Before starting, ensure you have either cellophane or parchment paper, alongside a newspaper or cloth you are willing to throw away, and an iron. Turn the iron on the lowest heat setting and ensure that the water chamber is filled, because you will be using that to prevent the iron from burning the paper/cellophane. To begin, get either a 4 inch by 4 inch piece of parchment paper and fold it in such a way that the kief will not fall out, or grab the cellophane that comes wrapped around cigarette packages. I find the cellophane is easiest to use because it is already sealed and shaped like a box. Plus, it is easy to fold over, even with large amounts of kief.

Pour the kief into the wrapper, usually up to a quarter inch thick works well for me. After this, wrap the cellophane/parchment paper tightly around the bud. When doing this, you want to try to ensure that all the kief is kept together and does not stick to the upper walls of the cellophane when wrapping. In other words, you want to avoid having multiple layers of kief. Keep it as one, flat layer, so you can pop out a puck easily.Wrap this in either wet newspaper or a wet cloth, and you are ready to begin the pressing process.

Be sure to take your time when pressing. You don’t want to allow the outer wrapping to become too dry, and you don’t want to burn the kief by pressing down on it too long with the iron. However, you also do not want to use the iron too little, or else your kief puck will stick to the sides of the parchment paper. I found the perfect balance to be in bursts of three seconds at a time, flipping the “package” in between each press. Typically, I’m more concerned about weight rather than heat. I try to put all of my weight on the center of the iron when I press down, and re-wet it ever other time, if not every time I press. After about 20-30 presses, you can start to unwrap the cellophane and take a look at your hash.

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If it appears to not stick to the sides of the cellophane, it is ready. However, if you are having a hard time getting it out, I would recommend re-wrapping it, using new newspaper that has been freshly wetted, and try another 10-20 presses. You may also consider turning up the heat on the iron by 1 or 2 power levels and having a heavier/stronger friend do the actual pressing for you. Once it is ready, you can either smoke a slab on top of a bowl or crumble the hash up into a joint! I’ve even tried dropping a small slab on a hot nail with interesting results. Give it a shot and tell us what you think.

Do you have a better way? Email [email protected] and let me know.