is best in the refrigerator, but oil should be OK at room temperature for a few weeks. If you don't think you will use it within 2-3 weeks, I would refrigerate or freeze the rest.
Brenda
Hi, do you ever use the pressure cook setting to cook the oil & decarbed flower instead of using the slow cooker setting? thanks
Emily Kyle
Hey Brenda, I haven't experimented with it yet, but I may in the future with lab tests to see which one performs better 😀 Thanks for asking!