What Are Rosin Chips & What Can You Do With Them?
Todde Philips
🇺🇸 Retired veteran, father, rock-climbing expert & rosin connoisseur
✅ Updated 9/28/21
Rosin chips, also sometimes called "pucks" are the flattened pancakes of cannabis flowers that remain after being squished at the press.
Those flat pucks of squished buds still contain cannabinoids and terpenes, and although there’s less to extract than the first time around, there are at least 2 effective ways to extract them.
Re-pressing Pucks for More Rosin
Although the initial press yields the highest quality rosin, there is still some worthwhile extract to be obtained the second time around. At a slightly higher temperature and with a bit of extra pressure, you can squeeze some decent rosin from rosin chips.
The quality of rosin you’ll get from chips may be better suited for vaporizing or adding to pre-rolls, as opposed to dabbing. You won’t have the same flavor profile and purity with rosin extracted from chips as you will from freshly-cured flower, however it’s still useful to press the chips a second time. Keep your first-run rosin for dabbing and your second-run with the chips for other purposes.
To re-press the rosin chips, just fold the pancaked flowers in half, place in a fresh rosin bag and follow the same steps as you did with the first press.
Or, you can leave the puck in the original bag and simply fold in half for the second press.
Aim to press the chips at 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Although you can have success at higher temperatures, even up to 250 degrees, at 220 you’ll be able to preserve the terpenes that remain in the chips after the first press.
Using Rosin Chips to Make Edibles
To make edibles with your rosin chips, the key is to create an environment where the active ingredients that remain in the cannabis can separate from the plant material and bind to molecules that can then be ingested. The molecules you want are fats and lipids, which allow cannabinoids to be processed in our digestive tract and kidneys and then effectively delivered into the bloodstream.
The best way to achieve this is to heat rosin chips in butter or oil, which are high in fats and lipids. With the help of heat, cannabinoids in the rosin chips will bind to the butter or oil, which can be used in your favorite recipes. It’s as simple as boiling the chips in water and butter.
For best results, use about 1 oz of rosin chips per stick of butter. To prep the chips, place them inside a rosin bag (should be food safe and boil resistant, like these) and tie the top securely to keep any plant material from escaping.
To start, boil a pot of water to 190 degrees Fahrenheit and add a stick of butter. Allow the butter to melt and float to the top of the pot. Then, add your rosin bag filled with chips and allow to boil for 1-2 hours. Bear in mind that the closer you get to the 2-hour mark, the more sedative the product will become as certain cannabinoids are transformed with exposure to heat.
Once you’ve boiled the mixture for 1-2 hours, remove from heat and let the butter settle and solidify at the top of the pot. After it’s cooled down completely, remove the butter and place in a container.
As a best practice (although not completely necessary) add 1 tsp of sunflower lecithin to the cannabudder by slowly simmering together in a skillet over very low heat. The goal is simply to heat just enough that the butter can melt and be whisked together with the lecithin.
This final step increases the bioavailability of the cannabudder, and we recommend taking the extra 5 minutes at the end to fully optimize the effectiveness of your edibles.
Now, it’s time to use the butter in your favorite recipes and enjoy!
Using Rosin Chips to Make Rosin Capsules
Similar to using rosin chips for edibles, you can use rosin chips to infuse MCT oil and make capsules. Check out our article about how to make rosin capsules to learn more.
Conclusion
Even after a 20% yield from your first run of flower, cannabinoids and terpenes often remain in the leftover chips. The trick is in knowing how to extract them. So, don’t be so quick to chuck your chips. Give these methods a try and let us know what worked best for you in the comments below.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What can I do with used rosin bags?
After using a rosin bag for extracting rosin, you can use the spent rosin chip (cannabis material plus rosin bag) to press a second time, or as a source of cannabis for infusing edibles, tinctures, MCT oil capsules, etc. Although you can reuse rosin bags for extraction after cleaning, you will get the best results by using a new rosin bag for every press.
What are rosin chips?
Rosin chips are the used cannabis material and rosin bag that remains after rosin extraction. Rosin chips can be pressed a second time, or used as a source of cannabis for infusing edibles, tinctures, MCT oil capsules, etc.
What are MCT Oil Capsules?
MCT Oil Capsules are encasements of coconut oil infused with cannabis. They are swallowed like any regular supplement and deliver high doses of cannabis with minimal caloric intake.
What are the easiest edibles to make at home?
One of the most well-known and easiest forms of cannabis edibles is cannabudder, which can be used in all kinds of cooking and baking. Once you infuse regular butter (transforming it into "cannabudder") it can be a versatile ingredient to a variety of edibles like cookies, brownies, and even sauces for different recipes.
Do I need to decarb rosin chips before using in edibles?
In short, no. Decarbing rosin chips is not necessary, since the heat used during the infusion process will facilitate decarboxylation.
2 comments
So should I maybe decarb 1st or not necessary 🤔?
Don’t forget the important step of decarboxylating the chips before making the butter