How to Make Cannabis Oil at Home: Decarb, Infuse, Strain, Dose

One batch of cannabis oil turns into months of edibles: brownies, salad dressings, capsules, a teaspoon stirred into evening tea. It’s also the most common DIY project our customers ask about, and the one with the most kitchen myths attached. The actual process has three steps and one piece of math.

A money-saving tip before you start: this is the right job for value ounces and shake, not your best flower. Infusion doesn’t care how pretty the bud was.

Step 1: Decarb your flower

Raw cannabis won’t get you high. It contains THCA, which only converts to THC with heat. Skip this step and you’ll produce expensive salad oil. To decarboxylate:

1. Break the flower into small, even pieces. Don’t grind it to powder; powder slips through your strainer later.
2. Spread it on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
3. Bake at 110°C (230°F) for 30 to 40 minutes, giving it one stir halfway.
4. Let it cool. Done right, it looks lightly toasted, smells loud, and crumbles easily.

Your kitchen will smell like cannabis for a few hours. Plan accordingly if you have roommates or nosy neighbours with a shared hallway.

Step 2: Infuse into a carrier oil

Combine the decarbed flower with a carrier oil. MCT, coconut, and olive all work; coconut carries cannabinoids especially well because of its fat content. A reasonable moderate-strength ratio is 7 grams of flower to 1 cup of oil.

Pick one method:

• Double boiler on the stovetop. Simmer gently for 2 to 4 hours, stirring now and then. Never let it boil; high heat cooks off the THC you just worked to activate.
• Slow cooker on low. 4 to 6 hours, stir every 30 minutes. The set-and-forget option.
• Sous vide at 85°C (185°F) for 4 hours. Vacuum-seal the oil and flower together. Cleanest flavour, zero smell, and no risk of scorching. If you own the machine, use it.

Step 3: Strain

Pour through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth into a glass jar. Then stop. The urge to wring the cheesecloth out is strong, and squeezing hard pushes chlorophyll and plant matter into your oil, which is exactly what makes homemade oil taste like a freshly mowed lawn. Press gently and accept the small loss.

The dosing math

Without lab testing you’re estimating, but the estimate is straightforward. Say you used 7 g of flower labelled at 18% THC:

• 7 g at 18% is roughly 1,260 mg of THC total
• spread across 240 ml (1 cup) of oil, that’s about 5 mg THC per ml at perfect efficiency
• home infusion actually captures 60 to 80%, so call it 3 to 4 mg per ml

Start with a quarter teaspoon (a bit over 1 ml) and wait a full 90 minutes before taking more. Edibles punish impatience.

Storage

Refrigerated in a sealed glass jar, away from light, the oil holds its potency for about two months. Label the jar clearly and store it where kids and pets can’t reach. And never walk away from an infusion on an open stovetop burner.

Need flower for a batch? Our High Park store on Bloor West usually has ounces and half-ounces priced for exactly this. Tell the budtender it’s for oil and they’ll point you to the value end of the shelf.