Learn the best techniques for drying and storing your hash!

Today’s theme is something we’ve been promising for a long time! We have received many messages on our Instagram with questions about hashish – both about its various forms and types and the most appropriate procedures for washing it. So, we decided to create for you all a complete guide (theoretical and practical) about the drying of Bubble Hash, also known as ICE. And of course, for the North Americans, you can enjoy some information about the Freeze Dryer and how to use it.

A few days ago, we released some really cool and complete content about Bubble Hash and how to do it. For those who do not remember, this one of our favorite extractions – it it healthier and tastier than other kind of extraction – it preserves terpenes and no solvents need to be used in the process.

 → Haven’t seen it yet? Bubble Hash: everything you need to know

Today, we are going to end this chapter so you all can properly dry and store your hash. Here we go!

The importance of drying it properly

Thinking about Harm Reduction, it is essential to dry your hash properly for it to be consumed. A moist hash, stored in a closed, dark environment for the beginning of the curing process, can trigger the spread of fungi.

The formation of hash fungi is a very serious problem. If this happens, please, we advise you not to consume. There are countless risks to respiratory health in relation to smoking some fungus, mold or spore (especially in times of global pandemic).

To prevent this from happening, it is essential to be patient and know how to dry your hash properly. The key to drying the bubble hash is in the temperature and humidity of the place where the procedure is performed.

How you can dry your hash

The secret of drying Bubble Hash is the surface area. When thinking about this we can compare it to basic science class, comparing evaporation of rainwater with evaporation in a closed container. The principle of this process is the same, what differentiates is that we need to be very careful with the humidity and relative temperature of the air where this hash is drying.

Like production, drying can also be done in a variety of ways! With advances in technologies, techniques are also changing. The difference in the raw material also causes these adaptation needs; for example, the choice between using fresh frozen or cured trim also affects drying, as resins behave in different ways.

“But girls, do you recommend that we use fresh frozen or cured trim?”

It depends. Fresh frozen has its advantages, such as the very high preservation of oil and terpenes in the head of the trichome. However, it can get very sticky in high temperatures (as in Brazil, and not even with an air conditioner would be safe). In addition, with this material, it is more difficult to wash, dry and make that ICE powder too! So, we say that this choice will depend a lot on the material and the equipment you have to do the hash.

Whatever the material you have, be it fresh frozen, beautiful and cured dry buds, or a cured trim – Here, we will teach you how to handle both, the very roots, very simple, and the most nutella, which involves more equipment.

Drying hash at HOME

To dry, you will need:https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fgiphy.com%2Fembed%2FhTlrNDNp8vwxk08sOe%2Ftwitter%2Fiframe&display_name=Giphy&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiphy.com%2Fgifs%2FhTlrNDNp8vwxk08sOe&key=61d05c9d54e8455ea7a9677c366be814&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=giphy&wmode=opaque

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• Cardboard or pizza box <3 (the pizza box is the best, because you can close it and make sure your cat’s coat wont fall over the hash!)
• Your hash
• Grater
• Parchment paper
• A freezer or refrigerator
• A suitable environment: dark and low humidity. One option is to use and extra closet or pantry, if you have one to best control the environment!

Step by step

Step 1: right after the hash is collected from the bags it must be taken to the freezer. Wait a few hours to ensure that it is frozen.

Step 2: place the parchment paper in the box so that its material is not contaminated. Take the hash out of the freezer and grate it on parchment paper – do not leave the resin agglomerated – the ice hash should be like very fine sand to maximize your contact with the air and make it faster and more effective.

Step 3: Control the humidity and temperature of the room. The ideal is to have at least one dehumidifier to decrease the humidity of the air and an air conditioner – since a cold environment is the ideal to remove a hashish of quality. The ideal is the lowest temperature that your air conditioner or your home environment can reach!

It is important to remember that this drying can take a few days, depending on the humidity and relative temperature of the environment in which this process is being carried out. Check the consistency of your hash and do not store it without making sure it is completely dry!

Air Drying in Cold Room

This can be done at home, but the investment will be on your cold room. To perfectly dry resin, especially if you are working with fresh frozen it is essential to be able to really control temperature of the environment by making it very cold (40F to 50F). 

The hash can be dried in trays on shelves on an stable humidity and temperature environment controlled by the CoolBot For that. 

Commercial North American technology

This is the fanciest yet more efficient way to dry your hash, the only problem is the price. It is the crème de la crème for bubble hash drying, usually done in countries where the sale and consumption of hashish is regulated and it is done on a commercial scale. After all, drying in the air would take too long and not as effective to guarantee the quality of the final product. Let’s tell a little more about it down here:

Material: Fresh frozen

Washing: by hand or machine, it doesn’t matter – what matters is the cold environment for the hash to be made. 

This environment goes beyond the temperatures that normal air conditioning reaches, but there is a trick to that. Such a trick is called a “Coolbot” (yes, it is really expensive in the real conversion to the dollar, but this is part of the North American reality). This cool bot tricks the air conditioner into bringing the rooms down to below the lowest setting making the environment the most ideal for not only working with the hash while making it but also drying hash if a freeze dryer is not available or the preferred option.

→ The use of cold rooms can also be used to dry the hash, but, in such a scenario, most likely people will have a Freeze Dryer.

What is a Freeze Dryer?

The Freeze Dryer is a machine that has become the game in the hashish market. With it, it was possible to increase the amount of material worked, decrease the drying space of the hash and also the time (which can go from one week to less than 24 hours).

How this mysterious machine works

This is a very complex subject! Therefore, we decided to bring the information collected to a very special person: Flynn Abeln, chief operating officer of Fully Melted, a solvent-free legal hash company in California that knows how to handle this machine like no one else.

The Freeze Dryer is a machine that was brought in from the food industry and is generally used to freeze dry food for long-term storage. The hash community saw this as a tool to dry the resin in an easier way! This machine dries the hash by sublimation; when the wet hash is placed in the freeze dryer, the machine sucks in the hash, in addition to controlling the rise and fall of the temperature. This allows sublimation to occur and helps turn water from a solid into a gas so that it can be removed from the hash. It is important to remember the drying method also sanitizes the hash, being a great option for legal markets with strict quality control.

When using a Freeze Dryer, it is essential to know which settings to use. Sublimation takes place optimally if the hash is exposed to as much outdoor and surface area as possible in the freeze dryer trays. This means that when you are removing the hash from the filter bags (that is, the bubble bags) you will need to harvest it in a crepe-like consistency, with much more water than for air drying.

We know that this theme, especially here in California, is something to talk about. But if you are drying your hash in patties, that is, small conglomerate trichome heads, you are increasing the drying time, expending extra energy and losing terpenes along the way – in which case, you are doing it wrong.

• There are three basic configurations in Freeze Dryer:
• freezer time
• final drying time
• shelf temperature

When the Freeze Dryer runs a full cycle, it starts with a freeze cycle, used to freeze the product and reduce the temperature of the chamber. Then, the machine starts its main drying process, which can last from 10 to 16 hours, depending on the amount of water needed to remove.

After the system detects that it is not drawing a large amount of water from the material, it will enter its final drying cycle and will function for the defined period of time. When observing the settings for starting a dry freeze cycle, the shelf temperature is one of the things to be observed and checked whenever the system is run. The factory default is 125F, approximately 51 ° C, which is VERY hot for hashing and will definitely ruin a lot. It must be changed to a maximum of 50F (10 ° C).

Longer or shorter final drying times can be measured by two basic factors: the amount of hash and how dry or oily your resin is naturally.

The drier resin tends to need a slightly shorter drying time and can be run at a higher shelf temperature without sacrificing quality.

More unstable resins may need longer drying times to completely dry the resin and reduce shelf temperatures in order to preserve the resin head and prevent it from melting.

This type of technology is what guarantees a result full of quality and a hash of excess water. It is possible for people to pass the drying time, and leave their hash extremely dry (over dried) – there needs to be some moisture inside the oily resin head.https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fgiphy.com%2Fembed%2FZbOaYEJwZmv8llIip5%2Ftwitter%2Fiframe&display_name=Giphy&url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiphy.com%2Fgifs%2Fhaxixe-ZbOaYEJwZmv8llIip5&key=61d05c9d54e8455ea7a9677c366be814&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=giphy&wmode=opaque

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A tip to check this is, after removing the hash from the drier freezer, hit it with a spoon and check if it shatters into large pieces or if it has turned into a powder. If it’s in large pieces, sticking together, your hash is still wet. You can also pull a small amount out if it is powder and dab it, listen for a snap or crackling noise, if this happens your hash definitely still has to much water in it, if it sizzles loudly it could also need a bit more dry time despite it being a powder. 

How to store the hash

For your hash to have durability, it must be stored in a cold dry, dark place with little ventilation. A tupperware pot, with a well-sealed lid, is ideal! If storing in glass, be careful to keep it away from light – it can help it deteriorate and weaken more quickly.

So, did you enjoy this sea of information? Although more nutella drying is still difficult here in Brazil, where cannabis is not legalized, it will be a reality after regulation. We hope it comes quickly! 😉

Tell us in the comments what you thought of the text or if you had any questions. We will do our utmost to clarify for you everything about this universe of hash making!