Extracting rosin is more art than science.

But there is one hard and fast rule.

Nothing affects the quality of your output more than the quality of your input.

If you use low quality flower, you will get low quality rosin, no matter what temperature, pressure or pressing time you use.

And if you use high quality input material, you will get high quality output.

That said, the temp, pressure and time settings you use while pressing do play a role.

But humidity plays a bigger role. After quality of material, the relative humidity is the second most important factor.

Then comes finding the right balance between pressing time, pressure and temperature.

That balance is going to be different for every type and strain of input material. You'll have to adjust and fine-tune, until you get it just right.

Understanding How Rosin Presses Work.

Temperature plays a big role in determining the quality and yield and the ideal temperature is heavily dependent on the chemical makeup of the cannabis used.

If your flowers, dry sift, or hash is terpene-rich, a lower temperature is needed. This is because the terpenes squeezed out of the trichome glands during the initial press act as a natural solvent to facilitate the rosin process.

With fewer terpenes to play that role, you’ll need more pressure and heat to coax the cannabinoids out of the glands.

Pressing Power Example

Alright, let’s look at an example to calculate how much pressing power we need, to deliver the required psi. For this example, we’ll use 1000 psi as our target, the highest you’ll ever need.

PSI is pounds per square inch, so it is calculated by taking the total pressing power (in pounds) and dividing by the total pressing area (in square inches).

PSI = Pressing Power / Pressing Area

Since we already know the PSI, we have:

1000 psi = Pressing Power / Pressing Area

We can figure out the pressing area too. Let’s take a 2 by 6 inch bag for our example. The surface area of that bag is 12 square inches. Now we have:

1000 psi = Pressing Power / 12 sq in

To calculate the pressing power required, we multiply both sides of that equation by 12:

12 sq in * 1000 psi = Pressing Power * 12 sq in / 12 sq in

The two "12 sq in" on the right side of the equation cancel each other out, leaving us:

12,000 pounds = Pressing Power

12,000 pounds is 6 tons, so we would need a press capable of delivering 6 tons to deliver the pressure we need.

And remember that we did this calculation assuming we want the maximum possible required pressure of 1000 psi. We rarely need that much if we press flower and never need that much for hash or kief.

We also did not factor in the bag seam. That generally reduces the size of the bag by half an inch or so. A smaller bag size ends up reducing the pressing power we need even further.

Eco Farm Rosin Press Machine- KP1

Pros:

• The digital interface is fantastic for ensuring that, once you get the right pressing temperature, you can accurately recreate the pressing process every time

• Small enough to sit in a garage, kitchen or room

• Easy to clean and incredibly easy to use with minimal manual effort

Cons:

• May be a little too expensive for some beginners

• For anyone looking for a really basic pressing machine, this might be a little too much

ECO Farm rosin press can be your great choice.

Dabpress 6 Ton Personal Rosin Press

Pros:

• Incredibly sturdy and built to last

• Staggering amounts of pressure

• Digital processes make pressing in large batches a breeze

Cons:

• Might be a bit too bulky for a beginner who won’t get the most out of larger press

Best Temps and Time for Rosin Pressing

When it comes to finding the best time and temp for rosin press, you weigh the benefits of yield versus terpene preservation. Nobody can really give you the best exact time frame, it’s something you need to feel out with the press you’re using.

Hot press is 190–240°F for 30–180 seconds. Hot pressing rosin gives an oily or shatter consistency. The terpene profiles may not be as carefully preserved, but yields are higher than cold pressing.

Cold press is 160–190°F for 60–300 seconds. Cold pressing rosin makes a thick budder consistency. The best terpene preservation, but yields are lower than hot pressing.

Terpenes often degrade at over 250°F. Flowers (buds) are usually pressed hotter than bubble hash or sift, which extracts fine at lower temps.

The Rosin Extraction Process Explained

The concept of extracting rosin is quite simple. Two heated plates are pressed on both sides of the desired starting material (which is enclosed in parchment paper or rosin pouches) at high pressure.

The heat from the plates loosens the resinous glands, or trichomes, that contains all of the plant’s cannabinoids while the pressure effectively squeezes it from the flower. This basic process is the foundation for rosin presses and the technology that makes them run.

Since rosin is produced without the use of solvents, which can change the flavor and finished product, it’s preferred by users who don’t want any chance of having lingering, man-made chemicals in their concentrates.

The very best rosin, referred to as “live rosin” is pressed from plants that are freshly harvested, thereby maximizing the integrity of the cannabinoids and terpene compounds which collectively as an “entourage effect” help create a superior high when compared to more harsh extraction processes.

entourage effect cannabis

This extraction technique has been used by other industries for thousands of years. Imagine squeezing the oil out of olive or the juice from a grape. The rosin process presses the starting material until it produces a potent, solventless concentrate.

Which Rosin Press Should You Buy?

The main types of press are manual, hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, and hybrid. Each uses a different mechanism to apply the pressure.

When looking for the best rosin press, there are a few things we considered.

1. The Shape of the Plates – For Ease of Use & Efficiency

Rectangular plates work best. The ideal plate structure of a rosin press is longer and narrower. This is because this shape maximizes the perimeter of your press. A rectangular plate will normally outperform a square one.

2. Even Heat Distribution – For a Quality Product

Your rosin press should have uniform heat distribution. The way heat works to extract rosin is by melting the trichomes and other essential compounds into a lower viscous form.

Many cheap rosin presses don’t have even heat distribution across their plates, and this leads to lower quality rosin.

3. Reliability – Consistent Mechanical Operation

Rosin presses can get pretty pricey. So, it makes sense to only invest in a press that will last you years to come.

So with all that said we’ll get into the best products in each category for manual presses, hydraulic, pneumatic, electric, and diesel-powered.

Okay, we’re just kidding about the diesel option, but who knows, maybe one day!

4. Locally Manufactured – Pay Karma Forward By Supporting Local Business!

The cannabis industry is a tight knit one, not just because the law forces it to be, but because fundamentally cannabis is a communal herb and therefore it makes sense to also support local/domestic equipment manufacturers whenever possible.

With quality indicators out of the way you should start thinking about the volume of plant material you plan on processing in the next 1-5 years because there is no harm in buying a press that you can “grow into”.

Below are some of the best rosin press machines we could find, including models that come in under $300, under $500, and under $1000 respectively.

Final thoughts

Choosing the right rosin press machine comes down to your business or personal goals. If you are looking to expand to dominate your state’s market, then we’d recommend sticking with hydraulic and pneumatic options as they are the most reliable and bullet-proof options.

If you are a home grower or a smaller company focused on smaller product ranges but place an emphasis on quality, then a small fine-tunable option like an electric press is probably better for you.

One thing for sure is these are all well-built machines that will last, and since the cannabis extracts market is only continuing to grow at lightning speed you’re pretty safe off buying just about any sized press because it won’t be too hard to sell it used when the time comes to upgrade.