So with cannabis extracts taking the nation by storm the techniques have come along way from the wood kief boxes our dealers had on his coffee table.  My first introduction to cannabis extraction back in 1999 was a comical story I tell as an icebreaker, pun intended. It involved waffles, a rubbermaid garbage can, coolers of ice, a hand blender, a 10 pack of outdoor fire, and a giant bearded man in his boxers whipping it up dancing to Wu-Tang. It was bubble hash and Bubbleman Bags brought  back from Amsterdam by a family friend. Nowadays they call this type of extraction solventless extract because once the h2o has evaporated you’re left with no residual solvents.
There are a number of solvents use for cannabis extraction some safe and some flammable chemicals. BHO is the most popular and then Co2 extraction for large scale processing. With the popularity of extracts you have some novices trying their hand and some cause damages with the explosive fuels and equipment. Â Also the industrial chemicals used in the extraction machines and tanks have come into question with the improvements in testing requirements. Â With the worries of patients getting medicine with solvent residue, or “mystery oil” from dirty tanks, there has been a movement back to solventless extraction.
Solventless extraction has been considered to be any extraction that uses no chemicals or has no chemical residue in final result. Then this guy making shatter extracts with hair straightener got on instagram and changed extraction forever. Â Most thought it was a novelty trick, impracticable, and wasted of good bud, but for those patients tired of sub par extracts went out and bought hair straighteners. From pressing buds of weed in between parchment paper to now an industry with presses, custom designed micron pouches, and useable paper; this is called rosin tech shown to the masses by @soilgrown on instagram.
So you may say it’s too good to be true. Well… it kind of is. BHO can take a poorly grown plant, old trim, and make decision extracts with good test numbers. With Rosin the material has to be of good quality because you are literally squeezing whatever is in the trichomes and leaving no residue of solvents. When the material is on point and you have a great technique whether at home or in an extraction facility you will get fire meds that reflection the uniqueness of the strain you’re extracting. Growers have taken Rosin tech and made it a personal way of obtaining cheap high quality medicine for their patients. So can you the recreational smoker try your hand at rosin extraction without blowing up your garage? Yes, but your gonna have to get that hair straightener and parchment.
Rosin: Home method legal recreation extracts
Heat hair straightener to lowest temp preferably just under 300 degrees. Cut parchment paper into 4inX4in squares and fold into envelope with an open end. This is where you put in the bud. Make sure you compact the bud into a dense ball without breaking it up. It’s good to rehydrate dried out bud before pressing. Place bud in envelope and place parchment with bud with the middle of the heating plates. Press gently to make sure the bud doesn’t slip out. Once the bud is secure squeeze the crap out of it. I mean really squeeze, the more pressure the better. I’ve seen people using, #FootTech, meaning they step on the straightener for max pressure. The press time is around  8-10 sec press depending on the quality of straightener and bud. Once you hear a sizzle you know you’re almost done. Open and let the bud slip off the paper. These are call Rosin Chips, keep those we will get back to them in a later post. Now take a look at your paper and you should see some golden extracts.
I know it may not look like much but once collected with a dab tool it adds up. The yield it something to be debated about and that’s why growers have taking the lead on the study of quality, yield, and methods. The best quality results come from bubblehash and dry sift, or also known as that old school kief. So that box your dealer had may come in handy. Â With rosin’s gaining popularity the techniques have changed and evolved. With hash and dry sift micro screens are needed whether metal screen or silk, the methods vary and so have the press machines. The hair straighter made way for the t-shirt press that made way for the modified vise presses that made way for 20 ton pressures that made way for one button pneumatic low temp presses.
Now a rosin extractor can take lbs of trim pack, micron pouches, unbleached reusable paper, and safely extract with the power of
pressure and heat in non combustible method. This form of extraction treats the cannabis plant more like an agricultural product rather than pushing the plant into a laboratory. Â With new pharmaceutical companies using cbd cannabinoids to treat illness they are using costly methods of extractions and those costs will inturn be put of the bills of patients and their family. Rosin extraction could be the future of not only in the cannabis industry but in the legitimate eyes of the medical field.
With growers being pressured to use less chemicals and regulations on testing calling out companies for the use of harsh chemicals it’s only a matter of time that testing takes a closer look at extractions. Growers in the know are on the organic tip because rosin profiles exactly the natural effects of the cannabinoids but will profile the bad stuff an irresponsible grow is using. So organics and solventless extraction have met and the Rosin Revolution has started, and some say it may be the death BHO. Time will tell.