Homegrown Hashishan Podcast Getting Started with Pressing Flower Rosin with CannaPlates
Cannabis enthusiast and student of the art of solventless extraction
We're excited to share this conversation with Cannaplates from a recent episode of the Homegrown Hashishan Podcast here on our blog. Thanks to the team at Homegrown Hashishan for making it happen!
The Homegrown Hashishin is the first podcast made specifically for single-source solventless home and hobby hash producers. This show is a celebration of craft hash making, and whether you're a seasoned solventless expert or just dipping your toes into the water, there’s always something to learn. Hosted by two passionate home hash makers, Sonoma Sungrown and Don't Worry Be Hashy, the podcast dives deep into processing techniques, home grow strategies, and the art of producing top-tier solventless hash – all from the comfort of your own home.
A big shoutout to our friends at The Press Club who’s making this podcast a reality. Trusted by top hash makers from around the world, The Press Club is your one-stop-shop for everything you need to make your own hash and rosin at home from presses to bags to stainless steel washing vessels.
Both of us have been using The Press Club for years now and we have nothing but amazing things to say about their products and company. Top-quality, dependable solventless products at a fair price backed by amazing customer service. Run by a small group of friends who love hash just like you, The Press Club is a true small family owned business made for the community by the community. The Press Club is also the only bags officially recommended by the Frenchy Cannoli brand. Grab a set and start washing like a pro today!
Now, let's get to the conversation...
Sonoma Sungrown: Welcome to another episode of the Homegrown Hashishan! I'm your host, Sonoma Sungrown, and with me is my co-host, Don't Worry Be Hashy. Hashy, how you doing today, man?
Don't Worry Be Hashy: I'm doing great. Coming off of a week-long vacation to the beach, feeling mentally refreshed and used some of the tips we got from the Cartiologist to make up a batch of carts before I headed down there. Smoking some Island Blends on Dauphin Island, it was very nice.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: it's pretty good. I was really bummed because I did it as a fun side project with a buddy and I hit a 2.9% return to hash. I was, dude, I'm sorry. It was a pretty good amount of fresh frozen weight. I was, I don't know, man.I think the banana OG didn't really wash. And then he hopped on the Bloom Discord and was asking people and he found multiple people say they only hit 1%, it was a plant that stacked on a lot of fresh frozen weight. And it's a very interesting case of something I talk about with people of, hash per square foot versus hash per gram because it was a massive amount of fresh frozen, hit a low yield, but still had a really good amount of hash.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: It was a fun experience, hash per cubic square foot of freezer space is more of the world that I live in. Or it's, I've got these outdoor plants and a very limited amount of freezer space. soon to be double, damn it, my birthday is this weekend. I'm getting myself a second freezer. Nice.
Sonoma Sungrown: But I think for a lot of us, we started off doing flower rosin and a lot of people still continue flower rosin even after they've gone into hash rosin. we've got a really great guest today. He's a heck of a guy from Alberta, Canada.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Please welcome, Cannaplates. Hey, Hashi. Cannaplates, how you doing?
Cannaplates: Live and learn. But, then I graduated to a set of square, non-anodized plates that I got from a supplier down in the US and things took off from there. I decided to start my own company because I was getting crappy customer service from the person in the United States whose name should remain unnamed, of course. But, I knew I could do better than them. I designed my own set and here we are in business since 2016.
Sonoma Sungrown: Nice. what was that, I guess, when you first stepped up from the hair straightener technique to real plates?
Cannaplates: It blew me away. I remember the first couple of times I pressed flower rosin. I was, this is why everybody wants greens on a fresh bowl. you're, you're getting all the melty turps and trichomes off that first hit of a flower bowl.
Sonoma Sungrown: I quickly discerned it as, this is green hits every time you do a dab then as opposed to loading up a bowl and having the flavor degrade over the course of your next eight or nine hits. That's a cool. That's cool. I've had, I've had friends who are really into,, there's everybody goes through their shatter phase. Soft and base extracts. I've given buddies who are chronic shatter years, one dab of rosin, the same size. They do a shatter hit and it greens them out.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: It's interesting too. You think about, we always talk about hash being the representative of the plant. You really want to end product as a hash figure to be the representative plant. In a lot of ways, flower rosin is the more direct way to do that. I agree. in some ways, if that's what we're doing, it's a more pure form than hash rosin. Yes, it is.
Cannaplates: I agree. the hash is going to only give you what's in the trichome head. That's all it's going to give you.
Sonoma Sungrown: Totally. Now, is the thought that the lipids and things that would be present in the plant material contribute to the entourage?
Cannaplates: I really don't know, but because I really don't have any science behind that and I hate spouting off something is hearsay. But I do believe everything in the flower and of course the trichome fluids, resins being pushed through the plant material. Obviously, it picks up waxes, lipids, fats, even plant oils itself, chlorophyll.
Because, again, terpenes are pronged plants, natural solvents. they're going to start dissolving things within that plant material and you're going to get any flower rosin, which is either going to degrade or enhance your stone.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Are you going to attach two heating elements to a metal plate, which was stupid because the metal took away out the heat from the heating iron.. Oh, That makes sense. That's interesting. It was an invention. All in the spirit of experimentation.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Don't do that. now you started to progress along. I guess how long ago did you start using bags?
Cannaplates: They're still working to this day. I think three by five is a common footprint that people start with. you started using bags pretty quickly.
Sonoma Sungrown: Yes. I think where I'd to start is,, for those listening, I think a lot of people start growing first and then other people prioritize rosin, where for me, as an example, I was already smoking a lot of hash rosin. That was very expensive.
Cannaplates: That was what drove me to start growing and making my own solventless. But prior to that, I was I was very lucky and was gifted plants that were pretty much ready for flip. But after I got all my gear set up, I was, hey, now I still got 10 to 12 weeks before I can wash anything. what am I going to do for the next three months? I would I would buy flower from the dispensary, get flower gifted from a friend or whatever, and then jump straight into flower squishing while I was in that first grow. And was pretty much squishing four days a week, obsessed with pressing and testing out different micron bags, testing out different temperatures, tracking stuff in spreadsheets to figure out what strain I was getting the highest yields off, different humidities in terms of getting everything re-humidified in jars.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: If you get a good supplier... For myself, the only control I had... I better start over. I haven't grown in 20–25 years. I'm currently not in a position to grow my own cannabis. I went directly from smoking joints to dabbing rosin.
Cannaplates: Mainly, I switched because I couldn’t handle smoking plant material anymore. I started pressing rosin and never looked back. I used Pillow Tech bags because bottle tech or chottle tech on a rectangular plate isn’t ideal. Too much rosin gets trapped between the plates. I think those methods have their place, but not on rectangular plates.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Look at the trichomes. Buy a small sample, test it, and ensure the moisture is around 60–65%. If you’re using a bag, fill it properly. An underfilled bag creates empty space, and rosin will get lost there. Repressing to extract it is never ideal—it brings out undesirable plant material.
Cannaplates: Try to get to full pressure as quickly as possible within your time window. That gives you more time at pressure and typically better results. And preheating flower rosin? Don’t do it. Preheating breaks trichome heads and causes them to leach out unwanted compounds.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: For hash rosin, we preheat because trichome heads swell when heat and pressure are applied. Flower doesn’t react the same—there’s less mass and expansion. Also, when buying from dispensaries, ask about the manufacturing date. Freshness really matters.
Cannaplates: I once bought flower that had been sitting on the shelf for six months. The fresher, the better. If you're growing your own, you can press your flower the same day you chop it down. No curing needed. You also save time. Often you’ll need to rehydrate store-bought flower since it's around 48–50% RH. Use Boveda, Boost packs, or rehydration stones to get it back to 58–65%. That’s the sweet spot.
Cannaplates: If you're below 60%, you’ll get noticeably less rosin. Press a sample at 60%, one at 55%, and one at 50%, and compare.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: With hash, we don't want it completely dry either. Post freeze-dry, it's typically around 5–10% humidity. Keep it there. Freeze or vacuum seal it before pressing to avoid moisture uptake.
Cannaplates: Vacuum seal, press, and you’ll get that clear, glassy texture. That’s the way to go.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Let’s revisit bottle tech. That’s when you stand your bag up and press down. It creates a smaller contact point, which increases pressure at that point. More pressure = more yield.
Cannaplates: Right, and with most ram-based presses, pressure comes down through the ram. On rectangular plates, however, bottle tech leaves rosin trapped between the plates. That's not efficient.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: You want even distance for the rosin to escape. Otherwise, it sits too long under heat, degrading terpenes and ruining the flower profile.
Cannaplates: I still love bottle tech—it yields more. But I value quality. I’d rather get a little of the best than a lot of mediocre stuff. Early on, I followed Reddit and saw people chasing 22–24% returns using 160U bags. But those high returns often mean more fats and lipids, which destroy bangers over time.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: I started at 90U and moved to 37U, sacrificing maybe 10–15% in yield for better quality. What’s your recommendation on microns?
Cannaplates: 160U can let in plant particulates. I use 25 micron for everything, but 90U is ideal for flower—it keeps out most plant matter. The yield difference is minimal.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Exactly. 25U gives cleaner results, better taste, and less harshness. If I get 4g from an ounce, I’m happy. 14% is my minimum; 18–22% is average. Over 25% is excellent.
Cannaplates: My best was 34% from a local banana cake flower. Still grows it today. I even separated it for diamonds and sauce—got 35–40% THC returns.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Let’s shift to plant selection. I look for big trichome heads—twice the width of the stalk is good, three times is gold. That’s a keeper.
Cannaplates: Yes. If your hash yields 4–5%, it’s a flower presser. Flower rosin shines with cultivars that don’t wash well but have great terps, especially sativa-leaning ones.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Right. Flower pressing can actually capture terpenes better than bubble hash sometimes. People say flower pressing kills terps, but that’s not true.
Cannaplates: Terpenes can evaporate just from leaving a jar open overnight. For hard-to-wash strains, BHO used to be the go-to, but rosin has stepped up.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: You don’t know how it’ll perform until you press it. I’ve had garbage weed yield 22% and gorgeous-looking nugs yield 5%. It’s a gong show.
Sonoma Sungrown: What’s your favorite strain you’ve ever pressed?
Cannaplates: Banana cake, hands down. That stuff never disappoints—tested through 20–30 grows. Consistently great.
Sonoma Sungrown: Do you use flower rosin for carts?
Cannaplates: Oh yeah. But it has to be runny enough, with enough terps. If it’s thick, that’s likely THC crashing out during pressing.
Cannaplates: Mechanical separation is the same for flower and hash rosin. You want thick, dry, peanut butter-like consistency. Greasy rosin won’t separate—it flows out too easily.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: You can manipulate flower rosin. Jar tech at 50°C (122°F) helps THCA crash out and thicken it up. Then you can separate it.
Cannaplates: Yep. Between 100–125°F is a good range. 85°C (185°F) is the perfect starting temp for flower. Test from there.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: My best press was at low temp—produced white rosin. But it butters up more on the press. High temp gives better flow but is harder to collect.
Cannaplates: Lower temps don’t melt trichomes as well. You're forcing the rosin out with pressure, not heat.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Let’s take a quick dab break. Shout out to The Press Club at thepressclub.co. Use code homegrown to save 10%.
Sonoma Sungrown: The Press Club has been solid. Top quality tools and great customer service.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Back to it. Hash rosin hits quick and clean. Flower rosin has more of a full-body, flower-like high.
Cannaplates: Let’s talk post-processing. For flower rosin, jar it and heat it to adjust texture. A coffee mug warmer works great.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Rosin pressing is an art, and a gong show.
Sonoma Sungrown: Walk us through your Pillow Tech method.
Cannaplates: I use a 10x3" press with 4.5x2" bags. Pre-press 14g, insert like toast, fold over, and press. The plate leaves a consistent gap for rosin to escape. You can press 7g without a bag too. Just center the puck on your plates. I ramp up to pressure over 60 seconds using small increases. Hold for 90–120 seconds. Visual cues tell you when it’s done. Don’t overcook your rosin. Less is more.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: I smoke mostly hash, but dirty flower rosin dabs still hit hard. One hit and I’m baked.
Cannaplates: Amperage is key. You want 5% clear, 90% cloudy, 5% amber. That’s peak THCA production.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Flower rosin is the base of all solventless extracts. It starts there. I began with a hair straightener during COVID in Denver.
Cannaplates: Were you smoking bubble hash or rosin back then?
Don't Worry Be Hashy: Rosin. Bought a ton of Olio during 710 season.
Cannaplates: On 3x10" plates, I can press 50–60g of hash. It’s a big setup—four 500W elements at 50% power. Low amperage.
Cannaplates: I started building plates because of bad customer service. All I wanted was a replacement lid. Instead, I got the runaround. That frustration launched Cannaplates. Now I focus on top-tier service. If you’re in Canada and buy from me, I guarantee support from start to finish.
Don't Worry Be Hashy: It’s not just about sales, it’s about the truth of rosin pressing. This was a blast. Sonny may be better looking than me, but I’ll give him that.
Sonoma Sungrown: Big thanks to everyone listening. Stay hashy, everyone!
Listen to the full episode here:
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