If you are a flower enjoyer, you’ve probably opened up the bottom of your grinder to find weeks or months worth of kief built up at the bottom. This fine, powdery goodness is super concentrated and full of trichomes from your ground-up flower. The question is, though, what do you do with it?
This blog post will give you a quick rundown of what kief is, how you get it, and how you can use it. And, because kief is super potent, we’ll give you a few tips for enjoying it without overdoing it. Keep reading to learn more about using your kief stash and what to do with kief!
What is Kief?
Kief is like a belated gift from the flower you’ve already smoked. It’s a completely natural, concentrated form of cannabis made up of trichomes from flower. Trichomes are tiny, hair-like structures that cover the surface of your flower, and they contain high levels of THC and other cannabinoids that give your cannabis its effects. When the trichomes are separated from the plant, they create the powdery substance we call kief.
Kief is known for being super potent and can have THC levels between 50-90%, similar to a cannabis concentrate you would purchase from a dispensary. It’s much stronger than the flower it comes from, which means it isn’t typically recommended for beginners as it may be stronger than what they’re used to.
How to Get Kief
If you’re interested in gathering kief for yourself, there are a few ways to do it.
1. Using a Grinder
Most flower grinders come with a three-chamber system. The first level is where you place your unground flower to grind it, the second level collects your ground-up cannabis, and the third level collects all of the tiny trichomes that fall off in the process. So, over time as you use your grinder, it will slowly accumulate the kief in the bottom chamber. To collect it, simply grind and smoke as usual for a while to let the kief build up, then collect it when you’re ready to use it (or if it’s full of kief!).
If you want to collect more kief from your flower, you use the coin trick to get a little more out of it while you grind. Simply place a small coin, like a dime or penny that’s been thoroughly cleaned, into the middle chamber of your grinder. The coin will rattle around in your grinder and encourage more trichomes to fall off of your flower and into your kief catcher. Storing your grinder in the freezer will amplify this effect. You can use other small items, like ball bearings or even pieces of stem, to do this as well!
2. Using a Pollen Box
If you want to collect kief without having to grind up your flower, a pollen box may be the way to go. Simply put your flower into the box and shake! The trichomes will separate from the flower and collect in the chamber beneath the screen inside the box. This method is great for collecting smaller batches of kief without having to grind anything up.
3. Using a Silk Screen or other Screen
Silk screens can be found at art stores or your local head shop, and although more time-consuming, they’re great for sifting larger batches of kief. When you purchase the screen, make sure you buy one that’s between 80 and 270 lines per inch (LPI). Fewer lines per inch mean bigger gaps in your screen, and more lines mean smaller gaps. You want to aim for an LPI that will sift your kief without letting any of the plant material through.
When you go to use your screen, make sure you place it over something that can collect the kief such as a bucket or tray. To collect, rub the flower over the screen using something like an old gift card or plastic scraper. Be gentle! Too much pressure can cause the screen to rip.
If you want something a little more durable, you can also grab a cannabis trim tray. This is what growers and cultivators use to hand-trim their cannabis, and it comes with the built-in pollen sieve that catches the kief as they trim. You can use it to rub your cannabis into the screen or roll it around on top of it to collect the kief.
How to Use Kief
Now that you’ve collected all of your kief, it’s time to use it! We’ve organized our favorite ways to use kief from the most beginner-friendly to the more experienced methods, starting with the easiest.
1. Sprinkle it Onto a Bowl (Beginner)
This method is great for beginners, as you can control exactly how much kief you use and take it at your own pace. Simply sprinkle your desired amount onto your next bowl. If you’ve never smoked kief before, be sure to start small. And, when you’re smoking it, make sure to only light your bowl from the corner. This helps you get more hits out of each bowl and keeps you from burning up all of your weed in one pull!
2. Roll it Into a Joint (Beginner)
If you’re a little more experienced with kief, you can roll it into your next joint or blunt! Next time you roll, sprinkle some kief on top of the flower and roll as usual. This can really up the potency of your joint, so be sure to take it slow if it’s your first time trying it!
3. Cook with it (Intermediate)
If you’ve made edibles before or are feeling a little more adventurous, you can make your own edible goodies with kief instead of flower. After collection, decarboxylate your kief by putting it in an over-safe container with a lid. Bake it at 300 degrees F for about 7 minutes. Once cooled, you can make it into cannabutter or other liquid baking ingredients.
4. Mix it with other herbs (Intermediate)
You may be seeing more and more people adding a little lavender, rose petals, or other smokeable herbs to their joints these days. Because kief is so potent, you can add it to your favorite smokeable herbs for a flavorful experience that will still get you high. Be sure to research the herbs you choose, and don’t overdo it with your kief to herbs ratio!
5. Make Homemade Moonrocks (Expert)
Moonrocks are dried cannabis buds that have been coated in concentrate, like hash oil or another concentrate, then rolled in kief. These are extremely potent and can be around 50% THC, almost double the percentage of most cannabis cultivars.
If you’re looking to make your own moon rocks, be sure to choose a denser bud strain to ensure that they stay intact during this process. And, don’t attempt this if you’re newer to using cannabis! Moonrocks are extremely potent.
6. Make Your Own Hash (Expert)
There are a few ways you can make your own concentrate at home using kief, but this one is perhaps the simplest. Put on some nitrile or latex gloves and start kneading and press your kief together. As you work with it, it will start to become darker in color, bond together, and hold its shape. Keep working the ball of kief until it is solid and stops crumbling, and congrats! You’ve made your own hash.
Much like the moonrocks, don’t go straight to making your own hash if you’re a beginner! Hash is extremely potent.
conclusion
If you’re smoking flower, you’re bound to wind up with some kief to use at some point. These six ways are just a few of the most popular ways to use kief and get the most out of all of your flower!
Remember, kief is extremely similar in potency to concentrate. So, if you’re a beginner, be careful to know your limits and take it slow! Stick with beginner kief methods until you feel comfortable enough to try something more potent like hash or moonrocks.
If you have any questions about things mentioned in this blog, get in touch with us on our contact page or visit a Dreamz near you! You can also shop our flower and other products online. For more content like this, check out our blog page to learn more about cannabis.
