Hashish Machines: Ways of Making Hashish

“To leave a message, press hash at any time”

I could not resist quoting an automated message that UK telephone users frequently hear; it always amuses me.

In a previous article, we explored the global history of making hashish and some of the traditional methods used. In this article, we will explore some modern techniques and machines that have been developed for making hashish out of weed. Even relatively low-grade, homegrown weed can be turned into high-potency hash.

The machines described in this article are only a small sample of the many machines available on the market, and the technical processes described are only a summary of the procedures involved. There are more details that need to be learnt to get the best results. (Seedsman does not endorse in particular the use of any of the machines described.)

Finger Hash

Small globes of resin—on stalks, and looking quite like mushrooms—are produced by the resin glands in the leaves and buds of the cannabis plant; they are known as trichomes. (“Trichomes” derives from the Greek trikhōma, meaning “hair”, but this is not to be confused with the hairs in the buds). When trimming or handling sticky marijuana buds, the resin can get stuck to one’s fingers. This is sometimes called “finger hash” or “scuff”.

This resin that sticks to one’s fingers is, essentially, caras [charas], or hand-rubbed hash. In the caras-producing regions of the Himalayas, mature female buds are lightly rubbed and the sticky resin accumulates on the palms and fingers (see the blog https://www.seedsman.com/blog/the-himalayan-women-who-make-cannabis-resin-charas/).

Hashish Oil

In the 1970s, some enterprising cannabis connoisseurs began producing machines for extracting psychoactive oil from cannabis plants, not only from the buds but also from the lower leaves and stems, which may contain small quantities of oil. One of the pioneer publications was by D. Gold, in 1973. In this book, extraction methods are detailed. The technique involves first boiling the various, ground-up parts of the cannabis plant in a solvent to separate the oil from plant matter.

Many kinds of solvents can be used, though most of them are forms of alcohol. All of the solvents are volatile, potentially causing an explosion; and some of the fumes can be highly toxic and dangerous. (In the 1980s, in Kerala in South India, explosions on farms were quite frequent, as enthusiastic entrepreneurs set about manufacturing hash oil from local weed.) In Gold’s experience, one of the best solvents to use is ethanol. The solvent then has to be removed through heating, using a Soxhlet extractor. The result is potent hashish oil. This oil can then be mixed with ground-up marijuana buds to make a product that is similar in form, consistency and taste to ordinary but potent hashish.

Gold also details the process of isomerization, whereby through heating and the use of solvents, the chemistry of the cannabis oil changes. In this process, for example, cannabidiol (CBD) can become isomerized into THC. There is also a chapter explaining how THC can be converted into THC acetate, which is twice as potent as THC.

Heat and Chemistry

Heat causes decarboxylation of some of the cannabinoids, whereby there is a slight change in the chemistry of the hash. CBDA will change into CBD; THCA becomes changed into THC (responsible for the “high”; and THC may change over time into CBN (see the article on Cannabis Chemistry: https://www.seedsman.com/blog/cannabis-chemistry-exploring-the-entourage/).

Decarboxylation happens when the cannabinoid loses the CO² molecule that was previously attached to it. Decarboxylation occurs, in resin in the weed, at between around 200° and 265° Fahrenheit (= 93° and 130° Celsius), depending on the molecule involved. For this reason, it is usually recommended to cook weed for half an hour or so when preparing edibles, to get more CBD and THC from the preparation. However, heating above 300° Fahrenheit will destroy some cannabinoids and terpenoids. A standard “mean” temperature for heating weed for decarboxylation is 220° Fahrenheit (= 104° Celsius).

That said, my own experience is that cooked cannabis (whether that be weed or hash), by weight, is little different in potency or effect—though perhaps slight—whether it is eaten either raw or cooked.

Hydrocarbon Extraction

These days, there are also machines available that utilise either butane or propane for extraction, in what is known as “hydrocarbon extraction”.

CO² Extraction

Another way of extracting resin is through using CO² (carbon dioxide), which passes through the buds, separating the resin from the plant material. When this machine was first developed in the 1980s it was called a “gasolator”. The early models used simple CO² canisters. Modern machines are generally more complex.

Iced Water Extraction

In the last thirty years or so, machines have been developed by several different companies to facilitate the extraction of resin from cannabis plants, but without the use of solvents. Essentially, the aim is to detach the sticky resin around the trichomes on the bud from the rest of the plant. Iced water does that. So, by running buds through iced water, the resin mixes with the icy water and separates from the rest of the plant material. The water (containing the resin) containing the weed is first agitated and stirred up and then passed through several grades of filter (sometimes referred to as “bubble bags”), with pores of different micron-sized meshes (a micron is one-millionth of a metre); this separates the resinous material from the water.

The finer the mesh of the filter, the higher is the grade of extracted hash. Hash produced this way is often nowadays called “bubble hash”, as it sometimes bubbles when smoked. The highest grade is sometimes called “full melt” because, when smoked, no plant residue remains.

Ice-water extraction machines, sometimes referred to as “iceolators”, first became popular in the 1980s. The process involves first putting the weed into iced water in a “washing machine”, to rehydrate the buds. “Washing machines” are made out of either plastic or stainless steel. The weed, mixed with water and ice, is churned in the “washing machine” for between five and fifteen minutes, at different rotation speeds, depending on the kind of bud used, and whether or not the washing is the first or an additional washing (the process can be repeated several times). Thicker (indica type) leaves have different properties than thinner (sativa type) leaves.

After churning, the water from the “washing machine” is then fed, via a hosepipe, into another device (like a drum) that has either one or up to four mesh bags inside buckets, which are nested inside each other in the drum. The micron size of the pores of the meshes of the bags used is usually between 25 and 190 or 220 microns, depending on the grade of hash required. After filtering the “weed water”, each bag will contain hash of a different quality, according to the size of mesh used. The resinous water first passes through the 190- or 220-micron mesh, and then through finer meshes with smaller pores (see Cannoli 2018 for a demonstration).

The resin residue (looking like sludge) remaining in the mesh can then be formed into a patty The patty can be dried naturally or deep frozen into a block for six to ten days. This block, after freezing, may then be “shaved” into small slices (like grating cheese), which can then be repressed with some heat, which further breaks down the trichomes and homologises the consistency of the hash. This process, at the end of the sieved extraction, improves the quality.

Dry Extraction Technology: “Flower Rosin”/”Hash Rosin”

Machines for “dry” extraction of hashish resin powder have been developed by several companies. “Rosin”, the product that results from further heating and filtration of hash powder, has become popular, particularly on the West Coast of the USA, and increasingly in Europe in recent years.

The weed to be used is first deep-frozen, which helps to detach the powdery resin from the buds. It is then put in a circular drum with various grades of mesh (in terms of the micron size of the mesh). The smaller the holes in the mesh, the higher the grade of resin, as plant matter does not go through the mesh, just the powdery resin. The standard size for starting the process is 150 microns. A mesh of 125 microns yields less but higher quality hash, while a mesh of 185 microns yields more but lower quality hash. The weed turns in the drum for fifteen or twenty minutes, resulting in the deposit of powdery resin on the floor of the box containing the circular drum. The process can be repeated with drums with larger pores, for a second (or third) “turning”, for lower-grade material.

Typically, for the higher grades of hash, 500 gms of weed produces about 10 gms of hash. Hash filtration machines come in different sizes, for processing either smaller or larger quantities of weed.

The hash powder is then placed in special cloth bags (also with different micron-sized pores, usually between 25 and 90 microns); it is then pressed and heated. This is the second “filtering” process, which produces “rosin”. Pressing with more heat produces darker, more compressed hash. Pressing can be done in many different ways: a hot bottle used as a rolling pin is one way; using a heavy item such as a sofa is another way; or a home-appliance flat iron and parchment or baking paper may be used.

Machines are available also for heating and pressing.

The resultant hash usually looks like “non-runny” honey, which preserves most of the cannabinoids and terpenoids.

It can then be further heated and pressed.

The result of these processes is batches of high-grade hash. After pressing, it is advisable to wait for a few months before smoking, as the hash becomes smoother and less prickly to smoke, due to ongoing chemical processes.

Different types of hash have names, just as do different weed varieties, all with slightly different potency, taste and effect. It is a connoisseur’s world.

References

Cannoli, Frenchy (2018). ‘The Lost Art of Hashishin Workshop Demo’. YouTube

Gold, D. 1989 [1973]. Cannabis Alchemy: The Art of Hashmaking, Methods for Preparation of Extremely Potent Cannabis Products. Oakland, CA: Ronin Publishing Inc.