What would you say to a microprocessor-controlled, high quality appliance that claimed it could make top quality cannabis-infused butter, edible oil, and tincture in a fraction of the time of normal methods? After you got finished rolling your eyes, you’d probably roll a joint, smoke it, and think about how great it would actually be if such a thing existed…but it would probably cost $1000 or so anyway.
What if I told you it was not only all true, but you could buy one for less than the cost of the weed you’d need to use it once? What if I said it could effectively double the strength of everything you make with it? Would you be interested then? You bet your bippy you would! So I think you’re going to like the Magical Butter Machine as much as I do!
The Magical Butter Machine was developed by a guy named Garyn Angel for a friend with Crohn’s Disease who didn’t want to smoke marijuana, but heard about the medical benefits for people with his condition. Garyn was quite determined to come up with an easier way to make cannabutter than the relatively complex grind-decarboxylate-cook-strain-separate routine that people have been using for decades. And after a lot of experiments, he came up with the Magical Butter Machine. He calls it a “Botanical Extractor” because this new version doesn’t just make cannabutter, but also oil and alcohol extractions, and it does most of the work, leaving you to spend more of your time figuring out what to cook with all this infused goodness 🙂
Garyn Angel has not only helped his friend — and arguably hundreds or thousands of other patients — but he’s also been able to give money to some of the patients forced to flee non-MMJ states simply to stay alive. He set up a charity called Cheers To Goodness that helps these “marijuana refugees“, who are often children with diseases like Leukemia or Dravet’s Syndrome. So he’s definitely a Good Guy in my book (and the GGG meme even fits his name!).
There’s a lot going on in the Magical Butter Machine. The top portion contains the microprocessor-based temperature and time controller, motor and immersion blender, overflow sensor, and heat sensor. The bottom part holds the liquid and solids and heating element, which they call Digital Fire Technology because it rapidly brings the contents up to the proper temperature — and keeps it there. You can set the temperature to 160°F/190°F/220°F or 250°F (Celsius settings are shown as well), and the timer can be set for 1, 2, 4, or 8 hours.
This review was performed on the MB2 variant of the Magical Butter Machine, which we were sent for review purposes by MagicalButter.com. The complete package consisted of the machine itself, which has a capacity of 2 to 5 cups of liquid to be processed, a silicone “Love Glove” in impossible-to-miss-on-your-counter fluorescent green, and a small 90 micron Purify filter (AKA “bubble bag”). This last was a brilliant addition to the package; although I’m quite familiar with bubble bags (which are used for extracting cold water hash), it had never occurred to me how perfect they could be in this size to filter out the plant material dregs after processing. Light years ahead of cheesecloth and coffee filters!
The Magical Butter Machine also comes with a complete owner’s manual, written in a friendly and accessible manner, and a sturdy storage box. There’s some great attention to detail here. including a handwritten correction to a minor typo in the manual, and the fact that not a single word anywhere in the material mentions cannabis. This is standard procedure for legal reasons, but the Magical Butter people are not the least bit shy about talking about “the real thing” on their website. I might add here that the whole package is shipped fairly discreetly in a mostly plain brown box. Check out my unboxing video:
As you can tell from that video, I got quite excited by the whole look and feel of the Magical Butter Machine, but as with anything that’s shipped from a warehouse for use with food, you’ll want to clean it first. I was just as excited to see that the Magical Butter Machine even had its own cleaning cycle, so the first thing I did was put it through its paces. I simply put some water and a few drops of dish detergent in it, plugged it in and hit the “Clean” button. After just a few minutes, it was done and I rinsed everything off. This only got me even more raring to go, so I decided the first thing was to try making the butter that’s the MBM’s namesake. Here’s the video showing exactly how it was done:
Test 1: Cannabutter
First let me tell you how I usually make cannabutter, which is basically one of the “old school” methods. The time-tested recipe is an ounce of cannabis leaves to a pound of butter (many commercial makers use leaves because they can get them cheaply or even freely from growers, since they have virtually no market value compared to the buds themselves). You decarboxylate the leaves in an oven for an hour, which makes your kitchen smell like Cheech and Chong came over for a pizza and pot party, and then you grind up all the leaves, throw them into a crockput with the butter, and stir every 20 minutes for 4 hours or more (some people go to 24 hours). Then you strain it out with cheesecloth or a new white T-shirt, and you’re done. In fact, you are so done after this that you swear not to do it again for another 6 months minimum, so you hope your butter will last that long! Other traditional cannabutter-making methods are even more complicated, involving double boilers or having to separate the butter from water.
The MBM changes all that. Except for butter, which I usually make a pound at a time, I’m used to making much smaller quantities of extracts, but because the Magical Butter Machine needs a minimum of 2 cups of liquid to work due to the blender design, most functions will require a decent amount of cannabis. The MBM manual generally recommends between 7 and 14 grams of what they call “botanicals” per cup of liquid, so for most people that will mean a minimum of an ounce of weed at a time. I’ve been saving a couple of ounces of buds from assorted strains for a few years left over from supervising a grow for someone, and I wanted to make sure I had enough to test all the MBM’s various functions, so I decided to use 14 grams of cannabis for each of my tests (using the 2 cup minimum).
Two cups turns out to be a pound anyway, so this would be an interesting test of using about half the usual amount of weed for a pound of butter. I’ll point out here that I generally use closer to ¾ ounce if I’m using buds rather than leaves, but these buds are also two years old, so factor that in when we get to the end!
Wait, there’s more! See Part Two for the results of all the tests
(only because this page is getting huge)!
Note: Botanical Extractor, MB2, Digital Fire Technology, Purify Filters and MagicalButter.com are trademarks of MagicalButter.com PBC.
Hi OH, the MB2 manual has instructions to do decarb in the oven, why have to do if machine does it for you…
And per instructions ..use nuggets ,,,I thought could use trim. I only 30 grams of trim and 7 grams nuggets and I want to make
E-Cigarettes oil…do I have enough ??? Thank you for all your help…love this site.
Well, you know what I always say…only decarb it if you want it to work! But that’s for edible oil and butter and tincture. Since you’re going to vape it, you don’t have to decarb it.
When you say “trim”, do you mean leaves? Or literally the stuff cut off from nugs? I don’t know how strong your stuff is, but anything coming from nugs that isn’t stems is pretty much the same quality as the nugs themselves, so if that’s the case, you should have plenty.
I’m so new to this and need some direction regarding dabs, can this machine be used in place of butane, a glass tube and a coffee filter? I m a medical pot patient also.
Sorry Gary, this machine is for infusing cannabis into food. It is extremely dangerous to blast dabs at home with butane!
The third time I used my MB2 it went dead as a Door Nail, cost me 20 buck to ship it back, and I’m guessing at least two or more weeks to get it back. The two times I did get to use it, the end result was very weak! You’re better off just using a crock pot or stove top very low (save your money). Oh when it did die it had run for about 15 minutes just long enough to make a mess of what it was loaded with an OZ of High End Bud! When I called MB about the problem we told I could save the mess in a jar in the frig (boy this really make it simple). I finished it in my $9.99 crock pot that as never let my down. When I do get it back I’m thinking it’s Ebay time.
Clearly not the kind of experience most people have.
Definitely not my experience. For me it’s worked like a charm every time, except the one time I spaced out and used half the amount of weed required for cannabutter. Weak butter sucks, but lesson learned. You just had a faulty unit. Happens with every product in the world.
I was fortunate to purchase a used one before I won one! Anyway I LOVE IT!!!!! No longer have to stand and watch or worry about screwing up my very valuable meds! Made butters, tincture (I like Glyercin based), and both coconut & olive oil infused. I hear NO complaints from anyone that has tried what I’ve made! Cookies, cakes, full meals and even salves/lotions! I am a forever fan!
Hello! I bought these two things that to make glycerin tincture for myself and use a portion to make e-liquid for my sister. This is what I bought: Glycerin Vegetable Kosher USP – 1 Quart – net wt 43 oz https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004C7MTLA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_ss7TwbAGA0KBS
&
Now Foods Sunflower Liquid Lecithin, 16 Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J8ET8IO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_Hq7TwbD28BAFX
I used 3 cups of The glycerin (to reach the minimum line on the MBM) I used 4.5 tbs of the sunflower liquid lecithin.
This mixture is very thick and I can’t seem to separate the plant material from the glycerin. Did I buy the wrong stuff? Will I be able to add the PG to this current mixture to make the ejuice for my sister?
Both those items appear to be what we used. Yes, the result is very thick (and I bet it turned brown for you too). When I made my glycerin tincture, I had to strain it overnight using a bubble bag before the sludge would separate. You should experiment with small quantities when figuring out how much propylene glycol to add to get the right consistency, and stir like crazy (or even use your MBM to mix it with low or no heat, if you have enough total liquid for that).
what is the wattage on the MB2?
Best purchase I’ve made all year, 1 oz trim to .5 cup coconut oil makes 70-90 STRONG doses! If you don’t dose it right you end up with gorilla tranquilizers ha.
Put trim/oil or butter in and push a button, set it and forget it. Legit best results I’ve gotten and it exceeded my expectation on how many doses I got!
So Jim, you’re saying all you put in for liquid was 1/2 C coconut oil? I thought 2C was the minimum. Mine is coming on my birthday next week. I want to get my veg glc. tincture & ejuice recipes correct. Want it as potent as possible.
Sigh. You’re right, you have to use 2 cups minimum. But Jim gave a RATIO. If you want stronger oil than normal, I suggest using concentrates rather than bud.
My first batch was weak but i got a buzz, which is kinda what i expected, i only used 12 grams of high grade bud….however i plan to take the weak batch and redo it again this time adding 1 oz of high grade bud with the hopes the it will have a better kick….is this something that is even possible with the magic butter machine.
Absolutely! Just make sure you decarb it separately first.
Sounds good to me!
Thank you, Old Hippie! I have been reading your blog and love all the wonderful tips. Purchased the Magic Butter machine through your pages link today and really looking forward to it’s arrival. Going to try the glycerin recipe, because I really want to make gummy “dragons” but I have found the traditional butter (stove top at that) settles out, and separates. Trying to infuse my favorite fruit snack. If I’m ever successful I will drop you some pictures. Thank you again for a WONDERFUL Site! Namaste, Phoenix
Butter and gummies don’t really mix. I suggest tincture instead, because that will work better in gummies (and it should also work better with glycerin than infusing glycerin directly). Great to hear from you and best of luck in your candy experiments! Nugs and hugs!
First I made the liquid 2C coconut oil 2 hr. recipe and after
I strained it, I set the infused oil aside and put the oily 2 oz. of cannabis back in the MBM and
did the 8 hr. tincture with 2 C Everclear.
Strained this so easy now that the oiliness was gone and got every drop.
Heated off excess alcohol or could’ve let it sit a bit but the oil that had been left in the weed from the first 2 hr. recipe was so infused now with the goodness:). Yummy. Am thinking next time I’ll combine both end products, but this time I kept them separate. Might make more potent too tho the less experienced friends of mine are thrilled with it:) The second alcohol/oil tinc was darker and denser and I preferred it but taste was great on both.
Interesting idea, and great job of recycling your dregs!
How do you make tincture
See our article on Green/Gold Dragon, or you can do it in the MBM.
That feeling when you forget to decarb… 🙁
Does anyone have a recommendations for me?
Due to pure excitement of using my MBM2 to make a tincture (to vape after adding PG) I’ve just prepared 2.25 c of VG and 25 g of UNDECARBOLOZED fairly dry condensed, sparkly nugs. I even had the nerve to stir it, and coat every single morsel in VG.
Then…the sudden realization I had forgotten to decarb.
-Heartbroken!
Sure. Run it at 220 or 200F, whichever your machine has that’s higher, for 2 or 3 hours and that should decarb the mixture…as long as you didn’t strain it!
Thank you!
Unfortunately I did strain it, but still have the soaked but squeezed herb. Can it be re-ran days later? It isn’t potent.
Is the squeezed herb useless?
Oh! Well, you should be good. Decarb in the oven, maybe 250F for 45 minutes, and run it again. Lucky you kept it, otherwise you’d have nothing to extract from.
You are a gem! Thanks Old Hippie!
So glad I could help! Nugs and hugs and tell us how it worked!
Is it ok to use hash instead of bud to make butter in the MBM?
The main point of the blender portion of the MBM is to grind/chop the bud, but the blending and heating features will still help. However, you should also understand that hash comes in many forms and it is often small and hard, so don’t count on the blades to be able to chop up the hash, which you should do by hand. You should also decarboxylate it outside the machine for best results. Finally, don’t fail to take into account that hash is 2 to 3 times stronger than bud in your recipes!
I just got my machine. Can I use leaf to make the tincture if so how much Vegetable glycerin and how much leaf
Thank you
Leaves are relatively low in THC, so you’d need quite a bit. You’d probably want to use 2 to 3 ounces of leaves minimum if you were going to try to infuse VG directly. It’s much more efficient to infuse alcohol, then heat that tincture with the VG until the alcohol boils off. Please see this article and the comments there for more hints about doing this.
what is the difference between a MB2E and a MB2
The “E” model’s temperature range starts and ends at lower settings than the MB2.
Hi there,
I may have missed it if it’s in this post…but is it ok to use JUST trim? I have a giant banana box overflowing with it that I got for free…Mostly sun leaves, some trim from buds and just a wee bit of actual buds….all taken from plants just before they were harvested (not sure if that helps it be a bit stronger…I’m thinking it might) and I’ve decarbed the lot. I have 4 lbs of unsalted butter. All the recipes refer to bud being used so I was wondering if what I have can be. If so, what would the trim to butter ratio be? BTW. I did try this in a crock pot and got excellent results. (well, I think they were excellent. Made smaller cookies, “2 biters”, and you felt it from one cookie but 2 really got the job done. This was trim from the same plants but several weeks before harvest. So that’s why I’m thinking this batch will be stronger. So whaddya think? Can my MB2 work with my box-o-trim? Thanks!
Of course! The original OG recipe is simply 1 ounce leaves/trim to 1 pound of butter.
I bought the MBM2 and a decarb unit called the lyft got an ounce of the best top shelf flower melted 5 sticks of unsalted butter cleared the butter & was left with 2 cups of butter. Put 2 tablespoons of sunflower lecithin over the product that was in machine and poured butter. Put temp at 160% and hit the 2 button. First it came out a light green not that dark green. I made some brownies & put twice the amount of butter but they were week. I need a really heavy couch patato Indy cause I’ve had 5 back surgeries 4 screws in low back, insomnia etc. what’s the best way to make the strongest brownies
Well, I’m mystified. Assuming you decarbed correctly, that should have been pretty good. But next time make sure you decarb for at least 30 minutes at 250F, use 180/190F on the MBM, and run for 4 hours. That should be optimal settings for any occasion. Best of luck!
So thankfull I will try the 4 hour at higher heat setting. I’ve learned a lot the butter is coming out lots stronger I now crumble the flower into mgcb & add 2 cups coconut oil & set it for 2 hours at 160 1 oz per of top grade flower.
Old Hippy, something I was wondering. I have that Lift decarb unit I never put more than 14 grams at a time per instructions, but it takes close to 2 hours or even a little more? Should it take that long & can you put 28 grams?
Can I put butter that I made first time again with more flower in the MBM so that butter comes out stronger or does it not work that way. My first two batches came out pretty week, even after decarbing & clearing butter. So I was thinking of using that same butter& add another oz to it or should I throw the week butter away & start from scratch. What is the limit of flower you can put in the MBM without ruining it