If you’re familiar with cannabis you probably have a keen eye at spotting the most potent bud in the bunch. Numerous hairs filled with resin glands and crystals are the perfect indicator of a strain’s potency. These little hairs are known as trichomes. Trichomes contain a large part of THC and CBD a marijuana or cannabis plant produces.
Once you’ve selected the best nug and finished grinding (we recommend following these 6 herb grinder tips), you’ll produce two things: ground cannabis flower and the various resins. These resins are essentially the pollen of the plant and are known as ‘kief’. It’s the purest thing your grinder produces.
Kief gives you the most potent kick when you’re using it. Regular herbs vary between 10-20% THC; this side product can contain 50%+ THC depending on your strain’s potency.
The kief falls to the bottommost compartment of your grinder, sifted from the ground bud through the mesh screen. Most grinders come with a small scooper, but gently tapping onto paper is the recommended way to collect it all at once.
Grinding one bud will not produce you a lot of kief, but be patient as your collection grows, and be sure to keep your grinder clean.
Once you’ve collected kief stash, there are a number of different ways you can use it. The most common method is to smoke it. Scoop and layer kief in your bowl, sprinkle on a joint, or even roll a joint in it (with a base coat of cannabis oil or even a small amount of plain honey). You can even make it into edibles.
The important choice to make is whether to smoke or eat it. Smoking kief can be done immediately after collecting it. For edibles, the kief needs to go through a process of decarbing.
Decarbing is the process of eliminating a carboxyl group and releasing carbon dioxide. This makes THCA, which naturally occurs in the plant, into THC. When you vape, burn, or smoke weed, this process happens automatically from the flame of your lighter or convection process of a vaporizer. You want THCA to become THC because it exponentially increases the effects you’ll feel. Without it, you may feel nothing at all and waste the potential of the kief you collected.
You can decarb your kief in a number of different ways. The easiest option we recommend is using your kitchen oven. Because is very easy to burn your kief, we have simple steps for you to follow for perfectly decarbed kief ready to consume. Once complete, you’ll be able to eat it straight, or mix it into any recipe.
- Collect all your kief in a glass mason jar.
- Loosely screw the lid onto the jar so air can travel in, but the top is gently covered.
- Preheat your oven to 250ºF and bake for 30 minutes
- Take it out, stir gently with a wooden stick – nothing plastic.
- Put it back in the over for 15 minutes at the same heat.
- Take it out, let it rest and cool.
With your decarbed kief, you can make all sorts of infusions with food and drinks. Infusing butter is the most popular, as well as honey, oils, and many other things. We suggest adding it to your favourite food to enjoy it the most!