When people look at marijuana buds, they’re often fascinated by the white crystals known as trichomes. Kief is one part of these trichomes. When a significant amount of kief has been collected, it forms a powdery, brown substance. Those that use a grinder to bust up their marijuana buds will recognize it as the fine granules that collect in the lower section of their grinder.
How to collect kief
A grinder is one of the easiest ways to collect kief. It’s important to understand though, that only three-chamber grinders are able to do this. When a grinder is just a two-chamber grinder, those little crystals have nowhere to go but the sides of the grinder.
Once the marijuana is ground in a three-chamber grinder, it will fall into the first chamber. This will be what is used for smoking, vaping, or eating. But grinding marijuana leaves more than just those broken-up buds behind.
As the buds are ground, the kief falls into the second chamber through a screen. However, there it also contains a small amount of plant matter. The second chamber also has a screen, and that will sift out the pure kief into the third chamber.
For growers, or those just lucky enough to have a lot of marijuana on hand that they want to extract kief from, it can be done with large silk screens. These screens are much larger than the screens found in a grinder. Just like a grinder though, three or four of these screens will need to be stacked on top of each other. This will ensure that no plant matter is mixed in with the kief.
Once the extraction has been done, it can then be kept at the bottom of the grinder or in a glass jar. Most importantly, it should be kept in a space that is cool, dark, and dry. Every few days, it should be stirred and mixed so that it doesn’t bunch up and stick together.
Different uses for kief
Different uses for kief
There are many different uses for kief. They are:
- Sprinkle it over a bowl of marijuana in a pipe, also known as ‘crowning a bowl’.
- Place a generous pinch of kief in with ground buds that are to be rolled into a joint. Roll as normal. Once the joint is rolled, it can also be moistened using wax or saliva, and kief can be sprinkled ontop.
- Cannabutter is another great way to use kief. Once the buds have been decarboxylated, it can simply be added to those buds and the butter made as usual.
- Sprinkle it into coffee. The heat from the coffee will be enough to activate the cannabinoids in the kief and get one stoned about 15 to 30 minutes after drinking the coffee.
- Just as you can add a pinch of kief to a hot cup of coffee, you can also add it to a hot cup of tea exactly the same way.
- Place it into a vaporizer, either on its own or mixed with cannabis flowers.
You can also make hash with kief, but it’s a bit more of an in-depth process than any of those outlined above.
How to make hash with kief
Kief really is already hash, it just needs a little processing before it’s the real deal. All it takes is a little heat and pressure. Here’s how to do it.
- Heat an iron on its lowest setting. Make sure the steam setting is not on.
- Using about a foot of parchment paper, place in on an ironing board or another surface that can take the heat from the iron.
- Place a single layer of kief into the middle of the parchment and fold the parchment over. Make sure that the kief is situated near the fold of the parchment paper.
- Place something over the parchment paper such as a t-shirt, a towel, or even damp newspaper. This is the buffer.
- Iron the buffer for three to four seconds at a time. Then flip the parchment paper over, and iron again for three to four seconds. Continue doing this until the parchment paper has been ironed about 20 times, flipping the paper regularly.
- Check the kief throughout the process to make sure it is not too loose or sticky.
- Turn the iron off, and enjoy your homemade hash!
How to make kief rosin
Kief can also be made into rosin, which can then be used to make dabs. Those that have a rosin press can simply place it into the press, covered by parchment paper. For those that don’t have a rosin press though, there is a DIY way to do it. You will need at least a few grams of kief to do this.
- Place the kief between parchment paper that has been folder over.
- Using a hot hair straightener, clamp down on the parchment, applying as much pressure as you can. You should hear a sizzle, but be sure not to press too long or the kief could end up burning.
- Open the parchment paper and allow the collected rosin to cool. Once it does, you’ll have an extraction that can be scraped together and dabbed.
Conclusion
Not everyone knows that they’ve been collecting kief just by using a simple grinder. Now that you do, you can start using it in any number of ways to enjoy the unique and distinctive buzz it brings!