How To Make Cannabis Coconut Oil

Cannabis coconut oil is like a healthier version of cannabutter. You can use it to bake bread and cakes, add it to weed-infused shakes and smoothies, or simply plop a teaspoon into your coffee in the morning.

Unlike its dairy-based cousin, cannabis coconut oil is vegan (and gluten-free). The best part? Everything will have a nice (subtle) tropical touch to it when you use canna-coconut oil. Coconut oil works just as well in edibles as cannabutter due to its high fat content. As it happens, cannabinoids are lipophilic and dissolve very well in fats.

So without further ado, let’s get straight to the recipe for cannabis-infused coconut oil. This recipe doesn’t necessitate any real skill in the kitchen, and it requires just a few ingredients and pieces of equipment.

How to make cannabis coconut oil

The best thing about making cannabis coconut oil is that you don’t need to use your best buds. Instead, you can use leftover trim—aka the leaves and stems—to create a concentrated product, and save your top-quality nugs for your next smoking session.

Equipment

• Crock-pot (alternatively, use a large pot and a heat-safe bowl as a DIY double boiler)
• Fine sieve/strainer
• Baking pan
• Grinder
• Baking parchment
• Airtight storage container
• Stirring spoon

Zamnesia Acrylic Grinder

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Ingredients

• Coconut MCT oil (200 grams or 200ml)
• Cannabis (10 grams)

The advantage of using MCT oil for this purpose is that it is an excellent carrier oil. Since MCT oil is absorbed by the body much more effectively, it can also absorb whatever it is carrying. That includes THC and CBD.

As for the cannabis, we already mentioned that (almost) every part of the plant can be used, regardless of quality. Whether you’re left with shake at the bottom of your stash jars or trim from your last harvest, all can be put to good use in cannabis coconut oil. As long as there are cannabinoids present, these parts of the plant have something to offer.

The following recipe is based on 10g of high-quality buds, which equates to around 50g of cannabis trim. You can scale this amount up or even down slightly; all you need to do is scale the amount of coconut oil to suit.

Instructions

Now that you’ve lined up your ingredients and equipment, it’s time to begin making cannabis coconut oil.

1. Grind your cannabis into a coarse consistency. If you don’t have a grinder, you can manually break it down.

2. Place the ground plant material on a baking tray lined with parchment, and put it in an oven preheated to 120°C (248°F) for 40 minutes. Make sure to stir it every ten minutes.

3. Let the cannabis cool down to room temperature. Once it’s completely cooled, grind the material down to a finer consistency.

4. Now, combine the cannabis with the oil. To do so, you can use one of the following three methods:

• Add the cannabis and coconut oil to a crock-pot, and heat on low for 4–6 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Set up a double boiler and heat the cannabis–coconut oil concoction over a low simmer for 6–8 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Add cannabis, coconut oil, and water to a saucepan and heat on low, stirring regularly for 3 hours. While this is the fastest method, the likelihood of scorching is also the highest. To prevent this, add more water as necessary.

5. Strain the cannabis from the oil, using a fine sieve, and store the oil in an airtight container.

Dose

How you dose your cannabis coconut oil is a very important consideration, and depends on numerous factors. These include your tolerance level, body weight and metabolism, desired effect, strength of the edibles, and more. Cannabis consumption affects everyone differently, which is why there isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” dose for everyone. The old rule of starting “low and slow” certainly applies here.

All that said, we can make some calculations based on our measurements: Say you’re using 1g of bud with a THC content of 20% (200mg) to make 200g of oil. A tablespoon of coconut oil (13g) would then contain about 13mg of THC. Of course, if you're using trim or anything that isn’t prime bud, your oil will be less potent.

Making cannabis coconut oil is easy as pie

As you can see, making your own batch of cannabis coconut oil isn’t a difficult endeavour. Yes, it can be time-consuming and take up a good chunk of your day, but perhaps treat it as some sort of meditative practice. Light up a joint and take your time executing each step perfectly. If you do it right, the results will be incredibly satisfying. Once you have a supply of cannabis coconut oil at your disposal, you can add it to your morning coffee for an invigorating buzz, to other recipes in place of cannabutter, or you can even eat a spoonful on its own. Just be careful not to overdo it—even edibles made from trim are very potent!

Miguel Antonio Ordoñez

With an AB Mass Media and Communications degree, Miguel Ordoñez is a veteran writer of 13 years and counting and has been covering cannabis-related content since 2017. Continuous, meticulous research along with personal experience has helped him build a deep well of knowledge on the subject.

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