Let me tell you what’s so great about these things:

They are small and hold only a limited quantity. That may not be great for cooking a big meal, but it’s perfect for processing a small amount of cannabis. It also subtly encourages you to make a reasonable amount at a time. When you’re really ready for running 5 pounds of cannabutter at a time, you’ll know you’ll need different equipment anyway.

There are no controls and no moving parts, and it stays at a constant low preset temperature. That may not be great for boiling ham hocks down, but it’s perfect because — at least on my unit — that temperature happens to be around 180°F. That’s just the right temperature for extracting THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids from medical marijuana into liquid oil without the slightest chance of burning it (anywhere from 180°F to 220°F is fine for this) and without dropping below 160°F, which keeps your food safe. That also makes it reliable and easy to clean.

You can even cook food in them! 🙂

So here are some of the things I’ve used my Little Dipper for:

Making Canna Caps

Making cannaoil (a.k.a. cannabis-infused cooking oil) and cannabutter

Evaporating excess alcohol from experimental tinctures

Bonus: if you shop around, you can often find some amazing deals. I once saw one where you get a free full-size Crock-Pot by buying one of these (or maybe the other way around, but whatever). I personally got my Little Dipper, unused, at a thrift store for a thrifty $6!

Extra bonus: If you like these kinds of small appliances, this similarly-sized and priced Black and Decker mini rice cooker can be used to make small quantities of Rick Simpson oil!