The object of stoner lore stretching back to the ‘90s, many cannabis enthusiasts still consider bubble hash to be the be-all, end-all of DIY extracts. While it’s one of the trickier types of hash to make properly, producing high-quality bubble hash from home doesn’t require any expensive equipment—though there are plenty of opportunities to invest in your setup for better output.

In this guide, learn what bubble hash is and how to make it in just a few simple steps. Find out how this type of extract shapes up to other forms of hash, and receive answers to commonly asked bubble hash questions.

What is bubble hash?

Also known as “water hash,” bubble hash is a type of cannabis extract produced using nothing more than the power of cold temperatures. When cannabis buds freeze, their cannabinoid-bearing trichome glands fall off. If you can simply capture those fallen trichomes, you’ve got yourself a high-quality cannabis extract without using any solvents or fancy machinery.

What is the difference between hash and bubble hash?

Traditional Middle Eastern hashish, shortened to “hash” by Westerners, is made by grating cannabis buds over a fine screen. The resulting cannabinoid concentrate is then usually pressed into bricks or otherwise condensed into a sticky substance rather than kept in its original powdery form.

Bubble hash, on the other hand, is made using filter bags and freezing temperatures. It isn’t commonly condensed into bricks and is usually kept in a powdery or granular form.

Can I make bubble hash from home?

Yes, you can make bubble hash from home using just a few simple, inexpensive materials and ingredients. Novice cannabis extractors often choose bubble hash as a first target since it offers some of the best results with the least knowledge and initial investment. Read on to learn exactly what you’ll need to do to make bubble hash in your own kitchen.

How many bags do I need for bubble hash?

All you really need to make bubble hash is one filter bag. Some bubble hash sets, though, consist of as many as eight bags that all work together to produce extremely filtered cannabis concentrate. It’s up to you how far you want to go in your quest to make the best DIY weed extract.

Making bubble hash: step-by-step

Let’s cover everything you’ll need to make bubble hash—starting with the materials:

  • Silkscreens, filter bags, or some other type of filtration material
  • 1-3 clean 5-gallon buckets
  • 25-micron microfiber filter cloths
  • Silicone or wood stirring spoon
  • Absorbent cotton towels
  • 5-10 grams of ground-up cannabis flower

Now, let’s move on to what you’ll need to do:

1. Line the bucket with your filter bag

2. If you have multiple bags, start with the bag that has the largest-micron filter holes

3. Fill around a third of the bag with ice

4. Add the ground-up cannabis, and cover it with ice

5. Fill the rest of the bucket with cold water, and wait 30 minutes

6. Begin gently agitating the chilled cannabis with a stirring spoon

7. A mechanical stirrer can be used if desired, but be careful not to overagitate the plant material

8. Allow at least 10 minutes for the cannabinoid-rich trichomes to settle to the bottom

9. Remove the bag of cannabis plant material from the water, and set it aside

10. Filter the water through a bag to claim your hash

11. Refilter the water through lower-micron bags to catch any trichomes that made it through the first bag

12.  Lay the hash, still in the bag, on top of a cotton towel

13. You can process the same flower multiple times to yield even more hash

How long does bubble hash take to make?

The length of time the process of making bubble hash takes varies depending on the setup you’re using and the grade of extract you want to have in the end. A simple bubble hash setup can yield usable concentrate within just 1-2 hours, but the more filtration phases you go through, the longer the process takes.

There aren’t many ways you can use wet hash, so you’ll need to wait for your extract to fully dry before you can start smoking or vaping it. If you’re processing a relatively large load of cannabis flower, expect making bubble hash to take at least a full day.

Can you make bubble hash without a freeze dryer?

Some people use freeze dryers to dry their bubble hash quickly. Vacuum dryers are another option, but you can also simply spread your hash out thinly over a wide surface area, allowing dry air to do all the work. You generally only need a freeze dryer or vacuum dryer if you plan to process large batches or bubble hash or you want your hash to be available for smoking sooner.

Can you use a dehydrator for bubble hash?

Technically, you could use a food dehydrator to dry bubble hash. From a practical perspective, however, it would be hard to prevent your hash from getting blown all over the inside of the dehydrator. To dry food, dehydrators keep a steady current of air running, but this same current will easily carry away small particulates like drying bubble hash.

Should I press my bubble hash?

Pressing hash is an optional way to make your bubble hash easier to store and begin the decarboxylation process, making hash more bioactive when ingested orally. It’s up to you whether you’d like to press your bubble hash—doing so may damage the delicate terpenes and flavonoids that make cannabis extract taste so good.

What does pressing hash do?

When you press hash, you bind trichomes together, creating a sticky substance that can be molded into any desired shape. If you use heat to press your hash, you may raise the temperature of the cannabinoids it contains to the requisite threshold for decarboxylation, the process that transforms cannabinoids into their bioactive forms. Pressing hash also makes it more convenient to transport or add to bowls of weed.

Bubble hash FAQs

Let’s finish up with answers to a few common bubble hash questions:

What’s better: bubble hash or dry ice hash?

Using dry ice is a cheap and effective way to make usable cannabis concentrate. One of the easiest approaches simply involves putting dry ice and ground-up cannabis together in a box with fine-micron filter material on top. Then, you simply shake the cannabis and dry ice together until trichomes fall out.

While the dry ice hash method skips the water and therefore results in hash you can use without having to wait for it to dry, the intensely cold temperatures of dry ice can also damage your plant material. Making bubble hash is usually more forgiving and rewarding for beginners.

Is bubble hash the same as kief?

Bubble hash and kief essentially consist of the same thing: trichomes that have broken off cannabis buds. The ways they’re attained are starkly different, however.

Kief is filtered from ground-up buds that are then used for smoking. Hash, however, is produced by grating cannabis flowers on a screen, agitating them with ice, or otherwise making the original plant material unusable.

Can you smoke wet bubble hash?

It is not advisable to smoke wet bubble hash. The water in the hash has to evaporate before the cannabinoids it contains can vaporize, resulting in weak, fizzling hits. Find a way to effectively dry your bubble hash before you begin the extraction process.