I hope this is acceptable and an okay place to post. I’ve talked to a couple of people here on the Forum and they seem interested in making hash with ice bubble bags using leftover trim and small buds.
If anyone has done this before and has any critique, ideas, criticism, advice, etc, I’m all ears. I’m always willing to learn to do something a better way. As for now this is the way I’ve done it and it seems to work for me. I do get good results. I think all of you will too. This little step by step on how to use the Bubble Bags is more or less a combination of my own trial and errors and watching YouTube videos. I tried to pick and choose what works best for me. this is what I came up with.
Materials: drill with a paint mixer attachment, 5 gallon bucket, Bubble Bags (5 gallon sized), paper towels, lots of ice ( like the size of bag of ice you can get from the gas station), a plate, 25 micron press screen, Frozen trim ( place any material you want to use in the freezer the night before making your hash. I hear that it’s supposed to help the trichromes come off easier), a spoon, wax paper, ice cold pitcher of water, and rubbing alcohol.
Bag order: smallest Micron size bag goes first into the five gallon bucket followed by increasing Micron size bag placed into the previous bag all the way to the top of the five gallon bucket. In my case the order would go 25 microns 73 microns 120 microns 160 microns and then my 220 Micron “work bag”.
Pre mix: Take 5 gallon bucket fill the bottom with enough ice to cover the bottom of the bucket. Place bags smallest to largest microns into 5 gallon bucket. Place ice first into bottom of 220 Micron work bag. Then take trim and add that to the work bag. Continue alternating between ice and trim until a few inches from the top of the bucket. Fill the bucket with as much water as you can but leave room to mix. Let ice water and trim sit for 20 minutes to get cold.
In the mix: stir the mixture for 15 min with the drill and paint mixer attachment. Move mixer all around to create foam on top of the ice water/trim mix in the bag. let the freshly mixed solution settle for 10 minutes. Add more ice if needed. Stir the mixture solution for another 15 minutes with the drill and paint mixer attachment. It is okay once again if a white foam appears on the top of your mix solution. Let the freshly mixed solution settle for 20 minutes for all trichomes to settle on the bottom of the bags.
Harvesting the hash: slowly remove each bag one-by-one allowing the cold water to drain into the next bag by holding each bag over the following bag. If any trichomes are stuck to the sides of the bags and or the screen, gently wash the sides of the bag with ice cold water from the pitcher to gather the trichomes on the center of the screen. Dry off the bottom of the bags with paper towels and or place the used bag in a safe place to drain/ice to melt. Take the bag that is emptied of water, containing hash, and take your spoon and scrape off any and all trichomes that have gathered on the bottom of the screen. It may be necessary to fold the bag so you almost turn it inside out to make it easier to scrape the screen. Take hash from your spoon and place it on a half side of the 25 micron press screen. Lightly dab the screen with paper towels to remove excess water. Repeat this process for each bag until done.
Freezing and drying hash: place the folded 25 micron screen with all your hash onto a plate that has a piece of wax paper on it. take the plate with the hash and wax paper and place it into a freezer for 30 to 40 minutes. It just needs to be frozen enough to easily pick the hash off of your 25 micron press screen. After your hash is frozen take another plate with a piece of wax paper on it and place each frozen piece of hash onto that wax paper and plate. Spread out the pieces of hash so there is room for them to thaw and dry. This will also keep the different colored and sized hash separate. It takes about a week little more a little less depending on how thick your hash is, etc. I usually wait long enough so there’s no doubt its dry. Basically the outside of your gob of hash will turn a darker color compared to the inside. It should break open and feel almost soft and malleable. It should crumble when dry.
Clean up: first discard of all your leftover ice and trim mess however is best for you to quietly dispose of. Take each bag one at a time by placing them into the empty 5-gallon bucket but now instead of water and ice you put some of your rubbing alcohol enough to cover the bottom. Roughly half an inch deep. Let the bag soak for a couple of minutes and then wash clean with water and hang to dry. Repeat for each bag.
in no way do I think this is the end all be all way to use your bubble bags. As a matter of fact if anybody has any opinions I would love to hear them. I’m always up for streamlining my process. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this. I hope it works for anyone who tries it. Another thought I have is it would be a good idea to watch a few YouTube videos to get a visual idea of what I’m trying to explain in writing. I could have messed something up along the way. Take care and thank you for your time. I hope this helps.
