Since weāre getting ready to run I went ahead and setup the Harvest Right and ran the initial vacuum test. Just under 7 minutes and we made it to <500 mTorr.
Everything in our process has been optimized for quality ā from the cold room, 35 degree water, insulated equipment, and the #1 quality booster ā the freeze drying process. Iāve taken the knowledge Pedro has provided and recreated the system here, with my own optimizations to simplify the SOP.
Next weekend, Saturday the 5th weāll be going live on Twitch showing off the complete process. We have around 4lbs of fresh frozen bud waiting to wash, and if all goes well (and depending on time) Iāll also wash some of the 50+ jars of cured bud we have on the shelf as a comparison.
I did the initial ābread runā with the freeze dryer to clean out any ānew car smellā from the unit before running the hash. Thereās no denying this thing gets extremely cold.
My unit actually gets down to -86F but thatās when the heated trays come on to start the sublimation process, so it doesnāt stay that low for long and I couldnāt get a pic in time.
Tonight I plan on moving the mother plant from the veg tent into flower and that will let me kick on the Coolbot and start bringing the hash room down as cold as possible to prep for the run on Saturday. Weather looks like itās going to cooperate this weekend too which will help keep the temps nice and cold.
Donāt forget to check us out on Twitch on Saturday, we will be processing hash most of the day and possibly into Sunday.
unfortunately this is the weekend Iām at the contest. You can jot down numbers or record it? Iām just interested in comparing notes on yields and quality.
SuperiorBuds420 on Twitch. You should be able to click on the embedded Twitch above and it will take you there, even though itās broken looking. Stream is live 24/7 w/ multiple garden cams and switches over when we go live.
Spent most of the day yesterday live on Twitch washing. I did 4 washes of ~100g of trim as my first test and then went in for 5 washes of 280g of buds.
I was super tired (and super stoned) by the time I was done and didnāt take pics of the hash before it went into the freeze dryer, but itāll be coming out soon and I will take some photos after the first run is dried.
We ended up with 3 freeze dryer trays full. (Trays are 7.5" x 18".) 2 1/2 were premium 45 micron hash and the rest is from the 160/220 for edibles. I am not sure on yields yet, but I will know more once the dry is complete.
I learned a lot, even after prepping for a few months there were small details I hadnāt thought about until we were in the middle of washing. A few more modifications today to the washer and buckets, then Iāll be washing again on Monday to finish the rest of the fresh frozen and hopefully jump into the jarred buds too so I can compare.
The hash is done drying and looks incredible. Perfect sandy texture and it literally started melting while I was taking these pics in a 60F room. Hereās 2 of the 3 trays after drying.
I did a little test w/ a bowl topper and the taste is great ā so many terps. Canāt wait to press this tomorrow now! I will be washing again today doing the last of the fresh frozen and moving onto the jarred/cured buds after thatā¦
I donāt unfortunately and I also have clips disabled. I had to change to this after the DMCA strikes started going out since I have background music playing.
The cycle takes 32-36 hours total. I have the Harvest Right Medium Home unit and it holds 4 trays, each 7.5" by 18". For this model youāre looking around $2700 but itās one of the biggest factors in final quality. I will end up with zero water content, meaning once I press I will be able to store long term with no fear of mold.
No, thereās not much info out there on freeze drying flower and w/ the cost of running the unit I donāt think it makes much sense. Itās not a lot of money (a few dollars at most) but that doesnāt include cost of an oil change after each cycle and wear and tear on an already expensive machine.
If Iām doing bubble hash I will quick-dry in 7 days and then buck the buds off the stems, bag them, and then toss into the freezer. If Iām doing smokable flower Iāll slow dry for 10-14 days at 60F/60% and then trim and jar.
If timing works out I will get everything setup tonight on the workbench, bring the temps back down into the proper range for working with hash, and get some hash rosin flowing.
Hadnāt had much of a chance to press, but I did get around to knocking out a small batch tonight. I wish I had taken more pictures but I was rushed for time, baby keeps us going these days.
This is 10 grams of hash from my 3rd and 4th wash, put through an ice cold stainless sift sieve, then triple-bagged in 25u, 25u, and 160u Rosin Evolution bags. Finally it was pressed at 165F for 3 minutes on my new press.
We came away with 7.2 grams of really tasty rosin. This probably wonāt last through a cure, but Iām fine with that. I still have over 100 grams of hash to sieve and press and I havenāt even got to the good stuff yet.
Your attention to detail is impressive and Im sure shows through in the final product. Once the Rosin is pressed whats the cure process like? I see a bunch of different textures and consistencies out there and wonder what the general consensus is about what to shoot for. Or is it totally personal preference?
We jar it up in 1g or 3g jars and then itās stored in a minifridge at 50-55F for at least a month to cure. (Though I did take this first batch and just started smoking it haha.)
I thought these things were like 10k
