How to Make Hash Using Bubble Bags

Equipment & Materials Needed

Making bubble hash is a material intensive project, so make sure to gather proper equipment that will help ensure quality finished products while also saving time. Some basic materials you will need include bubble bags with various micron sizes (generally included in a set between 25-220 microns), a clean 5-gallon bucket or a washing machine (specifically made for hash making), lots of ice, cold water, a mixing implement (either use a wooden spoon or dedicated agitation stick), clean working surfaces, and collection materials (spoon or card). Some extra convenient items to have also include a thermometer to check water temperature, clean towels to dry with, parchment paper to collect on and a cold storage for your materials to protect terpenes while drying.

Preparing Cannabis Material

Your choice of material will ultimately dictate the quality of the finished product. Fresh-frozen cannabis, which has been harvested and then immediately frozen without any drying will retain the most terpenes to create “live” hash, but properly dried and cured cannabis will work just as well. Trim, sugar leaves and small buds are normally also the cheapest materials to make hash while allowing for a decent return on yield. Whatever material you use, make sure it is contaminant-free and completely frozen before processing – put it in a freezer for a minimum of 24 hours prior to extraction to have the most brittle trichomes possible.

The Ice Water Extraction Process

The extraction process begins with creating an ice-water slurry in your bucket system. Fill 1/3 of the bucket with ice, add your frozen cannabis material, and then add more ice on top. Now, add cold water until it is 2-3 inches below the rim of the bucket. Keeping the water temps between 32-45°F (0-7°C) will keep the trichomes brittle while preventing them from dissolving. Give the mixture 5-10 minutes to rest and then start to agitate gently but firmly using circular and up/down motions with your stirring device. First-time processors should only agitate for 5-10 minutes at a time because excessive agitation will introduce too much plant material.

Collecting Trichomes from Each Bag

After you agitated, give yourself about 10-15 minutes to let the mixture settle. When you’re ready, take the top bag out so that all of the water, and not the solid material, is drained out. Hold the bag above another clean bucket and then, use the cold water to rinse everything through the screen. When it is drained, carefully turn this bag inside out above a clean surface and scrape any of the hash off with a spoon or a card. You will do this for every bag, as each bag contains hash that is from different size micron screens and represents different qualities, potentially even different methods of consumption.

Drying Your Hash

After you have completed your collections, you will want to press your hash gently between absorbent materials in order to remove excess moisture that may be too high for the drying and curing step. After you have pressed out excess moisture, lay your hash out thinly on the parchment paper or silicone mat and break up larger pieces into smaller pieces to increase surface area. After this, you should be allowing your hash to dry for 5 – 7 days in a cool and dark environment with little to no airflow.

By knowing what some of these fundamentals are, and being diligently mindful of refining your technique over time through practice, you are then able to make high-quality bubble hash that preserves the whole spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes, while also not using harmful solvents in the extraction of your hash.