Sous vide (French for “under vacuum”) is a cooking method that has been gaining popularity in recent years. The subject of many cooking shows and segments lately, the process involves placing food in a plastic pouch or a glass jar and cooking it in water or steam for extended periods of time (at least 1 to 8 hours and up to 48 for some recipes) at a very closely regulated temperature. The temperatures are much lower than normally used for cooking, typically at around 131 to 140°F for meat and higher for vegetables. The method allows the items to cook evenly as well as ensures that the inside is properly cooked without running the risk of overcooking the outside, as well as to retain as much moisture as possible.
Allowing for maximum control over the cooking temperatures, sous vide is an excellent way to prepare some kick ass cannabutter that you can use to make any number of different recipes. Making your cannabutter this way allows it to get the most out of your weed and while remaining relatively simple, it does require some time and preparation so you will want to plan ahead accordingly.
Ingredients:
½ oz of “dirt” weed
1lb of unsalted butter
1 cup of water
Equipment:
A thermal immersion circulator
A spoon
A blender
A strainer
A jar for storage
Process:
First, place your weed in a blender along with some water and puree the mix. If it begins to thicken too much, you can pour additional water into the blender. Then, take the pureed weed and pour it into the strainer, making sure that you collect all of the ingredients from out of the blender, and strain it thoroughly into the jar by pressing down on the mix with your spoon. Once you are done, you can throw away the excess plant matter that is left behind in the strainer.
Next, chop up the butter and put it in the jar along with the pureed and strained weed and then seal tightly. Place the sealed jar in the immersion circulator and adjust the heat to just under 185°F and let the mix cook for about six hours. At this point, you don’t have to worry too much about the cannabutter mix and can go about the rest of your day as the immersion circulator will provide you with a constant and regulated cooking temperature.
When the six hours are done and the ingredients have had a chance to cool off, the solidified weed butter will rise to the top. Your cannabutter is now ready for use as you wish but if you are not going to need it immediately, you always have the option of freezing it preventing it from going bad and mold from forming. The cannabutter tends to freeze very well and can be tapped into as needed when cooking up something special for yourself and/or fellow enthusiasts.
Have you ever tried to make sous vide cannabutter before? Do you have any sous vide weed recipes that you’d like to share?
