Cannabis Concentrates You Can Make at Home

Did you know, you don’t always have to go to the dispensary to get your concentrates fix? That’s because you can make these concentrates at home. And even better, you too can even derive other products from the concentrates you can make at home. So, what can we make with these concentrates?

Rosin

Rosin is probably the simplest and easiest concentrate you can make at home. And, it’s one of the best ones you can get because it does not use any solvents to derive the final product.

Rosin extraction is a rather simple process: you press your buds or hash between a pair of heated plates and wait for the rosin to flow out. The result is a very potent concentrate you can use for dabbing or smoking. The simplicity of it is what makes it popular and bigger than a mere hype in the industry.

How simple is it?

A typical rosin setup needs a rosin press, your choice of material, rosin extraction bags, and parchment paper.

When it comes to the rosin extraction bags, you’re going to encounter different micron ratings. You would want to get the proper micron rating so that your material does not get mixed with your rosin during the extraction.

As a rule of thumb, the lower the micron rating is, the finer the material it can filter for extracting. Hash and kief work best with these lower ratings, due to their fine nature, while buds work best at ratings above 90 microns. And you shouldn’t reuse rosin bags. They won’t be as durable as the first press, which makes them prone to blowouts, wherein the bag breaks and the pressed material gets mixed into your rosin.

There are three important elements in rosin extraction:

• Heat, as you need the right amount of heat to extract without burning
• Pressure, to push out as much rosin as you can
• Time, as you can’t overdo thing, else risk your rosin from burning.

Note that not all cannabis materials react the same during extraction. Some strains don’t produce as much rosin as other buds or hash. If it’s your first time, you might not get it right, and that’s okay. Everyone has to start somewhere. But to help you get things to write, here are some things to consider.

Plant quality matters, when it comes to the quality of rosin you will get.

If right from the start, the source of your rosin did not get the proper amount of nutrients, it’s likely to produce substandard concentrates. You may get less than usual, or the rosin won’t be as potent. If the source of the rosin, meanwhile, had all the proper nutrients but was not dried and cured properly, then the quality of rosin would also be affected. The kind of Rosin Press you use also matters, especially if you plan to take this seriously.

Many people started with improvised rosin extractors, often hair straighteners. While there’s nothing wrong with it, especially when you’re just starting, these makeshift rosin extractors don’t have enough heat and pressure to maximize extracts.

Lastly, you should not overload your rosin bags. Ideally, you should be putting about a third or half an inch of buds inside the bags. Press them slowly, so you lessen the chances of blowouts. It may take longer, but for the goal of having quality rosin, it’s going to be worth the extra time.

CBD Gummies 

If you have a sweet tooth and want CBD goodness, then CBD Gummies is the way to go here. You get to make these treats with natural ingredients, and without the added ingredients that can be harmful to one’s health. The core of making these gummies is being able to derive the concentrates needed here.

Gummies use oil or distillates and you don’t need that much to make a big batch. You’ll only need 1 mL of CBD oil to make it. In addition, your concentrates are best derived from hemp, as they have more concentrations of CBD than cannabis.

Now, to derive the oil, you will need to decarboxylate it to trigger the effects of CBD, then combine it with oil using an infuser, such as the Magical Butter. Once you get the oil from the infuser, you can then proceed to make the gummies.

For a batch with 450 grams, you will need:  

• 1.5 cups of pureed fruit
• 1.5 cups of water or juice
• 0.5 cups of unflavored gelatin
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 mL of your infused oil
• 5 drops of your flavoring of choice (optional)

When choosing fruits for your gummies, take note that not all fruits work well with gummies. Some fruits have enzymes that ruin the protein content, which in turn destroy the gummies. Some good examples of these fruits are kiwi, ginger, papaya, figs, and guava.

To get started, pour your juice or water into a saucepan and put the gelatin over it.

Heat the saucepan over medium-low heat until the mixture liquefies. Stir carefully until you reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit, then turn off the stove.

Add the pureed fruit and whisk, then follow it up with the lemon juice and your infused oil and mix until combined well.

Put the mixture into a pitcher and then pour it into your molds. After filling up your molds, refrigerate them for 30 minutes.

After cooling, you can take out the molds and let your gummies air dry for 24 hours, or store them in the freezer. If you decide to air dry them, cover them with a cheesecloth to prevent contamination or insects.

These gummies should last you up to two weeks.

CBD-infused Oil 

CBD-infused oil is another product you can make from concentrates. And depending on the oil you use, you can use it for pain relief, or as an ingredient for your salad. Making CBD-infused oil takes a little longer than other products from concentrates, but it won’t cost a lot of effort to achieve.

To start, having the right tools help make the job easy. Infusers such as the Extractcraft Source Turbo help you get the desired results.

To make CBD oil, you’ll need food-grade ethanol which you will use to soak your hemp or cannabis in it. Depending on the strain you’re using, soaking can take as long as two days.

Once you’re ready to create the oil, filter out the material from the ethanol. To get the best results, you may have to filter twice, using a coffee filter and a Buchner funnel.

You will then take the filtered ethanol and pour it into the crucible or cup of your infuser. Set the infuser based on what the recipe calls for, and it will then separate the oil from the ethanol.

Once the process is finished, take out the cup and pour it into another container with your oil of choice.

Give it a good mix, as not all concentrate mix well when poured. You can now use this oil for topicals, tinctures or mix it with your salads, depending on what oil you mixed the concentrates with.

Conclusion 

These are just some of the possible things you can do with concentrates. There are plenty of things you can do, but these three are just the basics that you will surely enjoy making at home.

More importantly, knowing how to make these concentrates at home saves you from trips to the dispensary, only to be disappointed that your favorite strain is out of stock.

And if you grow cannabis at home, all the more reason to learn to make these concentrates, which makes things even more sustainable on your end.