How to Make Dabs at Home – Rosin 101

In my recent post on hash, I discussed how marijuana flowers contain oil with all of the plants essential compounds.  When these oils are extracted, hash is created.  In this post, I’m going to show you how to easily extract these oils at home in a completely safe environment, so that everyone may enjoy the elevated experience of dabbing.

For this project, we will need:

1. Weed (the better your cannabis, the better the results).
2. Hair Straightener (most come with a 1 in. width, get one double wide @ 2 in. with
   adjustable temperature control).
3. Parchment Paper (Reynolds is the only brand I trust for this).
4. Dabber/Scrapper.

The process is relatively simple, with the idea of extraction relying exclusively on pressure and heat.  In a nutshell, you will be placing a small bud in-between a folded sheet of parchment paper, and then squishing it in the hair straightener (using bodyweight).

 

For this method, you will want to use a nug about the size of a quarter.  This will give you a good size to pressure ratio, anything bigger will be difficult to completely extract, while anything smaller will be time wasting.

 

The type of hair straightener is crucial to the success of the process.  It needs a large area for pressing, as well as the ability to manually configure its temperature settings.  Most hair straighteners follow similar heating temps., but for this process, we want a hair straightener with as low of a temperature as possible.  The Remington shown above, was purchased at Walmart for about 30$ and allows adjustment between 300 and 455 degrees.

Top: Nug placed in middle of paper.  Middle: Stepping on hair straightener.  Bottom: Freshly smooshed nug and oils.

Pre-heat the hair straightener to around 300 (lower if you can).  After, place the nug in-between the hair straightener and then quickly step on it, using your weight to push down and ‘smoosh’ the pot.  You will want to press it for about 5 seconds.  If you hold it down for to short of a period, you may not have had enough time to apply adequate heat and pressure for extraction.  If you hold it down for an overlong period, you risk overheating the essential oils and ruining your product.

After you’ve finished smooshing buds, it’s time to scrape up the oils and collect your hash.  (You’ll want to do this on a hard, cool counter to keep the oils stable.)

1. Remove the flattened weed from the area and save for later use (more on this in another post).
2. Use your dab tool to slowly start scraping at the oil on the parchment paper.  Different strains produce different consistencies of oil, sometimes it’ll be shatter, other times it will be more viscous. (Additionally, to much time in the hair straightener may produce a less stable end
   result.)
3.  While scraping, You’ll find that the hash easily collects into a nice little ball at the end of your dab tool. (*Tip – if you find the oil to sticky to work with, place it in the fridge for a little to cool off.)
4. When finished, scrape your dabber off onto a piece of parchment paper to collect the oils into a manageable location.

Now you’re permitted to sit back, throw up the legs, and enjoy your 100% all-natural hash oil.  Because the process used heat for the extraction, the hash is fully activated and ready for consumption, making it perfect for cooking.  Just melt it into your chosen cooking fat (oil), and cook/bake as typical.

The fundamentals of this process may also be used on a much larger scale.  Producers use pneumatic pressure attached to excessively large heated plates to produce massive results. Typically, this hash is referred to as Rosin.  Happy toking people, enjoy the rest of your day.

 

Large Scale Rosin Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t Eat Your Weed

An unfortunate side effect of Marijuana being illegal is that it authorizes the government to throw you in jail.  With that being said, most of us have had (at one time or another) close calls with the law where we might’ve been tempted to eat our stash. 

The scene from Super Troopers crosses the mind, and we immediately think about how stoned we’d get if we ate that much pot. 

Or, would we?

The answer is definitely not.  A person could spend all day shoving beautiful, crystallized nugs down their throat, but it wouldn’t be very effective.  This is because the plant does not retain naturally high levels of THC.  Instead, it contains the compound THC-A (the A stands for acid).  The -A works as an inhibitor on the psychological effects of THC, preventing the compound from getting you stoned until the -A is broken.

Unfortunately, our bodies do not posses the aptitude for digesting and breaking down THC-A.   Making external heat application the easiest method to breakaway the -A and activate the compound -as occurs when smoked.  This is why cooking/baking weed into edibles is efficient.  Because it activates the previously inactive THC and enables our bodies to digest it.

So while movies are great entertainment, their drug interpretations are usually wildly inaccurate, providing terrible inspiration for real life use.  Especially comedies.  With that said, activate your marijuana and get baked and happy. 

Are Seeds In Weed Bad?

As Snoop Dog famously said in the old-school Dr. Dre banger Still D.R.E., “No seeds, no stems, no sticks.  Some of that real sticky icky icky.”  In doing so, he created the mantra for all burgeoning stoners across the world.  No stems.  No seeds.  Just sticky icky flower.

Why is that?  Why don’t we want sticks and seeds in our weed bag?

It’s easy – seeds and stems don’t retain high levels of THC.  The ultimate goal of the female marijuana plant is to flower (produce buds).  After a certain stage of growing (in the plant’s life cycle), the plants place all of their energy into producing big, succulent, sticky buds that become laden with THC.  This is because when they enter into their final cycle of production, the rest of the plant’s leaves and stems are used to fuel the flowers growth.  This drains the leaves and stalks of Marijuana’s essence, and places it completely within the flowers.

During the early stages of flower development, female plants become at risk of pollination by male plants.  If they become pollinated, the female plants cease flower production as the numero uno priority, while simultaneously placing emphasis on seed production.  This means the plant no longer ‘cares’ for producing delicious, potent, juicy flowers; because it now only cares about making children (seeds).  This pretty much stops the production of THC within the plants flower, making it significantly less potent and enjoyable.    

Bringing us to the ultimate reason why we don’t want seeds and stems in our pot.

It makes the weed weak.  Weak weed = weak high.  Weak high = weak medicine.  Weak medicine = more pot required.  So please, do us a favor and keep the seeds in the soil.

What is Hash? Weed Break Down 101

I hardly partake in weed anymore.  It smells loud, is harsh on the lungs, and tastes bad.  But I dab.  When ready, I refer aloud to it as hash.  This has time and again led me to conversations with others where I’m referring to dabs as hash, and they’re thinking a specific type of hash i.e., bubble hash.  When I correct their misconception, they try to turn it around, saying something like, “Nooo, that’s BHO.”  They’re wrong.  It’s hash. 

Granted (when I was younger), I didn’t quite understand the difference between hash and marijuana, either.  And the simple fact  is, there’s not.  Hash is just a concentrated dosage of essential cannabis oils.  The same way that a grapefruit is filled with delicious, succulent juice, marijuana flowers too are filled with their own special type of juice (oil).  Hash is a broad, general name given to extracted marijuana oils. 

So why does traditional (bubble) hash look different from dabs, you ask? 

The differences in hash lie in the method of extraction used to concentrate the flower’s oil.  The traditional method of making hash is not as concise as newer, modern methods.  This resulted in a product that contained higher levels of THC than its original form, but which still retained plant matter from the flowers, which is why its bulkier and slightly powdery.  (More on how to make Bubble Hash in another post.) 

The continuing advancements of cannabis culture throughout the years has lead to more refined hash production.  One such advancement has been the advent of BHO (Butane Hash Oil), which refers to extracting cannabis oils through butane gas to create dabs.  Another method, is to simply extract the oils by heat and pressure, known as Rosin.

Still, one thing remains consistent.  Each product (from traditional Bubble hash all the way to Rosin), contains a concentrated dosage of oils from Marijuana flowers.  This means they’re all hash, with the only difference being appearance and quality.  An even newer term is Concentrates, which has spawned in conjunction with the advancements of hash and is just as acceptable to use.  Still, at the end of the day, it’s all in reference to partaking, and each person has their own way of saying they’re ready for a dosage of some THC.