Consistency Issues with Bubble Hash

Hello friends,

I am having some consistency issues with my bubble hash. I would like for some of you pros out there to critique my work please. The pic shows two hashes that I made a week apart. Both are made from the same starting material. Both are made with the same process until they were pulled out of my bags.
Here is where the differences start.
Hash on the right-
Placed on pressing screen
Lightly pressed with towel and screen
Immediately went to freezer for brief stay (10min)
Lightly broken up by hand
Placed on cardboard to dry for 24 hrs (75f 40%humidity)
Pressed into a ball and worked slightly then frozen (10mins)
Grated into "sand" and placed onto cardboard to dry for 48 hrs(75f 40%humidity)
Pressed flat using hot water bottle but never folded and repeated.
Put into jar for a week.
The final product is super pungent, did not crumble at first but after a few days it crumbles when squeezed (wax-like crumbles), forms nice large clear domes when high heat (lighter flame) is introduced

Hash on the left-
Placed on pressing screen
Firmly pressed with towel and screen
Immediately went to freezer for brief stay (10min)
Grated into "sand" and placed onto cardboard to dry for 24 hrs(75f 40%humidity)
Hand pressed with lots of repeated folding.
Put into a jar for a few hours
The final product is not as pungent, does not crumble, is more viscous, forms the clear domes but seems to take a little more time to initiate it after the lighter flame is introduced.

I understand there should be a curing period. The stuff on the right was more pungent from the beginning than the stuff on the left so it isn't the week long cure making the difference.

Which of the two is the more desirable hash?

Your thoughts please. I am here to get better..and better..and better

Someone go get Matt Rize! Lots of questions for that man here!

Don't press it while it's wet. You're trapping moisture in there and you'll never get it out, which will cause what is happening.

MnH said:

Don't press it while it's wet. You're trapping moisture in there and you'll never get it out, which will cause what is happening.

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I have to argue that this is not the case..
When i put my wet hash from the bag onto my pressing screen i push down with a towel on the outside of the screen to remove moisture (not hard and with no heat). In both instances i have broken it up to dry after pressing on it with the towel. In both instances I have pressed with the towel to remove the moisture so how could this be the cause of my inconsistency? I have given you a very thorough description. Can you give me a more thorough answer?

Lol. I live in the same area as Matt Rize, this is pretty common knowledge and has been for years. You don't press your wet hash..

If you think pressing it with a towel is getting all the moisture out then I don't know what to tell you dude.

Nobody presses wet hash.. it's wrong. Read his thread.

MnH said:

Lol. I live in the same area as Matt Rize, this is pretty common knowledge and has been for years. You don't press your wet hash, hahaha.

If you think pressing it with a towel is getting all the moisture out then I don't know what to tell you dude.

Nobody presses wet hash.. it's wrong. Read his thread.

Click to expand...

Dude, did you read all of my post? I initially apply pressure with a towel on the outside of the pressing screen to remove the bulk of the moisture..then i break it up and dry it..then i give it the final press…I went back and underlined some important parts for you to read

Yes, I read til I saw you say you pressed it while wet.. the end.

This isn't rocket science dude.. the better product was the result of a lighter pressing to start, trapping less moisture.

24 hours usually isn't enough time to dry completely, and you're rolling it into a ball, further trapping any leftover moisture.

Don't press it at all, and do what you normally do but with more drying time between breaking it up and pressing it/rolling it into a ball.

MnH said:

Yes, I read til I saw you say you pressed it while wet.. the end.

This isn't rocket science dude.. the better product was the result of a lighter pressing to start, trapping less moisture.

24 hours usually isn't enough time to dry completely, and you're rolling it into a ball, further trapping any leftover moisture.

Don't press it at all, and do what you normally do but with more drying time between breaking it up and pressing it/rolling it into a ball.

Click to expand...

Ok, now we are getting somewhere. I wasn't considering the pressure applied with the towel as a true press. I didn't think it would have any effect. Matter of fact I had seen it done in a few tutorials. Sorry but it seems like I had to drag the detailed answer out of you before I could understand. How long and at what temp and humidity is the proper dry? That is some info that I can't seem to find. Most tutorials conclude with micro planing then..good luck THE END.

Yeah lol.. most don't go into temps or humidity.. but figure much like wet bud, you want a relatively low RH and lower temps.. any heat or humidity in the room will obv. create mold.

I dry in my kitchen where it's typically pretty dry and cool.. here in California it's fairly dry most of the time so 3-4 days is usually enough time, but if it's super gooey it can take much longer. I've seen some hash take weeks to dry out all the way.

Of course microplaning speeds this up, but i'm not a huge fan of it, seems to me you'd be rupturing a lot of glands with the sharp edge on it.. I break mine up by hand with toothpicks, like pulling pork apart gently.

MnH said:

Yeah lol.. most don't go into temps or humidity.. but figure much like wet bud, you want a relatively low RH and lower temps.. any heat or humidity in the room will obv. create mold.

I dry in my kitchen where it's typically pretty dry and cool.. here in California it's fairly dry most of the time so 3-4 days is usually enough time, but if it's super gooey it can take much longer. I've seen some hash take weeks to dry out all the way.

Of course microplaning speeds this up, but i'm not a huge fan of it, seems to me you'd be rupturing a lot of glands with the sharp edge on it.. I break mine up by hand with toothpicks, like pulling pork apart gently.

Click to expand...

The rupturing part makes good sense to me. So how do you know when your bh is properly dried? I couldn't tell the difference between 24 hr dry time and 72hr dry time..maybe neither were long enough huh? I love some pulled pork btw

When it's to the point you can press it thin and it's not sticky anymore.. it's pretty close.

You can feel moisture when you press it, or at least I can fairly easily. I always go a day or two extra on top of what I 'think' is dry.

MnH said:

When it's to the point you can press it thin and it's not sticky anymore.. it's pretty close.

You can feel moisture when you press it, or at least I can fairly easily. I always go a day or two extra on top of what I 'think' is dry.

Click to expand...

Can a proper dry be obtained if I freeze and then microplane my hash? Or is it too late after the press has been done?

Hello dgringo,
Please refrain from the micro-plane, this method literally "shaves" your whole trichomes,
That you just worked to collect them as a whole.

Instead I suggest using a SS kitchen strainer, take the patty and use the back of a spoon to force the hash through the holes, you save yourself a lot of labor,minimal loss of resin that inevitably gets stuck in the micr-plane
(I usually lose about a half gram of hash when using the plane.)

No shaving your fingers as well

Also, refrain from drying on cardboard, although this method is very commonly used, we now know the cardboard absorbs some of the oils that are in the hash, hurting yield,potency and most importantly, the hash absorbs the flavor of cardboard.

Dry on a porcelain plate or glass.

Which one was made first my friend?
Really fresh trim, will produce a more "greasy" hash, like an oil.

Dry, cured trim usually produces the gritty, beach sand like hash.

And I second MnH on his thoughts, grab yourself a de-humidifier , keep in a cool dark place while drying... After a thorough hand press..**extremely thorough**
You want place the pressed hash in a glass jar, burp that jar a couple of times a day for 2 weeks.(just like fresh flowers)

You want to press flat, ball up and repeat at least 4,5 times, my hand pressing sessions can take a good 45 minutes, to a full hour.

One last tidbit.. Instead of the freezer,use the fridge.
Happy Hashing

Any reason for the fridge? Lots of moisture in there no?

I personally don't freeze or use the fridge, rather a suggestion as an alternative to freezing.

Definitely don't freeze was my point.
@MnH

Sirdabsalot462 said:

Hello dgringo,
Please refrain from the micro-plane, this method literally "shaves" your whole trichomes,
That you just worked to collect them as a whole.

Instead I suggest using a SS kitchen strainer, take the patty and use the back of a spoon to force the hash through the holes, you save yourself a lot of labor,minimal loss of resin that inevitably gets stuck in the micr-plane
(I usually lose about a half gram of hash when using the plane.)

No shaving your fingers as well

Also, refrain from drying on cardboard, although this method is very commonly used, we now know the cardboard absorbs some of the oils that are in the hash, hurting yield,potency and most importantly, the hash absorbs the flavor of cardboard.

Dry on a porcelain plate or glass.

Which one was made first my friend?
Really fresh trim, will produce a more "greasy" hash, like an oil.

Dry, cured trim usually produces the gritty, beach sand like hash.

And I second MnH on his thoughts, grab yourself a de-humidifier , keep in a cool dark place while drying... After a thorough hand press..**extremely thorough**
You want place the pressed hash in a glass jar, burp that jar a couple of times a day for 2 weeks.(just like fresh flowers)

You want to press flat, ball up and repeat at least 4,5 times, my hand pressing sessions can take a good 45 minutes, to a full hour.

One last tidbit.. Instead of the freezer,use the fridge.
Happy Hashing

Click to expand...

Thanks a bunch for the tips! After the hash on the left was allowed to sit in a jar for 48 hrs it developed more of a dull look and when squeezed it crumbled into waxy sand like the stuff on the right. Now they are both the same product. The difference turned out to be the more of a time issue…which leads me to my next question. Should my hash crumble up like that? If it should not, is it caused by moisture?

Like waxy crumbly??
Mine always turns to a waxy, or greasy type.

Crumbly is most likely a lack of moisture.

How does it melt?
Do they melt the same?
Does one bubble more than the other?

Lol...sorry bout asking all the questions, I'm in the midst of studying sieved concentrates currently, and by gathering info from other producers it helps me in my own learning.

Sirdabsalot462 said:

Like waxy crumbly??
Mine always turns to a waxy, or greasy type.

Crumbly is most likely a lack of moisture.

How does it melt?
Do they melt the same?
Does one bubble more than the other?

Lol...sorry bout asking all the questions, I'm in the midst of studying sieved concentrates currently, and by gathering info from other producers it helps me in my own learning.

Click to expand...

Yes, waxy.
Melts fully.
Both melt the same.
Bubbles the same.

Ill 2nd how important curing is. Made first run couple weeks back was pretty impressed. I kept a g out uncured and today took rest out of curing jar. Wow what a difference. Im in love with cured creamy full melt