This time was ~7-8 ounces of popcorn and sugar leaf, everything I got off the last run. Did it all at once with 4lbs of dry ice. Came out to about 40 grams.
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No way, dude, not even close to 20% return. My scale doesn’t do hundreths of a gram, only tenths. I put the silicone container thing on the scale and it read 6.3 grams. After I put the rosin in it, it read 6.5 grams, so it’s possible I didn’t even get 1/5 of a gram return haha!
I will say that those Silver Mountain buds were particularly airy, easily the airy-est (is that a word?) weed I’ve ever grown. I had to harvest them too early on account of a fungus gnat infestation that wouldn’t go away, so it’s not the plant’s fault or anything. The Smart Move buds were also not the densest, but they yielded better (.3 grams haha). But I also put two extra grams in the filter bags.
Who knows? I’m not too worried about it. I expect the Time Bandits to do quite a bit better as far as pressing is concerned, once I harvest them. I’ve grown two of Bodhi’s 88G13HP crosses before and they both turned out extra-gooey and very, very dense. The Time Bandits are looking like they’re gonna turn out the same. Seems like perfect pressing material to me.
And no, @Non_Profit and @BCC I haven’t smoked it yet. I actually wanna smoke the Smart Move rosin first (that one smelled reeeeaallllyyyy good after pressing, all citrusy and grassy and earthy and tangy) but both that one and the Silver Mountain tend to knock me out after about an hour, so I’m waiting until I start getting ready for bed.
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Makes me want to press something tonight… 
Maybe some trim bin kief…
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@minitiger, definitely do not worry about it until you have tried a couple of other strains. I was so surprised to see how different strains can press to each other. I had some great Sativa T15 once that pressed into a solid puck that was pretty thick even under 10 tonnes of pressure and I was pressing when it was at 62% humidity. I got about 4% return. The next press I did was with some Jack Herer that was about that same potency to smoke as the Sativa T15 but pressed with 27% return. Was super oily and hard to scrape off the parchment paper but super tasty and potent.
So I did a 50/50 mix of T15 and Jack Herer expecting to get about a 15% return on average. Hoping to get some more of the T15 flavour with a better return than the T15. The result was a 8% return 
It was like the T15 soaked up all the resin from the Jack Herer and wouldn’t let go of it. I vaped the puck and it was dynamite. So the resin was there. Just some strains don’t like to let go of it.
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That’s actually really interesting. I mean, I know that some strains have a better return than others, but yeah, mixing two strains, you’d think it would average out. Or at least close to it.
Re: humidity levels pre-press: I wonder if increasing humidity levels short-term would result in better yields? Like if you put some nugs in a jar with like a wrung-out paper towel or a wet rag or something for a few hours or half a day or something before you pressed, would that increase the return? There’s probably already a thread about that somewhere…
Honestly, this is just kind of a novelty-type thing for me right now. And also a way to utilize all of the larf and trim that I always throw in the freezer and say I’m gonna make hash out of and never do. I don’t see it becoming my usual way of blazing, just because I really enjoy the whole ritual of breaking up nugs and rolling them up and shit.
Of course, I haven’t even smoked any rosin yet…
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The best humidity level to press at in most peoples books is 62%. If it is any higher I think the material starts pressing out the sides of the plates because it is too gooey and the result has water in it and will sizzle and taste bad. Any lower and the resin doesn’t run as well. If you dont already have any then you should definately invest in Humidity packs (Boveda, Integra, etc) at 62%. Make sure the weed is in a jar sealed with the packs until the humidity reaches 62%. The moister level in the flower is a huge factor in results.
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Oh yeah, dude. Definitely always throw a Boveda in my jars once everything’s all dried and been in jars for a couple three weeks.
agree here pressing the nugs too dry hurts yield big time.
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I have had strains that yield 10% and some that make it to like 27%. I am pretty spoiled and only press once with a 12 ton Dabpress unit.
This is also about getting your pressing down pat. I stopped using a bag (lazy) and usually only have to pick out a few particles of plant matter. I do pre press and pre heat the material.
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Yeah, I’m thinking about skipping the bags. As long as you have the mold, a bag shouldn’t really be necessary, right?
When you say pre-heat, you mean sticking the weed in between the plates snuggly, but without the full weight of the press squeezing them? Or whatever? And leaving it there for like 30 seconds before actually pressing? I saw that recommended in multiple videos/articles, so I did that yesterday, too.
I gotta say, I “smoked” some rosin last night and it was underwhelming. When I exhaled, nothing came out haha. I was like,”Am I doing this right?” Hit it four or five times and every time, nothing came out when I exhaled. And the flavor was exactly like those pen/cartridge things, which I thought was odd. I checked the thing where you put the rosin and it had definitely vaporized or whatever the rosin, because there was nothing in there.
I also didn’t get high. At all. Ended up grabbing my bong and doing a couple rips.
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Your bangers will get dirtier than with a bag, but an old jewelry ultrasonic cleaner works wonders.
Yep…I just let the pre-pressed puck sit between the plates to get the rosin more mobile.
I don’t know how you are consuming Rosin, but it sounds like whatever it was is either too hot or not hot enough. Out of a dab rig you should definately see a cloud, and the stone is VERY intense for me. It also comes on fast but fades faster than flower. Easy solution…Do them both…LOL
I use a torch or an E-nail
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I used that Yocan pen thing that was recommended by somebody in this thread. Had it on the lowest setting, so maybe it wasn’t hot enough. There wasn’t anything left in the chamber or whatever, so it obviously “burned.” It just didn’t burn into my lungs haha. The pen was hot as fuck when I was finished with it, had to let it sit on the kitchen counter for a couple minutes before I felt comfortable putting it back in the box. I dunno. I’ll figure it out. I was thinking maybe I didn’t put enough in there, but it seemed like a lot.
The Yocan that I have (forgot which) is not bad, but a glass rig and torch is way better imo.
One rice grain sized dab is about all that you need. I would try raising the temperature a bit. My enail is set at 485d F if that helps at all. Hint: Do NOT hold it in unless you want to lose a lung! The expansion rate is huge!
If you are into edibles…I suggest decarbing some rosin and making edibles…Much better thaan flower and no weed taste. I use 1.5 grams of rosin per pkg of Jello etc.
One of my favorite rigs:
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Couple grams of some trim bin sift. Not even sure what this is from, it has been in the bottom of my bin for quite a while. Its a very shatters texture (I hate that) but tastes pretty good.
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The last time I made edibles was about ten years ago, made some brownies with Sour Diesel canola oil that a friend of mine made. Used two grams for the batch. I dunno if the oil got distributed unevenly or what, but I ate a square and my GF ate a square. She fell asleep after about an hour. Three hours later, I was still laying in bed, wide awake, tripping my balls off, having extremely realistic visions of the wave that’s gonna wash CA into the ocean, what exactly that’d be like, the chaos…
So, no, I’m not into edibles anymore haha! I’ve eaten tons of acid, mushrooms etc in my day, but that Sour Diesel brownie was one of the most epic and weird and terrifying events in my life. I still can’t shake those images haha…
I think part of the problem was that I put the rosin in the fridge after I jarred it and then pulled it out of the fridge a few hours later and immediately smoked it. I didn’t let it reach room temperature or even close to it. You’re supposed to let it warm up a bit, right?
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How come you hate the shatter texture? “Shatter” meaning kind of flaky, brittle or whatever? That seems like it’d be easier to deal with than the waxy-type rosin. I was actually hoping that that’s how mine would turn out. I even put it in the freezer for ten minutes or so before I started scraping in an effort to get it to kind of “flake” off of the parchment. Didn’t happen.
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Correct.
That is what I do. If the weed is older or dry, I pre-heat for 60 seconds.
Try using the Yocan at the hottest setting and then work your way down. If you have the same issue at the hottest setting, something is probably wrong with the device.
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I don’t THINK that refridgeration would matter. If I have trouble collecting runny Rosin, I put it on a cold plate and then try vagain. if still no joy, I will either freeze or refridgerate it over night. I have dabbewd frozen rosin and still saw no difference.
It still sounds like a temperature problem. The first time that I tried dabbing (store bought stuff), I wasted most of a gram trying to figure nout wht there was no cloud. I used a torch, quartz banger, and glass rig. When I finally figured things out…it wasn’t long before I got my 1st press. There always is tons of flower from my grow, so why not go completely verticle and make my own concentrates…Not to mention that they are clean…no solvents.
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Okay, good to know. I’ll start at the hottest setting today and see what happens. Also, let the rosin hit room temperature? Or does that not matter?
I’d really appreciate it if everybody here could continue holding my hand as firmly as possible while I figure this out. I might sound like a little bitch, but I’m not, for real haha! I just ask a lot of questions. About everything. Always. It’s starting to get on my nerves…
You mean hit room temperature before you put in the dabber? I would until you get the hang of the device you are using. A cold dab would take a little longer to heat, which might be an issue since all those battery devices have a timed auto shutoff.
When I have more rosin than I can use, I toss it in the freezer. Otherwise, I keep it by my dabber on the living room coffee (hash?) table, folded in parchment.
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