The rosin technique is a method of extracting cannabis resins (concentrates) using only heat and pressure. This distinguishes it from the more common solvent-based extraction methods that utilize solvents like butane or C02 to separate concentrates from plant material.
One of the benefits of the rosin technique is that you can do it at home a lot easier and more conspicuously than a solvent method. Since all you need to extract your cannabis concentrate is heat and pressure, a typical 1-2” flat iron works perfectly. It takes only a couple minutes, and provides a fairly competitive 10-15% yield rate.
Besides the flat iron you will need oven mitts, un-waxed parchment paper, and something to scrape up the concentrate.
Step 1: Heat the flat iron to around 200-250° Fahrenheit. The cooler the temperature, the better tasting the concentrates, but bigger yields come at higher temps. Don’t go above 300° or you start losing THC and CBD!
Step 2: Take your un-grinded bud or kief puck, and fold it in-between your parchment paper.
Step 3: Put on the oven mitts and press down on the flat iron with the bud and paper in between the heating plates until you hear it sizzle, or for about 3-4 seconds.
Step 4: Stop pressing the hair straightener, unwrap the parchment paper and you should see some “rosin” concentrate around the now squished nug.
Step 5: Scrape the concentrate, flip the nug, and try it again. Once you stop getting decent yields, you can switch to your next nug and keep extracting!
The rosin technique opens the world of concentrates up to smokers who may not regularly have access. Furthermore, many people feel that avoiding solvents during the extraction process results in a cleaner, healthier final product. That being said any professional concentrate company selling solvent extracted concentrates should have taken the proper steps to purge the product before sale, so dab away!
