amc98
Active member
Hi guys,
I’m starting this thread to share some pics and chat with you about one of my main passions, hashish. Although I like all kinds of concentrates, I do prefer hash for several reasons.
Due to my climate conditions and means, making bubblehash is much easier for me than dry sifting, so I basically make water hash and only make dry sift from time to time.
I started years ago with a cheap set of bags and few info, with average results. As I got interested in hash making and improved my equipment and knowledge thanks to masters and good friends like @grassman and forums like this one, things started to look better. I then tried fresh frozen separations, which I personally love. I find the taste and potency to be really higher than “standard” bubblehash. Also yields seem better.
What I didn’t like/understand was that, normally, the second and following fresh frozen runs were too green, while the first run was always cream.
So I’ve been studying a bit lately and found out about ice nucleation in plant tissues. It seems that, from -3ºC/-5ºC, the water between the plant cells (80% of the fresh plant is water) freezes and crystallizes, piercing the tissues walls and allowing chlorophyll to escape into the mix. It shocked me cause it really was the answer to my questions, but I couldn’t believe that chlorophyll could ruin your hash in that way. Now it’s time to study the permeability of trichome heads, their hydrophilic properties, etc.
So, it seemed like only two options were available: fast-freezing or not freezing the plant material at all. I’ve made several separations keeping the plant material in the fridge at 4ºC. Results are better than expected, it seems like there is no reason to freeze the material since the stipe cells and basal cells that join the gland and the stalk in the abcission zone will break in the same way at higher temperatures.
I’m using the same exact method that I’ve been using for the past years, but without freezing the plant material before the separation, simply keeping it chilled in the fridge (4ºC). A short brief of the process:
-Put ice and cold water in a bucket. When it reaches around 1ºC, add the plant material kept at 4ºC.
-Let it sit for about 5 minutes and gently stir the mix for 5-7 minutes.
-Pass the mix through my 220, 190 and 160 bags. Collect the green material (220 bag) and keep it cold for the next run.
-Pass the mix through my 120 bag 2 or 3 times. When yields drop, it’s time to pass the mix through the 90 and 73 bags.
-Collect the resin, chop it and let it dry/cure in a no-frost refrigerator (complete darkness, 4ºC, low humidity). In this way, I feel like it mantains the colour and organoleptic features much better than when dried at room temperature.
-I then make a second run using the 220, 190, 160 and 45 bags to collect a very nice second grade. If the quality is good enough, I would go for a third run.
So what I basically do is trying to get the purest hash possible in the first run while trying to keep the terpene range as open as possible for the second run. I usually throw away the 25, most times is nothing but “mud”, not worth the effort in small separations like mine.
When I was telling the method to @Eugen during the past Cup we both agreed that this tech shouldn’t be called Fresh Frozen, since the plant material is never frozen here. I’ve searched a bit and haven’t found a name for this technique…perhaps it should be called a Fresh Chilled Separation? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like fancy names much, but it seems that the current trend is trying to describe the tech with the name. If anybody has a better name for it, I’ll call it a Fresh Chilled Separation, FCS. (If there is already a name for this tech I’m sorry, haven’t found it in my searchs)
Let’s see my first attempt at “FCS” with Big Bud trim and popcorn buds…
Please let me know your feelings on this, hope we can share knowledge about hash for a very long time!! Will keep you updated on my next separations.
Best vibes!
p.s. During my first attempts with fresh frozen, I though I had ruined my bags. I couldn’t clean the layer of resin on them, not even with a 2-hour alcohol wash. Olive oil left them perfect in few seconds.
p.p.s. all credits to all the people who share their knowledge on the net, especially to Brownbear for illuminating my path on this research.
I’m starting this thread to share some pics and chat with you about one of my main passions, hashish. Although I like all kinds of concentrates, I do prefer hash for several reasons.
Due to my climate conditions and means, making bubblehash is much easier for me than dry sifting, so I basically make water hash and only make dry sift from time to time.
I started years ago with a cheap set of bags and few info, with average results. As I got interested in hash making and improved my equipment and knowledge thanks to masters and good friends like @grassman and forums like this one, things started to look better. I then tried fresh frozen separations, which I personally love. I find the taste and potency to be really higher than “standard” bubblehash. Also yields seem better.
What I didn’t like/understand was that, normally, the second and following fresh frozen runs were too green, while the first run was always cream.
So I’ve been studying a bit lately and found out about ice nucleation in plant tissues. It seems that, from -3ºC/-5ºC, the water between the plant cells (80% of the fresh plant is water) freezes and crystallizes, piercing the tissues walls and allowing chlorophyll to escape into the mix. It shocked me cause it really was the answer to my questions, but I couldn’t believe that chlorophyll could ruin your hash in that way. Now it’s time to study the permeability of trichome heads, their hydrophilic properties, etc.
So, it seemed like only two options were available: fast-freezing or not freezing the plant material at all. I’ve made several separations keeping the plant material in the fridge at 4ºC. Results are better than expected, it seems like there is no reason to freeze the material since the stipe cells and basal cells that join the gland and the stalk in the abcission zone will break in the same way at higher temperatures.
I’m using the same exact method that I’ve been using for the past years, but without freezing the plant material before the separation, simply keeping it chilled in the fridge (4ºC). A short brief of the process:
-Put ice and cold water in a bucket. When it reaches around 1ºC, add the plant material kept at 4ºC.
-Let it sit for about 5 minutes and gently stir the mix for 5-7 minutes.
-Pass the mix through my 220, 190 and 160 bags. Collect the green material (220 bag) and keep it cold for the next run.
-Pass the mix through my 120 bag 2 or 3 times. When yields drop, it’s time to pass the mix through the 90 and 73 bags.
-Collect the resin, chop it and let it dry/cure in a no-frost refrigerator (complete darkness, 4ºC, low humidity). In this way, I feel like it mantains the colour and organoleptic features much better than when dried at room temperature.
-I then make a second run using the 220, 190, 160 and 45 bags to collect a very nice second grade. If the quality is good enough, I would go for a third run.
So what I basically do is trying to get the purest hash possible in the first run while trying to keep the terpene range as open as possible for the second run. I usually throw away the 25, most times is nothing but “mud”, not worth the effort in small separations like mine.
When I was telling the method to @Eugen during the past Cup we both agreed that this tech shouldn’t be called Fresh Frozen, since the plant material is never frozen here. I’ve searched a bit and haven’t found a name for this technique…perhaps it should be called a Fresh Chilled Separation? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like fancy names much, but it seems that the current trend is trying to describe the tech with the name. If anybody has a better name for it, I’ll call it a Fresh Chilled Separation, FCS. (If there is already a name for this tech I’m sorry, haven’t found it in my searchs)
Let’s see my first attempt at “FCS” with Big Bud trim and popcorn buds…
Please let me know your feelings on this, hope we can share knowledge about hash for a very long time!! Will keep you updated on my next separations.
Best vibes!
p.s. During my first attempts with fresh frozen, I though I had ruined my bags. I couldn’t clean the layer of resin on them, not even with a 2-hour alcohol wash. Olive oil left them perfect in few seconds.
p.p.s. all credits to all the people who share their knowledge on the net, especially to Brownbear for illuminating my path on this research.
