Rosin Tech refers to a method of high pressure/low heat extraction that separates resin (i.e. the same sticky and flammable substance found in pine trees) from the cannabis plant. This method provides overall yields not dissimilar from its Butane Hash Oil (BHO) counterpart, making it a viable solvent-free alternative to BHO’s and the like.
With the method proliferating both on the internet and on the ground, the dissemination of extraction techniques, processes and test results has provided a framework for the vertical growth of this technique among the DIY concentrate communities, enabling it to expand in an arena of complete scientific transparency—and in real time.
Here is the fundamental method that most people seem to be sticking to, or elaborating on.
You can do this:
- Put on a pair of heat-resistant gloves, please
- Procure some nugs
- Fold small pieces of cannabis in parchment paper
- Press between a hair straightener for several seconds (until you hear the sizzle)
- Scrape the end product (rosin) from the paper
- And that’s it. Prepare a dab for yourself.
The advantages of Rosin Tech over BHO extraction are evident both in its production and consumption. Unlike BHOs, Rosin Tech is solvent-free. Manufacturing Butane Hash Oils is potentially dangerous due to the presence of butane gas, which is commonly used as a solvent in the extraction process. Butane is highly flammable and explosive, especially when released indoors and/or in large quantities. Skunk Pharm Research offers an in depth, highly informative overview of BHO Extraction, which you can find here. This is highly recommended reading, if your interested. Operations are literally exploding across the West Coast.
The Rosin Tech method offers a clean and simple shatter-like product that patients can’t find in dispensaries. Other extraction techniques involve solvents that may be toxic or harmful, and Rosin Tech provides the clean and easy DIY approach that would only appear natural, much like the home-brew/biofuel disposition.
In an industry growing faster than itself, the only issue Rosin Tech faces is productivity—how can solvent-free hash be produced on a sizable scale, using only high pressure and low heat? That’s the question many proponents and developers of this technology are asking themselves, and improving on. If you have a hair straightener, perhaps you need not ask this question. But this technology is exciting to users and extractors alike, who are now presented with an opportunity to obtain high-quality, clean shatter—the essence of the cannabis plant on a biological level—via a process no more dangerous than straightening one’s hair.
We always encourage the reader to read up and educate themselves on any information of this nature, so as to preserve the safety and quality of the reader’s experience.