Rosin Dabs!
There are so many ways to create extract from our plants and even more ways to use that extract. You can make edibles like candy, cookies, cakes, snack bars; even put butter into any savory meal. I think the most popular extract to make is hash, mainly because it’s easy to extract and smoke, and it’s a good strong concentrate. Hash is usually a solid dry chunk, especially when extracted using the bubble hash method. Then in the recent decade the vape pens came out and everyone wanted oil extract to put in them. These smoke beautifully while being able to control the temperature of the vape pen. Making the oil involves using a solvent to extract with because having that mixture in a liquid form already allows for an easy transition into the oil that burns nicely in a pen.
But of course there is always the next best thing, and if you are a cannabis user at all or are familiar with the industry, then in recent years you have certainly heard of dabs or dabbing. Not entirely new to some experienced growers and extract makers, but up until recent years making it hasn’t been too easy. With the advent of more advanced and easier extraction methods, the making and use of dabs has exploded. Everyone loves dabs! To be more specific a dab usually refers to a piece of concentrate that is placed on a hot surface so it burns into smoke instantly, then that smoke is inhaled. And not just the old hot knife either! There are rigs made especially for dabbing that you can buy, they look similar to normal glass pieces, and can even be a stem addition to a piece you already have. Except usually instead of a standard bowl head you will have a larger cylinder bowl shape, sometimes with a nail or a cone shape made of glass inside, that allows you to heat up that surface using a butane torch and catch and direct the smoke around it as you inhale. Your dabs will burn the second they are touched to the hot surface. The best thing about dabbing is the intense high it produces from such a small amount; this is the allure to all of us dab fans. Dabs are generally much stronger than hash. It’s the mightiest and best high of all the smokeable concentrates in my opinion. Some have methods for extracting just certain cannabinoids, like the non-psychoactive CBD which is great medicinally, but for the potent effects and intense high that you get from dabs, THC is what you want.
But getting an extract perfect for dabs can take some skill, because you want a heartier consistency than you do for the oils, but not a super dry chunk of crystals either. Your desired extract for dabbing comes in the form of either a soft cloudy waxy substance we call budder or wax; or a semi-hard clear, candy-like substance commonly referred to as shatter. The fan favorite being the shatter, because having it touchable and breakable at room temperature makes it easy to apply to the rig and smoke it. Even though it is touchable you should still use a dab tool to smoke it, which is simply a metal stick, the shape of a pen, with a grip and an end that your dose of shatter or wax can be touched to the hot surface of your rig with.
One of the most popular extraction methods as of recently is BHO (Butane Hash Oil) where you use butane to extract the cannabinoids, leaving you with a cold, clear liquid containing the extract and butane. But3ane evaporates almost completely at room temperature, so when the butane evaporates off you are left with a sticky honey-like substance called BHO. It’s another great extraction method, and it does make great oil which is smokeable as is even with the tiny amount of solvent still left in it. So it isn’t 100% clean and impurity free, that last little bit gets stuck when it’s bound to the extract, leaving you with the super small 0.999% of butane that won’t evaporate into the air on its own. Then you won’t be able to get it out of the sticky honey state until all the impurities are gone. Getting it to shatter or wax state requires you removing all impurities from the BHO, and this can be tricky. People have accomplished this a few different ways, using a heat source (usually an oven or a hot plate) and a high-powered vacuum chamber and pump system, this will eliminate the last of the impurities, create some amazing shatter and wax. They sell these special ovens, hot plates and sealed vacuum/pump systems especially for making shatter, but those can get expensive to buy. As a grower I’ve already spent big money on my lights, nutrients, new strains etc. and being that this is something made with heady trim, I want my extracts to be an extra added cultivator bonus, not another investment.
This new method I’ve nicknamed The Tree Method- Bubble Shatter, after my close friend who taught me this method. If you’re like me you want a simple, clean, solvent-free, delicious shatter for dabbing that won’t cost you an arm and a leg to make, then this method is for you.
To start you will need to know how to make bubble hash, it’s arguably the best hash making method out there. It uses no solvents to extract, and if you use RO or distilled water it will be free of all impurities, plus it’s super easy to make. Obviously it’s depending on how good and fresh your plant material is too, but you get a great yield if you keep it very cold, very agitated and very quick. The only key to this for our purposes is to make sure you don’t skip the pressing screen stage. All complete bubble bag sets will come with anywhere from 4-8 different bags, each one with a different micron screen on the bottom from 25, 45, 73, 90, 120,160, 190, and 220 micron (work bag) along with a 25 micron pressing screen to get the most water out of the bubble extract before you leave it to dry. Each bag’s different micron screen at the bottom will extract different size trichomes, the finest 25 micron bag should always be put in the bucket first, at the bottom of the set, then layering them in the bucket from smallest micron to the largest micron work bag. It’s good to use at least a couple different bags because you never know what your strain profile will contain, the gland heads can be different sizes. Most likely the best quality bubble will be found in the 73- 120 micron bags. The other bags can yield you great hash as well or even catch any contaminates from making it through to the next bag, so don’t count them out. Next in the very top 220 micron bag you layer ice and your plant material, and fill with water. Then you simply stir or agitate the mixture for 15 minutes, making sure to agitate it well enough to get froth at the top. Then let it settle for approx 30 minutes allowing all the agitated crystals to sink down and be caught by each bag’s micron screen.
Then we remove each bag one at a time, scraping the extract out of each bag screen and onto the pressing screen. Some like to use a lot of different bags, some only use a few of them, but that is completely up to you. I’ve found that as long as you use at least 3 different bags, the 25 micron to catch the smallest, 73 micron to catch the majority and 220 micron work bag to hold the plant material and ice water mixture then you will still get a great yield. When you have your final product in the pressing screen use towels or paper towels and a rolling pin to remove as much water as possible, if you don’t then impurities from the now green colored water will be present in the final product. For the final product, leave the bubble hash out to dry completely, approx 24-48 hours, making it dry but still fresh. This final product is where we will start our shatter process.
The tools you need to complete the process:
-6” 600lb Trigger clamp- (used in wood-making and construction)
-Pressing screen (buy a new one for this method as it will not be re-useable after)
-1” Electric Hair straightener
-Parchment paper
-IR Temperature gun
- Ice pack (optional)
Start by cutting the edges off your pressing screen and then cutting it into small 2” squares, set aside. Then cut the parchment paper into larger rectangle pieces, approx 6” x 10”. Plug in the hair straightener and monitor the temperature, when it reaches 138 degrees Celsius, adjust the dial to try and keep it there. The IR temperature gun is the best way to tell the temperature of any surface and temperature is directly related to the amount of pressure required. For example if you were to use a hydraulic press for this, exerting thousands of pounds of pressure you would only need about 93 degrees C temperature, but you would risk damaging the hair iron. For our purposes using the hand held trigger clamp that maxes out at 600lbs of pressure we will need about 138 degrees for a good clean pull.
In order to know the yield I always start with the same weighed amount of bubble hash, 1.4g, for each new batch. Then take a piece of parchment paper and fold it in half, placing the weighed amount of bubble hash in the fold, then using the heat from your hands to roll it into a log shape. If the heat from your hands isn’t enough you can warm it by the heat of the hair straightener, but don’t press it yet. Remove the formed log of bubble hash from the parchment paper and put into the center of one of the 2” pressing screen squares you cut, you will want this to fold tightly around the log so start with the long side and fold over the top of the log, cutting any excess, then fold the other long side over and cut any excess. This will leave one side of the packet only the screen thickness and the other side will be double thick from folding it over. Then take the short ends and fold them in over the long flaps, again leaving the opposite side only a single layer of screen. Then place the screen log packet back in the half fold of the parchment paper, lengthwise, no need to fold it over around the log we want it to be enough space to catch the extract, because we will use this to press in, so leave the almost 4” of parchment paper as is on side of the log. Nothing sticks to parchment paper, and it’s made to be used in heat, so it’s a great medium to use for this extraction.
This is where we need the hair straightener temperature to be right on, so use your IR temp gun to make sure the temp is steady at 138 degrees Celsius. Get your trigger clamp ready by squeezing it down so the clamps are close enough to get the hair straightener in between it. I like to get it to perfect temp and then unplug it right before I clamp it, for safety, and also to make sure it doesn’t overheat. Then place your parchment folded packet inside the hair straightener lengthwise so the whole log will get pressed, and clamp down, clicking the hand clamp over it as tight as you can get it, don’t get me wrong this involves some force. The more force the better! This is why we use the 600lb trigger clamp, it’s a cost effective tool that can give you enough force to do the job. Doing the press in these small packet sizes ensures that you are getting all you can out of each 1.4g log, with the pressure and heat provided.
This is where we press as tightly as you can get the clamp, keep it clamped for about 30-60 seconds, and then you can click the lock on the clamp and release the pressure. You will see the gooey extract has shot out of the inner pressing screen packet and onto the parchment paper. Then you remove the log and fold the extract onto itself a few times to make a single piece. If you have the ice pack you can touch the parchment paper containing your shatter extract to it and cool it down quickly to set the shape. Now it’s time to get out the scale again and see what your yield is. With most strains you tend to get about a 60% return, so for the 1.4g of bubble I used in the log, I get around 0.75g of shatter. For how good it is and concentrated, that’s a great return. And it’s clear, delicious dabbable goodness.
Then you can make another packet and repeat the process with the rest of your bubble hash. You can even take the log you pressed once and do a second press with it, you will get a little more out of it on the 2nd press but you will yield much less and the quality won’t be as good as the first press so keep it separate from your 1st press shatter. Even after the 2nd press you can soak the pressing screen packets in alcohol, like everclear, and extract even more from what’s left in the hash log. Now you have a beautiful chunk of hard clear, delicious shatter, Dab away!
This new method I’ve nicknamed The Tree Method- Bubble Shatter, after my close friend who taught me this method. If you’re like me you want a simple, clean, solvent-free, delicious shatter for dabbing that won’t cost you an arm and a leg to make, then this method is for you.
To start you will need to know how to make bubble hash, it’s arguably the best hash making method out there. It uses no solvents to extract, and if you use RO or distilled water it will be free of all impurities, plus it’s super easy to make. Obviously it’s depending on how good and fresh your plant material is too, but you get a great yield if you keep it very cold, very agitated and very quick. The only key to this for our purposes is to make sure you don’t skip the pressing screen stage. All complete bubble bag sets will come with anywhere from 4-8 different bags, each one with a different micron screen on the bottom from 25, 45, 73, 90, 120,160, 190, and 220 micron (work bag) along with a 25 micron pressing screen to get the most water out of the bubble extract before you leave it to dry. Each bag’s different micron screen at the bottom will extract different size trichomes, the finest 25 micron bag should always be put in the bucket first, at the bottom of the set, then layering them in the bucket from smallest micron to the largest micron work bag. It’s good to use at least a couple different bags because you never know what your strain profile will contain, the gland heads can be different sizes. Most likely the best quality bubble will be found in the 73- 120 micron bags. The other bags can yield you great hash as well or even catch any contaminates from making it through to the next bag, so don’t count them out. Next in the very top 220 micron bag you layer ice and your plant material, and fill with water. Then you simply stir or agitate the mixture for 15 minutes, making sure to agitate it well enough to get froth at the top. Then let it settle for approx 30 minutes allowing all the agitated crystals to sink down and be caught by each bag’s micron screen.
Then we remove each bag one at a time, scraping the extract out of each bag screen and onto the pressing screen. Some like to use a lot of different bags, some only use a few of them, but that is completely up to you. I’ve found that as long as you use at least 3 different bags, the 25 micron to catch the smallest, 73 micron to catch the majority and 220 micron work bag to hold the plant material and ice water mixture then you will still get a great yield. When you have your final product in the pressing screen use towels or paper towels and a rolling pin to remove as much water as possible, if you don’t then impurities from the now green colored water will be present in the final product. For the final product, leave the bubble hash out to dry completely, approx 24-48 hours, making it dry but still fresh. This final product is where we will start our shatter process.
The tools you need to complete the process:
-6” 600lb Trigger clamp- (used in wood-making and construction)
-Pressing screen (buy a new one for this method as it will not be re-useable after)
-1” Electric Hair straightener
-Parchment paper
-IR Temperature gun
- Ice pack (optional)
Start by cutting the edges off your pressing screen and then cutting it into small 2” squares, set aside. Then cut the parchment paper into larger rectangle pieces, approx 6” x 10”. Plug in the hair straightener and monitor the temperature, when it reaches 138 degrees Celsius, adjust the dial to try and keep it there. The IR temperature gun is the best way to tell the temperature of any surface and temperature is directly related to the amount of pressure required. For example if you were to use a hydraulic press for this, exerting thousands of pounds of pressure you would only need about 93 degrees C temperature, but you would risk damaging the hair iron. For our purposes using the hand held trigger clamp that maxes out at 600lbs of pressure we will need about 138 degrees for a good clean pull.
In order to know the yield I always start with the same weighed amount of bubble hash, 1.4g, for each new batch. Then take a piece of parchment paper and fold it in half, placing the weighed amount of bubble hash in the fold, then using the heat from your hands to roll it into a log shape. If the heat from your hands isn’t enough you can warm it by the heat of the hair straightener, but don’t press it yet. Remove the formed log of bubble hash from the parchment paper and put into the center of one of the 2” pressing screen squares you cut, you will want this to fold tightly around the log so start with the long side and fold over the top of the log, cutting any excess, then fold the other long side over and cut any excess. This will leave one side of the packet only the screen thickness and the other side will be double thick from folding it over. Then take the short ends and fold them in over the long flaps, again leaving the opposite side only a single layer of screen. Then place the screen log packet back in the half fold of the parchment paper, lengthwise, no need to fold it over around the log we want it to be enough space to catch the extract, because we will use this to press in, so leave the almost 4” of parchment paper as is on side of the log. Nothing sticks to parchment paper, and it’s made to be used in heat, so it’s a great medium to use for this extraction.
This is where we need the hair straightener temperature to be right on, so use your IR temp gun to make sure the temp is steady at 138 degrees Celsius. Get your trigger clamp ready by squeezing it down so the clamps are close enough to get the hair straightener in between it. I like to get it to perfect temp and then unplug it right before I clamp it, for safety, and also to make sure it doesn’t overheat. Then place your parchment folded packet inside the hair straightener lengthwise so the whole log will get pressed, and clamp down, clicking the hand clamp over it as tight as you can get it, don’t get me wrong this involves some force. The more force the better! This is why we use the 600lb trigger clamp, it’s a cost effective tool that can give you enough force to do the job. Doing the press in these small packet sizes ensures that you are getting all you can out of each 1.4g log, with the pressure and heat provided.
This is where we press as tightly as you can get the clamp, keep it clamped for about 30-60 seconds, and then you can click the lock on the clamp and release the pressure. You will see the gooey extract has shot out of the inner pressing screen packet and onto the parchment paper. Then you remove the log and fold the extract onto itself a few times to make a single piece. If you have the ice pack you can touch the parchment paper containing your shatter extract to it and cool it down quickly to set the shape. Now it’s time to get out the scale again and see what your yield is. With most strains you tend to get about a 60% return, so for the 1.4g of bubble I used in the log, I get around 0.75g of shatter. For how good it is and concentrated, that’s a great return. And it’s clear, delicious dabbable goodness.
Then you can make another packet and repeat the process with the rest of your bubble hash. You can even take the log you pressed once and do a second press with it, you will get a little more out of it on the 2nd press but you will yield much less and the quality won’t be as good as the first press so keep it separate from your 1st press shatter. Even after the 2nd press you can soak the pressing screen packets in alcohol, like everclear, and extract even more from what’s left in the hash log. Now you have a beautiful chunk of hard clear, delicious shatter, Dab away!
S
Soft Secrets
