hello!
I have been reading this thread for some time (still not finished)
about three months ago I became OBSESSED with hash. I love the idea of creating a soleventless product. I have set my goals high. I have decided to become the finest hash maker in the state of Oregon or lose my mind trying
(no offense to others here). You have to have goals!
I started by reading tons of books. I have seen almost every single video, documentary and any information that I can get my hands on. I stumbled on "frenchy's" videos a little while back and throughly enjoyed them all. I also love the idea of pressing the hash, which I know is not necessarily the route many are going currently. The trend seems to be towards the looser kief, but I love both. I am a fan of using the long historical practices and when applicable, applying new methods as well. I have been doing dry sift, water and any other method I can try. I still have a tremendous amount to learn, but do have final products in various stages currently "curing"
I spent some time today working on some and have some questions and comments that I hope you can help with.
I would start by saying that with todays batch I did a number of things differently than I have been doing with my other batches. Some of the things that I did today were in fact based on tips and advice from Frenchy's videos. I guess I should talk a little about how I have been doing things and what was different with todays load. I will also (hopefully) post some pics.....
I have been running batches using eight bags (220-25). I have been painstakingly been pulling each bag and separating into each different batch. I also have used the 220 bag either in a machine or by hand. Then I dump the water into the other bags. I have some batches as short as three minutes and ones as long at 21 minutes.
In the batches before today I would press the water out of the piles, microplain, let dry and store. The only thing that is odd about the older batches is that I have traditionally seen very little green color in any bag and also the quality has been pretty decent all the way through. Of course the older batches were stored as loose material and none of it was pressed (yet
). over time the golden piles have taken on a brown or reddish hue. I should also say the batches looked pretty good considering I was not necessarily using the best material, which was also confusing....Also I have been freezing the trim.
Today I decided to do things differently. I started by using fresh material. I did not use the 220 bag, but put the material in the machine with the purified ice and water. I let the first run go about 9 minutes.
The first thing I noticed is that the water was much darker (green) than any batch I have done. First I used the 160 bag followed by the 73 and then the 45 (as shown in the video). I also noticed all the bags were much more green than any previous. I continued to run batches and each subsequent one became more green still. I will say that I do love my all mesh bags (no I did not get the good ones because I had purchased mine before I saw them).
I am hoping to be able to upload some pics to show what I am talking about.
Image 1 is the first run 73.
Image 2 is the 73, 90 and some later runs
Image 3 is the 45 (when I pulled it at the end) with the 45 that has been dried.
Image 4 is a comparison of all of them.
Image 5, 6 and 7 show todays with my loose material from previous runs.
Anyway, I appreciate any help and or tips. I will say that I find the task of quick drying the material in towels and then chopping it up MUCH easier than quick freezing and micro planing as I have done previously.
I will also say that I hate, hate, hate the pressing
. I love the rest of the process, but that part is a killer. I did experiment with using a hair-straightening appliance hoping it would work. I think it could have, but I do not think it was pressing hard enough. I also do not know the optimal temperature for pressing ultimately.
Thanks in advance and for all the wonderful information! I am also sure I forgot a few questions that I will still have