How to Make Cannabis Ghee Step by Step

Written by Lorien Strydom
February 18th, 2026

Learning how to make cannabis ghee at home is one of the most reliable ways to build a versatile, long-lasting infused fat.

The process comes down to two non-negotiable steps: proper heat activation of your cannabis, followed by a controlled infusion at the right temperature range. Get both right, and you end up with a labeled jar of active ghee with known potency per teaspoon.

This guide covers both paths: traditional flower infusion and the faster concentrate route using products like Mood's THCa diamonds. Gear requirements are minimal. You need a pot, a digital thermometer, cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve, and mason jars.

Mood offers millions of users hemp-derived THC, which is 100% legal and fully compliant cannabis. You may have heard that the legality of hemp-derived THC is currently under attack, which could threaten the wellness of so many.

Read here to learn how to join the fight, and help us keep hemp cannabis accessible to all for a long time to come.

Table of Contents

• Heat Activation Makes or Breaks Your Ghee
• What Cannabis Material Works Best
• Why Ghee Beats Regular Butter for Cannabis Infusion
• Pick Your Infusion Method Based on Your Kitchen
• Strain and Finish for Clean Flavor
• Calculate Your Serving Potency in Milligrams
• The Concentrate Shortcut for Precision and Speed
• Store Your Cannabis Ghee Safely
• How to Use Cannabis Ghee Without Losing Potency
• You've Got Potent, Labeled Ghee

Heat Activation Makes or Breaks Your Ghee

Yes, you can make cannabis ghee, and the method works extremely well. But heat activation is the step that determines whether your ghee actually delivers effects. It's the process of applying precise heat to your cannabis so that the THCa's effects become fully available when consumed.

Skip this step entirely, and you'll end up with expensive cooking fat that produces no effects at all, regardless of how well you execute every other part of the process. Get it right, and the infusion step that follows becomes almost impossible to mess up.

The numbers: 240°F for 40 minutes activates THC-dominant flower. 240°F for 90 minutes activates CBD-dominant strains.

These timings are not interchangeable, and CBD-dominant flower genuinely does need the longer window. Most guides skip this distinction entirely.

Spread your ground cannabis in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment. Watch for a color shift from bright green to a brownish-green. That visual change is your confirmation that the process is working.

If odor is a concern, the sealed mason jar method works as a strong alternative. Place your cannabis in a sealed jar, set the jar on a baking tray, and use the same temperatures and times.

The sealed environment contains most of the aroma. It won't be completely odorless, but the difference is significant compared to an open baking sheet.

What Cannabis Material Works Best

The material you choose shapes the flavor, potency predictability, and overall process before you commit to an infusion method. Make this decision first.

Premium THCa flower gives you the best flavor and the most predictable potency per gram. Trim or shake is a budget-friendly option that works well, especially in strongly flavored recipes like chocolate bakes or curries where grassier notes disappear.

Neither choice is wrong. Someone using trim is making a practical call, not settling.

THCa concentrates are the third option, and they change the process considerably. They offer precision, skip straining entirely, and work faster. Learning what is THCa flower and how it compares to concentrates helps you make the right call before you start.

The trade-off is that you lose some of the full-spectrum plant complexity you get from flower. We'll cover the concentrate path in full detail later in this guide.

Why Ghee Beats Regular Butter for Cannabis Infusion

Ghee is clarified butter with milk solids and water removed, which prevents scorching during infusion and extends shelf life to roughly six months when refrigerated. That's why it's worth the extra step over regular butter, and it's especially valuable if you've dealt with burnt batches before.

Without water and milk solids in the mix, you're working with pure fat. It doesn't burn at infusion temperatures, it separates cleanly, it stores well, and it's lactose-free. If you've ever wondered how to make THC butter and run into scorching or separation problems, ghee solves both in a single swap.

For ideas on what to do once you have your infused fat ready, our guide to what to make with cannabutter covers plenty of options.

If you're starting with regular butter rather than store-bought ghee, the clarification process is quick. Melt the butter over low heat, skim off the white foam from the top, and carefully pour the clear golden liquid into a separate container, leaving the milky solids behind at the bottom. What's left is ghee, ready to use.

Pick Your Infusion Method Based on Your Kitchen

Use 1 oz of activated cannabis per 1 lb of ghee. This ratio gives you a strong, versatile starting point and is the number most experienced home infusers rely on.

All three methods below work with this ratio. If you want deeper context before you start, our guide to cooking with cannabis covers the fundamentals well.

The target temperature range for infusion is 160–180°F. A digital thermometer is not optional if you want consistent results. It's the cheapest insurance against wasted material.

Stovetop is fastest. Double boiler offers the best temperature control.

Mason jar reduces odor. Choose based on your kitchen and your priorities.

Stovetop for Speed

Melt the ghee in a saucepan over low heat, add your activated cannabis, and pour in a small amount of water to buffer the heat and prevent burning. Hold a gentle simmer for about one hour, keeping an eye on the temperature with your thermometer and adjusting the burner as needed.

Adding water works because it regulates temperature naturally. Water boils at 212°F, which creates a ceiling that keeps the mixture away from the temperatures that degrade cannabinoids.

You'll separate the water from the fat during the finishing step. This method suits confident cooks who can watch a pot and make small heat adjustments.

Double Boiler for Temperature Control

The double boiler is the most forgiving method. Indirect heat makes it significantly harder to overshoot your target temperature range, which is valuable if you've had scorching problems with direct heat in the past.

Fill the lower pot with water, set the upper pot or bowl over it, and add your ghee and activated cannabis. Keep the mixture at 160–180°F for one to two hours, checking with your thermometer periodically. The infusion temperature range is the same as the stovetop; only the heat delivery changes.

Mason Jar Water Bath for Low Odor

This is the best option for apartments and shared living spaces. Combine the ghee and activated cannabis in a sealed mason jar, then set the jar in a pot of water held at 160–180°F for one to two hours. Place a folded kitchen towel at the bottom of the pot to prevent the jar from rattling or cracking against the metal.

The sealed jar traps the aromatics inside. It reduces odor significantly rather than eliminating it entirely, but the difference is real.

Open the jar carefully once it's removed from heat. Strain as you would with either other method.

Strain and Finish for Clean Flavor

Once infusion is complete, pour the mixture through cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve into a clean jar or container. Let gravity do the work.

Do not squeeze the cheesecloth. Squeezing forces chlorophyll and plant bitterness into your finished ghee, which affects the flavor of everything you make with it.

Chill the strained mixture until solid, then lift the ghee block and discard any water layer underneath. Scrape the thin, slightly darker layer from the bottom of the ghee block before transferring to your storage jar. That layer contains impurities you don't want carrying over into your finished product.

One note on grind: a coarse grind extracts well without clogging strainers or adding harsh flavors. Think French press coffee, not espresso. Grinding too fine creates straining headaches and can make the ghee taste noticeably grassy, especially when using trim.

Calculate Your Serving Potency in Milligrams

Here's the math with a concrete flower example. Seven grams of 18% THC flower contains roughly 1,260mg of THC before any extraction losses.

If your final yield is approximately 1 cup of ghee, that's 48 teaspoons. Divide 1,260 by 48 to get roughly 26mg per teaspoon before accounting for extraction efficiency, which typically runs 70–80% for a well-executed infusion.

For practical planning, assume a realistic yield in the 18–20mg range per teaspoon from that example batch. Label the jar with that estimate and use it as your baseline.

Weight-based measurements beat volume for consistency across batches. A kitchen scale costs less than wasted material, and it will pay for itself in the first batch.

For new edible users: start with 5–10mg per serving and wait at least one full hour before consuming more. Edibles take longer than inhaled cannabis to kick in, and the timing catches a lot of people off guard.

If you've ever had edibles not work for you, timing and serving size are usually the reason. Labeling every jar with the date, the strain if known, and the estimated mg per teaspoon prevents accidental overconsumption and helps you dial in your preferred amount over time.

The Concentrate Shortcut for Precision and Speed

For readers who want reliable serving calculations and fewer steps, concentrates dissolve directly into warm ghee without simmering and skip straining entirely. This is a legitimate alternative path, not a compromise. The trade-off is honest: you gain precision and speed, but you lose some of the full-spectrum plant complexity that comes from infusing whole cannabis flower.

The process is straightforward. Warm your ghee gently until melted. If you're working with a thick distillate syringe, warm it in hot water first to make it easier to work with.

Add the concentrate to the warm ghee and stir thoroughly until fully dissolved. Even distribution matters here. Uneven mixing creates pockets of varying potency throughout the jar, so take your time and stir well.

Temperature still matters with concentrates. The effects of THCa are fully amplified by heat during this process, so keep everything under 300°F throughout. Above that threshold, cannabinoid quality degrades.

A digital thermometer keeps you in the safe zone without guesswork. For a broader look at working with THCa dabs before you commit to infusion, that guide walks through concentrate types in detail.

Products like Mood's THCa diamonds come with Certificates of Analysis showing exact potency per gram. To understand how Mood's concentrates are made and why that matters for accuracy, that post covers the production process.

When you know your starting point precisely, the per-teaspoon math becomes clean and reliable rather than estimated. For example: 1g of ~99% THCa diamonds mixed into 1 cup of ghee works out to roughly 20.6mg per teaspoon. Learn more about working with diamond concentrates before your first batch.

Pick up 1g of THCa Diamonds from Mood for $55 and get your math right from the first teaspoon.

Store Your Cannabis Ghee Safely

Cannabis ghee stored in an airtight container lasts up to six months when refrigerated. Frozen storage extends the shelf life considerably beyond that.

Both work. Choose based on how quickly you go through a batch. For the best way to store cannabis products in general, the same principles of airtight containers, cool temperatures, and darkness apply.

Portioning into silicone molds before freezing makes it easy to grab consistent amounts without having to scoop from a jar every time. One frozen cube per serving is a clean system once you've done your per-teaspoon calculation and set your portion size.

Label every container with the date and the estimated mg per teaspoon. Store cannabis ghee where it cannot be confused with regular cooking fat and keep it away from pets.

Unlike commercial edibles, homemade ghee has no protective packaging, so storage placement matters. If you have questions about how long cannabis edibles keep over time, the principles are the same.

How to Use Cannabis Ghee Without Losing Potency

Cannabis ghee works anywhere you'd use regular ghee or clarified butter. Stir it into coffee or tea, spread it on toast, bake it into cannabis brownies or cookies, or add it near the end of cooking savory dishes like curries and garlic-heavy sauces. The herbal notes are far less noticeable in strongly flavored dishes.

Ghee's elevated smoke point is a genuine advantage here. Regular cannabutter burns easily at cooking temperatures, which degrades cannabinoids and affects flavor. Ghee handles elevated heat without scorching, giving you more flexibility when cooking.

That said, keep final dish temperatures under 350°F. Cannabinoids can still degrade at sustained temperatures even if the fat itself holds up. For a deeper dive into technique, our guide to how to cook with cannabis covers temperature management across different dishes.

For keto and low-carb diets, cannabis ghee fits naturally. It's a high-fat, zero-carb carrier that works in fat bombs, bulletproof-style coffee, and any recipe where a saturated fat makes sense. Explore more ideas in our guide to types of cannabis edibles.

You've Got Potent, Labeled Ghee

You now have a framework that produces consistent results across batches. The same temperatures, the same times, the same ratios will deliver predictable potency every time you make a new jar. That repeatability is the whole point.

Whether you went the flower route or used concentrates, you have a labeled jar with a known potency per teaspoon and a process you can run again. Flower gives you full-spectrum complexity and a hands-on infusion.

Concentrates give you clean math and no straining. Both paths lead to ghee that actually works, and now you know exactly how to execute either one.

The next batch will be faster. The one after that will be dialed in exactly where you want it.