Kief is a great base component to make edibles, oils, tinctures, hash, and more. Dry ice allows you to efficiently and cleanly extract THC trichomes (aka kief) from the extra trim clippings you have lying around after harvest, without the use of a chemical solvent (that’s our favorite part). The flavor and potency of the resulting kief can be turned into rosin, rivaling solvent-based closed-loop extraction systems. In other words, it will knock your socks off.
Why it works
The dry ice rapidly lowers the temperature of the plant matter making it brittle; this allows the trichomes to be more easily separated and harvested. The dry ice also works as an agitator in the bag/bucket so there is no need for stirring. The fine micron screen in the bubble bag filters out the THC trichomes and only the smallest bits of plant material.
Equipment
- 220 Micron Bubble Bag (also called isolator bags)
- Straight-walled bucket (sized appropriately for bubble bag)
- Large, Clean Working Surface (like a mirror or picture frame)
- Dry Ice (2+ Pounds)
- Trim/Clippings
- Plastic Card(s) (for scraping)
- Gloves/Goggles – Safety First!
- Hammer
How to Harvest
After donning your safety goggles and gloves, break dry ice into small chunks (approximately 2-inch cubes) using a hammer.
Put trim and dry ice into your bucket. Don’t fill more than halfway. Place a bubble bag over your bucket. Let sit for approximately two minutes lightly tossing on occasion, to ensure your trim and dry ice are fully integrated and all plant material has been brought down to the desirable temperature. At this time the micron screen should be facing upwards.
Flip that bucket over and shake what your mamma gave ya! And keep shaking… still shaking… you’ll want to shake your bubble bag/bucket for 3-5 minutes over your clean surface.
Eventually, the delightful powder will cover your work surface. If you plan on consuming this kief without secondary processing (like rosin creation), you’ll want to stop shaking when you notice the powder becoming a darker green – this is plant matter which is now breaking into finer bits. I use kief to make rosin, so a few extra shakes and a little extra plant material are ok, as it will be filtered out in a subsequent process.
Using a clean, plastic card, scrape powder off of your working surface into mounds. That’s all there is to it! If you like, purchase a simple “Pollen Press” to compact it into a less messy form.
