Storage
How long cannabutter and edibles keep
Two clocks run on every jar. One is food safety, and it nearly always runs out first. The other is potency, which fades more slowly than people fear when the jar is cold and dark.
Your jars
Log a batch in the batch log with the date you made it, and this page will tell you where each jar stands against the guidance below. Nothing leaves your browser.
The short answer: freeze it
Cannabutter and infused oil are plant material that has spent hours in fat. Food-safety guidance for oils made with herbs gives them between 4 days and three months in the refrigerator, depending on who you ask. The freezer ends the argument: food held at 0 °F stays safe indefinitely, and cold, dark storage is where cannabis held its THC best in the studies that compared conditions.
So portion it before it goes in. An ice-cube tray gives you blocks of roughly a tablespoon, and you thaw only what you will use in the next few days. Label the bag with the date and the strength, because frozen cannabutter looks exactly like frozen butter.
How long each one keeps
| What | Fridge | Freezer | Counter | What happens to the THC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cannabutter and infused ghee | 4 days to 3 months | Safe indefinitely at 0 °F | No | No study has tested infused butter. Cold, dark storage is where cannabis held its THC best in the studies that compared conditions. |
| Infused oils (olive, coconut, MCT) | 4 days to 3 months | Safe indefinitely at 0 °F | No — this is where botulism grows | Studies disagree widely: 72% of the THC left after 14 days at room temperature in one, at least 90% after 60 days at 30 °C in the dark in another. |
| Tincture (high-proof alcohol) | No guidance found | No guidance found | Dark and sealed | No good data. The claim that cannabinoids are stable in alcohol was tested in 1976 and not upheld. |
| Brownies, cakes, muffins | 7–10 days | Best within 6 months | 3–7 days | Lab-baked brownies held their THC at room temperature for at least 3 months, so they spoil long before they weaken. |
| Gummies | No guidance found | No guidance found | No guidance found | No good data for THC gummies. |
| Chocolate | Plain: 1 year | No guidance found | Plain: 1–2 years | No good data. Chocolate made with infused butter or oil carries that fat, and nothing covers it specifically. |
| Dried flower | Not a food-safety question | Not a food-safety question | Dark and sealed | Loses about a sixth of its THC in the first year at room temperature, about two-fifths by year four, and near all of it in one study. Cold and dark held it steady. |
The fridge and counter times are published guidance for the nearest ordinary food. No agency has published anything about cannabis specifically, and where nobody has measured something this page says so rather than borrowing a number.
Why infused oil is the one to be careful with
Herbs and other plant material are low-acid foods and can carry the spores that cause botulism. Sealed in oil, away from air and at room temperature, those spores can grow and produce toxin, and the oil looks, smells and tastes the same as it did. That is why every extension service tells you to refrigerate oil made with herbs, and why the CDC, Preventing botulism answer is to throw it out after 4 days.
Dried herbs get more room. Penn State Extension, How to safely make infused oils (2024) allows up to three months refrigerated. Cannabis for infusing is dried, but no agency has ruled on it, so the range is the honest answer. Freezing sidesteps the question entirely.
What actually weakens THC
- Light, most of all. A 1976 study found ordinary light, not even direct sun, was the greatest single cause of loss, especially in solutions. Infused oil and tincture are solutions.
- Air. Oxidation in the dark is what turns THC into CBN, and it does not turn back. More on that on the cannabinoid page.
- Warmth, over time. Up to 20 °C made little difference across two years in the 1976 work. Four-year studies since then found room temperature costs a great deal more than the fridge or freezer does.
In practice: an opaque or dark glass container, filled near the top so there is less air in it, kept cold.
Flower, year by year
| Stored at room temperature | THC lost |
|---|---|
| 1 year | 16.6% ± 7.4 |
| 2 years | 26.8% ± 7.3 |
| 3 years | 34.5% ± 7.6 |
| 4 years | 41.4% ± 6.5 |
Those are Ross & ElSohly, Bulletin on Narcotics (1997), at 20–22 °C. They are the gentle end. A 2019 study found almost all of the THC gone after four years at 22 °C, in light or dark, while samples kept at 4 °C and −20 °C showed no significant change.
So year-old flower kept at room temperature is probably about a sixth weaker than its label says. You do not need to correct for it in the infusion calculator: leaving the label figure in makes the edibles come out weaker than the math says, never stronger, which is the safe way to be wrong.
Keep it away from anyone who did not choose it
The most serious storage problem is not spoilage. It is somebody eating a brownie, or cooking with the butter, without knowing what is in it. Edibles look like ordinary food, and to a child they look like a treat.
- Label every jar and bag with what it is, the date, and the strength.
- Keep it out of reach of children, and locked away if children live in or visit the house.
- Never leave infused butter in a shared fridge looking like the regular butter.
The batch log keeps the date and strength for every jar and prints a label for it.
If someone already has
- It is a child — call emergency services or poison control now, do not wait and see.
- A pet ate it — call a vet immediately. Dogs are far more sensitive than people.
Everything else, for an adult who took more than they meant to, is on the took too much page.
Questions people ask
- How long does cannabutter last in the fridge?
- Between 4 days and three months, depending on whose guidance you follow. The CDC says 4 days for homemade oils made with herbs; Penn State Extension allows three months when the herbs were dried. Plain butter on its own keeps one to two months. If you will not use it within a few days, freeze it.
- Does freezing cannabutter make it weaker?
- Not that any study found. Cannabis held at −18 °C to −20 °C showed no significant THC change, over 30 weeks in one study and four years in another. The freezer is the best storage there is, for safety and for strength.
- Can infused oil be left out on the counter?
- No. Plant material sealed in oil at room temperature is the textbook setting for botulism, and the oil will look and smell normal. Keep it in the fridge or the freezer.
- Does old cannabutter get stronger?
- No. THC lost in storage does not come back: air turns it into CBN, a different compound, and light breaks it down outright. Old butter is weaker or the same, never stronger.
- How long do baked edibles keep?
- As long as the baked good does: three to seven days on the counter for brownies and cakes, seven to ten in the fridge, around six months frozen. Lab-baked brownies held their THC for at least three months at room temperature, so they go stale long before they weaken.
Sources
- CDC, Preventing botulism
- Penn State Extension, How to safely make infused oils (2024)
- USDA FSIS, Freezing and food safety
- Virginia Tech Extension 348-960, Food storage guidelines (rev. 2025)
- Fairbairn, Liebmann & Rowan, J Pharm Pharmacol (1976)
- Ross & ElSohly, Bulletin on Narcotics (1997)
- Zamengo et al., Forensic Science International (2019)
- Taschwer & Schmid, Forensic Science International (2015)
- Pacifici et al., Clin Chem Lab Med (2017)
- Yangsud et al., J Curr Sci Technol (2021)
- Wolf, Poklis & Poklis, J Anal Toxicol (2017)
This page is general food-storage information. It is not medical advice, and it does not suggest cannabis as a treatment for anything.