How to Make Rosin

With so many potent extracts and mind-melting concentrates available today, it can be overwhelming to choose what kind is best for you. What is your THC tolerance? What’s your budget? What kinds of equipment do you need to extract it yourself or consume a certain concentrate?

Ultimately, every kind of extract has its benefits so it will come down to personal preferences above anything else. Before you get started with one or another, it’s a good idea to try low doses of each kind of concentrate first. Flavors, aromas, textures and the effects of a concentrate can vary greatly from batch to batch just like buds differ crop to crop.

One concentrate that has always been popular among first-timers & extracts veterans alike is rosin. Rosin – not resin, like we recently posted about – is a concentrate that is produced by simple, plain old heat and pressure extraction. Unlike many concentrates, rosin extraction is solventless, meaning that it does not involve any chemicals, processing agents or additives – simply apply heat and pressure over time and you can produce some high-quality rosin.

Rosin weed is very popular, but it’s also quite expensive. Because it can take a bit more time or efforts to produce the old fashioned way, rosin pressing can lead to a significantly higher rosin price per gram than some other concentrates. Despite these higher prices online and in stores, rosin is actually quite easy to make at home with your own supply and minimal equipment.

Is pressing your own rosin worth it? What is involved in making rosin from dry trim? Is it true that you can learn how to make rosin with or without a hair straightener?! Let’s extract some knowledge on the purest kind of concentrate and learn how to make rosin.

WHAT IS ROSIN EXTRACTION?

Rosin pressing or rosin extraction is a lot simpler than some other solvent-based methods of extracting cannabis concentrates. Rosin is the “au naturale” way of extracting those valuable cannabinoids and terpenes because it doesn’t involve any chemicals or processing agents like most other extraction techniques.

To achieve rosin extraction all you need are two things: heat and pressure. Cannabis plant material – such as shake, trim, buds/nugs, kief or hash – are set within a rosin press. Rosin press incorporates two heated pads that provide the heat while the extractor applies pressure by pressing them together. This squeezes out the potent oils of the rosin weed so that the cannabinoids and terpenes can be collected and consumed in this resinous form.

The rosin has to be hot so that the trichomes and active compounds within the plant’s oils will separate from the plant material. This leads many people to wonder: what’s the difference between rosin and resin? Essentially, rosin pressing is solventless and provides a full-spectrum, unadulterated product whereas resin is derived through solvents and other chemical processes to obtain certain cannabinoids/terpenes.

What’s more, rosin weed oil doesn’t require any additional processing, refining or manipulation to obtain a potent final product. What you press out of the plant material using rosin extraction methods is what you get: pure, unfettered, potent full-spectrum cannabinoids and terpenes.

Cannabis purists who prefer organically cultivated cannabis, or those who like to avoid inhaling/ingesting more natural medicines adore cannabis rosin. To those stoners who need weed for a serious medical condition, the answer to the question of “is rosin worth it?” is a resounding Y-E-S.

IS PRESSING ROSIN WORTH IT?

We’ve already mentioned a few of the advantages to making rosin from dry trim at home, such as convenience, cost savings and how easy it is to learn how to make rosin at home. One of the few downsides with rosin extraction has to do with higher rosin prices per gram than some other cannabis concentrates. Even though learning how to make rosin at home is easy, it can take some time or effort to extract enough rosin for your weed needs.

This accounts for some of the staggeringly high rosin prices per gram, but it also highlights how important strain selection is for rosin pressing. Rosin is unaltered and isn’t broken down into more absorbable, potent forms like shatter, wax or distillates. Because rosin weed isn’t processed and due to the amount of work that goes into producing it “the old fashioned way” through rosin pressing, prices for rosin are typically in the upper echelons.

On top of this, rosins are usually preferred by high-tolerance stoners, cannabis purists or anyone with a strong dependence on cannabis to treat serious medical ailments. For these reasons, in particular, rosin extraction is typically done on the highest quality cannabis flowers only. Rosin prices per gram aren’t guaranteed to be as high as you’ll get by ingesting it, but they are certainly higher on average compared to some cannabis concentrates.

Another benefit to rosin extraction? Rosins maintain the natural terpenes, cannabinoids, flavonoids and a lot of the flavors/aromas of the cannabis itself. Rosin oil has become a favorite for many organic cannabis fans because it is a natural cannabis experience. If you’re keen on literally squeezing the most out of your cannabis flowers but you don’t want to alter the purity of your nugs, then making cannabis rosin is a flavorful, natural and potent stoner experience.

So, to recap the pros and cons of making rosin from dry trim, shake, kief, or buds:

PROS

Simple, easy to learn how to make rosin

Naturally potent and pure cannabis extract

No additional processing/refining required

Preserves full-spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes

CONS

Rosin price per gram typically higher

Can be costly/time-bound to produce

Very dependent on genetics/strains

HOW TO MAKE ROSIN AT HOME

Learning how to make rosin at home can be as easy as straightening your hair (literally!). A simple investment in a hair straightener can provide enough heat and pressure to create some quick, homemade rosin. However, a lot of rosin veterans have remarked that learning how to make rosin without a hair straightener can yield far greater results, both in terms of volume and quality of rosin.

Rosin pressing with a manufactured press is a lot more efficient, but this equipment doesn’t always come cheap. Many frequent rosin users will take the time to make their own rosin pressing equipment, but that isn’t ideal for people who aren’t total DIYers. So, we’ll outline the advantages and disadvantages for both methods of rosin extraction at home: machine rosin pressing and the hair straightener method.

Making Rosin With A Rosin Press

Are you ready for these complicated steps to rosin pressing? Here goes…

Step 1: Heat up the rosin press

Step 2: Place your kief/trim/shake/nugs in parchment paper between press plates

Step 3: Press

Step 4: Enjoy your freshly made rosin!

It really is that easy to learn how to make rosin at home, on demand. You’re probably thinking: if it’s so easy, then why doesn’t everyone do it?! This is a solid point, and it sheds light on the only real downside of investing in a rosin press – they’re expensive. A typical, lower end rosin press can be $500 or more – and that’s just the introductory level ones. Rosin presses are an upfront investment of cash, but they can save you inordinate amounts of time and money down the road.

Making Rosin With A Hair Straightener

Making rosin without a hair straightener can produce a lot more rosin in a shorter period of time, but for quick, on demand rosin that doesn’t require any fancy equipment, then your standard hair straightener will do. To produce rosin using a hair straightener, you will need:

Cannabis flowers, kief, hash, shake or trim
Hair straightener (300℉ max setting is ideal, too much heat can effectively burn the terpenes/cannabinoids)
Parchment paper or wax paper
Catchment basin/collection device
Oven mitts (rubber exterior is best to avoid wasting any rosin absorbing into the fabric)

Next, to make rosin with a hair straightener simply follow these steps:

1. Preheat hair straightener on lower setting (<300℉, 250-300℉ is a good starting range)

2. Fold/cut parchment paper into 4-inch squares

3. Place cannabis buds/shake/trim/kief in the parchment square and fold it over

4. Set the parchment paper between the hair straightener plates, make sure the cannabis plant material is completely covered by the heating plates

5. Press down and hold the hair straightener pressing the cannabis for 5 seconds or until you hear sizzling – also, smelling roasting cannabis is a good indication that the oils have separated from the plant materials

6. Set the straightener aside and unfold the parchment paper square

7. Scrape off the rosin extraction or capture into a collection device

8. Store the rosin in a sealed container in a cool, dark area

Some advanced rosin pressers can get a lot of out their buds with a hair straightener, but this method isn’t as efficient or effective as a manufactured rosin press. You’ll likely have to repeat this process several times to extract enough rosin, but you can just do this on demand to keep the rosin fresh, like many rosin fans prefer to do.

There you have it – you’re set on how to make rosin at home using rosin pressing or making rosin with a hair straightener. Now get out there and get pressing!