What Are Rosin Chips?

Rosin chips, sometimes called rosin pucks, are the flat, disc-shaped cannabis pancakes that are left behind after you press rosin.

After the majority of the resin has been extracted from the starting material, these leftover chips are usually peeled from the parchment paper and forgotten. Many clever extractors, though, are holding on to those seemingly useless chips and repurposing them.

If you want to get the maximum mileage out of your cannabis starting materials, you might want to consider removing those pucks from their rosin bags (assuming you use rosin bags) and giving them new life.

Flower Rosin Chips vs Hash & Sift Rosin Chips

Although pucks are commonly associated with flower rosin, they can also come from sift or hash rosin when rosin bags are used. Some commercial processors have large bags of these pucks left over and have no clue about what to do with them.

Pressed flower rosin chip (L) and hash rosin chips (R)

While there are uses for all types of rosin chips, the hash and sift chips can be especially valuable when repurposed because they contain less plant material and more extract by virtue of their original processing.

Are Rosin Chips Potent?

Rosin chips are less potent than the rosin they originally produced, as the majority of the compounds have already been removed from the starting material. But these chips still contain valuable cannabinoids and terpenes that can be extracted or used in other ways. When you combine the weight of multiple rosin pucks, you can achieve an end product as potent as anything in a dispensary cabinet. This is especially true of hash and sift rosin chips, as they consist of a more potent material to begin with.

Another secret to increasing the potency of rosin chips is to use them in products that are naturally more intoxicating. The classic example is to make edibles with rosin chips. When edibles are consumed, the liver metabolizes the THC and releases an enzyme called 11-hydroxy-THC. This enzyme is typically 2 to 3 times stronger than standard delta-9 THC, which means that you can achieve a sky-high buzz even if you’re consuming something with less THC.

What Can You Do With Rosin Chips?

If you have the time and the motivation, there are a lot of things you can do with rosin chips. For example, you can:

• Re-press your chips
• Extract the chips using a BHO system
• Make cannabutter
• Make oil infusions
• Create rosin chip tinctures

You can also crush the rosin chips and smoke them, but this isn’t recommended. Smoking rosin chips will usually leave you with a weak buzz and a bad taste in your mouth.

Re-Press Your Rosin Chips

Pressing your rosin a second time won’t give you the same yield as the initial press, but it will give you some additional rosin. The trick is to use a modest increase in the temperature and pressure.

Hash rosin chips being pressed a second time to collect any remaining oil

The easiest way to re-press rosin chips is to fold the pucks in half, insert them into a fresh rosin bag, and set the temperature on your rosin press to about 220°F. A model like the Pikes Peak V2 or Longs Peak works well for this, as both models offer even heat distribution and precise temperature accuracy.

We don’t recommend using a higher temperature than 220°F, as terpene degradation will set in if you go too hot — and you can’t afford to lose terpenes at this point in the extraction. In addition to increasing the temperature, you’ll want to maximize the force output on your rosin press to squeeze every last drop of rosin from the chips.

The resulting extract won’t be as pure or flavorful, but it can still be excellent for vaping or sprinkling into pre-rolls. These second-round extracts may not be recommended for dabs, but they still have valuable uses.

Extract the Chips Using a BHO System

If you run a hybrid operation with both solventless equipment and traditional closed-loop extraction systems, you can extract additional cannabinoids and terpenes from your rosin chips by transferring them over to the closed-loop system.

As the solvent washes over the pucks and makes its way through the system, you’re able to reclaim cannabinoids and terpenes that would otherwise have been lost after the initial extraction. The reclamation can be especially significant if you’re loading spent rosin bags that contain sift or hash.

You might not get much extract from one or two pucks, but if you have a collection of hash rosin chips waiting to be discarded, don’t throw them out. You’ll be amazed by how much additional extract you can isolate with your BHO system. Just make sure to always test and evaluate your dosage before packaging for commercial use.

Make Cannabutter With Rosin Chips

Flower rosin chip on parchment paper post press

Perhaps the most popular way to repurpose rosin chips is to use them for making edibles. It’s easy to make cannabutter with rosin chips, and that butter can then be used as a base for all sorts of edible concoctions including baked goods, ice cream, mac and cheese, and so much more.

The first step is to decarboxylate your rosin chips. This is the heating process that activates the THC and other cannabinoids. To decarb rosin chips:

• Preheat your oven to 220°F.
• Tear the rosin chips into small chunks and spread them across a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes.
• Remove the sheet from the oven and let the chips cool.

Once the decarbing process is complete, you can start making your cannabutter. For this simple recipe, you’ll want to use about one full stick of butter for every ounce of cannabis material (so, if you’re working with a quarter-ounce, you’ll want a quarter stick of butter):

• Simmer the butter in a saucepan with an equal amount of water. The water will help to regulate the temperature and prevent your butter from charring. Continue simmering on low until the butter melts.
• Add the decarboxylated chips to the saucepan and continue simmering for about 2 hours. Keep the heat low, and don’t allow the saucepan to reach a full boil at any point.
• Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.
• Place a funnel over a glass jar, and cover the funnel in cheesecloth. Pour the butter into the funnel and allow it to filter through the cheesecloth and into the jar. Do not squeeze the funnel or otherwise try to force the butter through the cheesecloth more quickly, as this may result in unwanted plant material getting through the filter, particularly if you’re using flower rosin chips.
• Refrigerate the butter for about an hour. If you notice excess water in the jar, you can carefully drain it after the butter cools.

Once your butter is finished, it can be incorporated into countless recipes. And for commercial operations, it’s worth noting that your rosin chips can easily be included alongside your other cannabis starting materials when you do large batch-style decarbing for butters and oils.

Infuse Rosin Chips Into Coconut Oil

Just as you can infuse rosin chips into butter, you can also infuse them into coconut oil. The easiest way to do this is with the help of an infuser (just add the broken-up chips and oil to the infuser, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for time and temperature).

If you don’t have an infuser, you can also use your oven. You’ll want to use 1 cup of oil for every ½ ounce of rosin pucks.

• Preheat your oven to 200°F.
• Tear the rosin chips into small chunks and spread them across a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
• Pour the oil over the baking sheet, covering the cannabis.
• Insert the sheet into the oven and bake for 2 hours, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove the sheet from the oven and let the infused oil cool.
• Place a funnel over a glass jar, and cover the funnel in cheesecloth. Pour the oil mixture into the funnel and allow it to filter through the cheesecloth and into the jar.

As with cannabutter, you can incorporate your infused oil into various recipes to make edibles. But the infused oil is even more versatile than butter, as you can also use it to make soaps, topicals, and other cannabis-based home preparations.

Make Rosin Chip Tinctures

Finally, some savvy extractors like to turn their rosin chips into handy cannabis tinctures. For this, you’re going to want to use the purest grain alcohol you can find. A 190-proof Everclear is ideal, but not all states allow products with this high of an alcohol concentration. If you can’t access the 190, the 151-proof Everclear should work just fine.

• First, decarboxylate your rosin chips as outlined in the cannabutter section above.
• Place the cannabis pieces in a glass jar, and submerge them in the alcohol. Set aside.
• Let the cannabis soak in the alcohol for 1 to 3 months. Shake the jar vigorously a few times every day.
• Strain the liquid to remove any remaining plant material, and pour the tincture into dark-colored medicine droppers and use as needed.

Whenever you want to use your tincture, just place a couple of drops under your tongue and let it absorb into your bloodstream. The tincture can also be swallowed in tiny, individual doses, but do not attempt to drink it like a beverage.

Don’t Throw Away Your Rosin Chips

Pressed hash rosin chip | Image by Eric Simpson (@simpsonsolventless) from Instagram

There are plenty of ways to repurpose your rosin chips, thus ensuring that none of your material goes to waste when you press rosin. And if you invest in a cannabis infuser or re-press your chips, you can easily reclaim those leftover cannabinoids and terpenes without investing a lot of time or effort.

One rosin chip might not be worth much, but a batch of chips can carry a lot of value. So before you toss those used bags into the trash, consider how you might be able to make your rosin go even further.