Don't leave your profits in the dust!

Collecting kief is a great way to get the most out of your harvest. Whenever I have a bag of trim I make sure to not let the trichomes go to waste by using a simple dry sift method utilizing a mesh screen and a kief collector that’s small enough to fit on my desk while I write. Trichomes and crystals cover both the bud and the sugar leaves on the cannabis plant and should not be squandered!

Kief is an amazing smoke with a THC level typically between 40% to 60%. In comparison, a premium trimmed cannabis flower is at most 30% THC. But you don’t have to choose one over the other. Smoking a bowl of premium flower out of my hash pipe with a bit of kief on the top brings me immense joy.

Dry ice kief from my homegrown Blue Dream {image Lizzy Fritz]

For bigger projects, Tom’s Tumbler is the perfect kief companion. With Tom’s Tumbler you can trim wet or dry. 

Wet Trimming

So first, let’s start with the wet trim process. After removing the stems, otherwise known as bucking, fill the Tumbler barrel to 3 inches below the middle axle line, either using the either provided ½” or ¼” MeshNet, depending on your bud sizes. Place the wet buds in the tumbler, equipped with Tom’s Tumbler CO2 adaptor. While rotating at the highest speed, open the CO2 valve all the way for 6 seconds. Turn off and continue tumbling for 3 to 5 minutes. The sugar leaves flash freeze and fall through the soft MeshNet. Remove the trimmed bud from the barrel, do a little touch up on the stubborn crow’s feet, and you have a finished bud.

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The TTT-3000 is Tom’s Tumbler’s largest batch machine trimming 50 lbs. per hours. Tom’s bladeless trimmers utilize inter-changeable mesh screens to trim, sort, and isolate kief.

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Use the CO2 adaptor when trimming wet buds.

Kief Making

To make the kief switch to the 151 Micron pollen/kief net. Insert the trim into the barrel with a few chunks of dry ice and tumble for 20 minutes. The kief will drop down the funnel for collection. Easy right?

Sensi Star Kief

Dry Trimming

When you dry trim with Tom’s Tumbler, use the same kief extraction process. Dry to the point that the sugar leaves break off when you rub your finger against them.  After properly drying, tumble for 3-5 minutes, per batch. The patented technology relies on the weight of the flowers tumbling against each other to trim the sugar leaves, the size of Tumbler you purchase should be thought out before your harvest. With more than 25 years of growing experience no harvest is too large or too small for Tom. He has a continuous feed Python that can take on your largest harvest, trimming 1,200 lb. per hour or the smallest Tumbler that does 6 lb. per hour. You’ll get plenty of high-potency powdery kief which can be enjoyed as is or further transformed in an edible or pressed with heat to become a delicious hash dab.Many large medical growers use Tom’s Tumblers at their facilities. You can watch Tikun Olam demonstrate the Python, Tom’s continuous feed, 400 lb. per hour machine, trim on Grower’s Network, Canna Cribs episode.  Enjoy your new way of making kief.

Watch the Python in action here.

Some beautiful old-school bubble hash Photo by @DabselPhoto for AMCHDenver.com

Curious about turning your Kief into hash? :

4-ways-to-make-hashish-at-home