There are many ways to make Canna Butter, here are the most
commonly used.
Top of the Stove
Method
1. Select
the herb you plan to use; crumble it up (not nexessary to finely grind it
though) and remove (and SAVE) any seeds you find. Weigh, or measure, so you
will have some idea of the strength of your final product.
2. Use
only good quality, unsalted, butter. Until you get comfortable just winging it,
a good rule of thumb is 1 ounce of herb to 1 pound (4 sticks) of butter.
3. In
a sauce pan, put 6-8 cups of water, butter and herb; over moderate heat, stir
occasionally until butter is melted.
4. Continue
to simmer for 1 hour, then turn off the stove and cover the pot. Let it set
overnight.
5. The
more simmer and set cycles, the stronger (up to a point) your final product
will be. When using this method, I generally do 3 full cycles, ending with a
simmer cycle and letting it cool to room temperature.
6. Next,
line a colander or large sieve with 3 layers of cheesecloth. Pour the melted
butter mixture through the sieve.
7. Gather
up the edges of the cheesecloth and twist and gently press, to recover the most
butter possible. Set the “sludge” from the cheesecloth aside for later use. It
can be put into zip plastic bags and frozen for up to 2 months.
8. Pour
the warm water and butter mixture into a straight sided container, preferably
one that is taller than it is wide, and put into the refrigerator until butter
is hardened. You can also carefully put it into the freezer but don’t leave it
until the water is frozen – just until the butter is quite hard.
9. Carefully
remove the hardened butter from the water. The bottom surface may be a bit soft
or gooey but that’s OK. There is not enough “good stuff” in the water to use it
for medicine or cooking but I have found that my house plants LOVE it.
10. Re-melt
the infused butter and pour into storage containers. At this point, it helps to
pour into measured containers: muffin tins, small jars, plastic containers made
for butter storage, etc.
11. You
can use the infused butter in any recipes calling for butter or oil (cookie
mix, for example) or spread on toast, bread, muffins, scones, etc.
Crock Pot Method
1. Instead
of the sauce pan, put butter and herb into a straight sided glass container
that fits inside your crock pot.
2. Add
water to the crock pot (NOT into the butter/herb container) until it is at
least halfway up the side or up to an inch below the top of the butter/herb
container.
3. Turn
crock pot on and once the butter is melted, follow the simmer and set cycles as
above.
4. Follow
above from step 6 to finish.
Best Method EVER
1. There
is a device called the Magical Butter Machine (MBM) which automates this
process most wonderfully! They call it a Counter Top Botanical Extractor and more
information can be found at their
website - https://magicalbutter.com/
2. Caveat:
You will see MBMs offered for sale, at
often reduced prices, on Amazon as well as all the usual re-sale site. However,
the company’s excellent warranty ONLY covers machines bought directly through
the company. Given that their warranty consists of sending you a brand new
machine for almost any problem or defect, it makes sense to buy directly.
3. There
is a FaceBook group dedicated to the MBM, Magical Butter Users United (MBUU )
where there are often discount coupons offered as well as recipes and tons of
advice. The president of MBM is a member of the group and regularly responds to
posts. https://www.facebook.com/groups/magicalbutterusersunited/
Last
but not least, you can substitute almost any edible fat for the butter
mentioned above. I often infuse coconut oil and olive oil; I have not infused
lard but have been told that it works well too. These oils can be substituted for
butter in most recipes.
