With the growing popularity and acceptance of CBD hemp extract for it’s therapeutic benefits, there are a lot of products available to choose. One option that is often overlooked is producing your own CBD. The great thing about CBD is that it is all natural and there is no better way to ensure that you are getting a natural product than to create you own CBD tincture, salve, vape oil or edible. To some this may sound intimidating or maybe just too much work but creating you own CBD can be a valuable learning experience and a step towards more freedom and independence in managing your wellness. This is my experience with using the Magic Butter Botanical Extractor to produce my own CBD extraction.

First I got my Magic Butter Botanical Extractor from their website to ensure that I was getting an authentic quality tested machine backed by the manufacturer. This was important to me for safety concerns and quality control. You may find it cheaper on Ebay but you run the risk of getting a refurbished machine that may not function properly. The package I got came with the Magic Butter Machine, a nylon filter, heat-resistant glove, owners manual and cookbook. I also got the the butter molds and rubber spatulas as well available through the website.

The Magic Butter Botanical Extractor is about the same size of a full sized blender so it does not take up a lot of counter space. It’s stainless steel and has a very sturdy feel with it’s large sized handles. The owners manual was a fairly quick and simple read which was good because I was eager to get started. It contains three base recipes related to the kind of product you wish to produce and a simple method for decarboxylating your botanicals for maximum CBD extraction. Decarboxylating your botanicals is really just a matter of baking your botanicals in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. This process ensures that your botanical compounds are activated and more likely to produce the wellness benefits. (A side note, I wonder how necessary it is to decarboxylate your botanicals if you will be using them for baking in which case would the decarboxylate occur during baking? I’ll have to explore this another time.) Once you decarboxylate your botanicals, the extraction is pretty much an autonomous function though it is recommended that you do not leave the appliance untended around children. The three base recipes are herb infused butter, herb infused cooking oil and herb infused tincture. From these three base recipes you can make any number of products to fit your wellness needs. Each recipe is as simple as adding the botanticals, the butter, oil or alcohol, and selecting a temperature and time. The rest is automated. The Magic Butter Botanical Extractor will blend, stir and heat your extraction and notify you when it’s done with a beep and turn off it’s LEDs.

I chose the oil tincture as it is the form of CBD I use the most. I bought a quarter once of flower product from my local hemp store and the vegetable glycerine from a health supplement store. The people at the hemp store were very helpful in my flower selection informing me of each flowers attributes. This is perhaps the part I enjoy the most as I really like the experience of sampling the aromas. Once I got my ingredients I was quick to get home and get started. I decarboxylated my botanicals in the oven which did impart a distinct aroma in the house, perhaps a baking bag may limit the aroma. I’ve also heard that some have had good results using a microwave as it is quicker but it is generally not recommended. I placed the ingredients in the Magic Butter Botanical Extractor set the temperature and time. I choose the longer 8 hour time as I wanted a more concentrated extraction. The Magic Butter machine LED lights dance on top of the machine to let you know it is working. The machine is very quiet aside from when it cycles through blending and stirring which is not very loud but takes a little getting use to and you eventually except it as minor background noise. When the cycle was done, the machine beeped and turned off the LED lights. I used the heat glove to hold the filter bag as I poured tincture. The filter bag felt very durable and filtered very well though I did do another pass. The final product was a nice clean honey brown colored tincture with a natural distinct herb aroma and taste. I was very happy with the final.

It’s too early to see if my first attempt will yield any wellness benefits but I am encouraged by the thought of having more freedom and independence in managing my wellness. I am a strong believer in empowering people with the knowledge and ability to improve their quality of life and I hope that self determinant opportunities will continue to grow and be open to everyone. The Magical Butter machine is a very reasonably priced extractor and a great way to start your introduction to extracting botanicals. An added bonus is that it is not limited to doing botanical extracts but can also be used to create other culinary delights such as smoothies, sauces, soups, salad dressings and much more. The possibilities are numerous and it will provides loads of fun learning to create your own natural wellness recipes.