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:
- Weed (the better your cannabis, the better the results).
- Hair Straightener (most come with a 1 in. width, get one double wide @ 2 in. with
adjustable temperature control). - Parchment Paper (Reynolds is the only brand I trust for this).
- 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.)
- Remove the flattened weed from the area and save for later use (more on this in another post).
- 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.) - 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.)
- 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
People Use Pot 