Rosin Pressing FAQ

What is rosin?

Rosin is a natural solventless concentrated extract of plant material. It’s made by applying a set temperature and amount of force to secrete an extract that often has a sap like consistency. It can also be referred to as solventless hash oil (SHO).

What is a rosin press?

A rosin press is a machine that uses pressure and heat to squeeze out rosin from dry herb plant. Depending on its design, a rosin press can have one of five means to provide pressure to squeeze the plates together: manual, hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, or hybrid (a combination of electric and other types of power).

What is a solvent?

A solvent is usually a chemical, such as butane, propane, CO2, or ethanol, that is used to dissolve dry herb trichome heads in the process of solvent-based extraction. No solvents are used in rosin pressing.

What things do I need to make rosin?

You need:

• A rosin press
•  Pre-press mold (recommended)
• Parchment or PTFE paper
•  Collection tools (picks and ideally glass stamp are recommended).

How do I make rosin?

1. Prepare your plant material. This can be done a multitude of ways depending on the what you have at hand. If you work with buds or trim, grind them first. No grinding is necessary for kief and water hash.
2. Make your material into a puck with a pre-press mold. This step is recommended to improve yield and reduce your chances of filter bag blowouts.
3. Place the puck into a micron bag and trim excess material from the bag. This step is also optional; skipping it will result in a higher yield but lower quality because of the plant particles in the rosin.
4. Place the micron bag into a folded parchment paper.
5. Place the bag with the parchment paper into the press and operate your machine accordingly.

What are the recommended press settings?

Cold Rosin Pressing: Press at 160°F – 190°F for 1 to 5 minutes or longer. Cold pressing often results in a malleable, batter consistency terpene-rich rosin, but it comes with a sacrifice in yield.

Hot Rosin Pressing: Press at 190°F – 225°F for 40 seconds to 3 minutes. Hot pressing produces a sappy or shatter-like rosin. For better terpene preservation, try pressing at at 215°F or below. Generally, the hotter you press, the higher yield you’ll get. However, anything over 230°F generally has a notable drop in quality and terpenes.

Flower: Buds can be pressed at 190°F – 225°F for 30 – 180 seconds.

Bubble Hash, Kief, Dry Sift: Refined precursors are usually pressed at 165°F – 195°F for 60 – 130 seconds.

For flowers, we recommend starting at 210°F for 85 – 115 seconds and evaluating from there. Usually, pressing at 210°F results in strong yield, great consistency, and high terpene preservation.

Don’t forget you can always double press your bags/pucks. Save your pressed leftovers to make edibles!

Do I Have to Use Filter Bags When Pressing Rosin?

Using a filter bag / tube or not is a very personal matter, and it depends on your own preferences. If you don’t mind getting a final product that is mixed with essential oils and plant particles, you don’t have to use a filter bag. Rosin pressed without a filter bag will taste more like regular smoking. However, if you want to experience a better quality dabbing, than we would advise you on using mesh bags. In addition, you should be aware of that, when pressing with a filter bag, you may experience a slight loss in yield, which means ultimately you have to decide for yourself what matters to you most, quality or quantity.

What Kind of Filter Bag Material Should I Use?

You can find nylon, metal, polyester, and silk filter bags on the market. The best material for filter bags is nylon. It is heat resistant, durable and stretches up to 40% under pressure. Stainless steel mesh can easily scratch the surface of the platens and eventually damages them. Polyester thread bags tend to blowout due to their tendency to shrink with heat, and silk is prone to blowouts since it doesn’t stretch the way nylon does.

How are Filter Bags Measured?

There are two important parameters: mesh size and bag dimensions. Filter bags are made of a mesh material, and mesh size is measured in microns. The smaller micron size, the tighter your mesh is. For example, 90 micron mesh has larger holes between the threads than the 36 micron one. The physical bag dimensions matter, too, since you have to choose the bags that closely fit your press plates. For example, for 3 by 5 inch plate press, you can choose 2 x 4, 3 x 4, 2 x 6 filter bags.

What Mesh Size Should I Use?

The general rule is the finer precursor, the tighter mesh you can use. A precursor such as kief, dry sift, or bubble hash when heated and pressed flows easily; this type of material can be used with a fine meshes. Flower, trim, and shake contain a lot of material that traps and prevents the pressed extract from easy flowing and, thus, they require a larger mesh bag. Here are our general recommendations which you can use as a starting point for trying filter bags:

How Do I Use the Bags?

First, turn your bags inside out so that the seam is inside. Then break up larger pieces and fill the bag evenly with your material. Make sure it is not overfilled and stuffed to the edge of the bag. Fold the edge of the bag to prevent the material from falling out of it. If the filter bag is too long, you may need to trim it to remove unused mesh that may trap extract. Pre-pressing your precursor to create an even thickness puck also helps.  The overall thickness of the filled bag shouldn’t be more than a quarter inch.

How Do I Make Sure The Bags Don’t Blowout?

Do not over-stuff your bags with material. Most blowouts happen for this same reason. Use about half of an ounce of flower per one 2.5 x 4.5 filter bag. Another tip is don’t apply too much pressure at once. Proceed slowly. This will allow for air and pressed extract to be squeezed out the bag instead of becoming trapped inside it and causing the blowout. Using pre-press molds also reduces bags blowout since pre-pressing removes extra air and makes your precursor of equal thickness, which in turn helps to apply the pressure equally to all parts of the material for better yield.

Can I Reuse My Filter Bags?

Yes, you technically can. You can try to clean them in rubbing alcohol and then wash with soap and water to remove as much of the leftover debris as you can. However, be aware that the filter bags mesh will still have remnants of material from the last press. In addition, the mesh will be stretched out and thus more prone to blowouts.

What is the ultimate humidity level for my flower?

Relative humidity is vital to ensuring your maximum yield. We recommend keeping your flower at 62% to avoid loosing trichomes due to dryness or introducing mildew or mold. Just put some two-way humidity control packs like Boveda 62 in with your material in a jar or other airtight container and store in a dark space. You’ll find this affects how your herb smokes on its own, and it helps minimize harshness and promotes a slower burn.

How do I collect my rosin off the parchment paper without making a mess / tearing it?

The fastest and easiest way to collect rosin from the paper is with a glass stamp. Just press the stamp down on the material, and it will be picked up by the stamp. Then take a pick, large scraper, or dabbing tool to collect the rosin from the stamp. Some people prefer to use the big scraper alone on the parchment paper, but, if you are not careful enough, you risk tearing the paper and contaminating rosin with it.