Best Ways To Smoke Marijuana Concentrates

Smoking cannabis concentrates allows you to experience a higher potency of cannabinoids and terpenes compared to smoking cannabis flower. Cannabis concentrates can be consumed in more ways than one.

Ready to experience the powerful effects of concentrates? Here's how you can smoke and vape concentrates to experience their fast-acting effects.

What Are Marijuana Concentrates?

Cannabis concentrates are derived from dried or fresh frozen cannabis buds and trim. Concentrates can have THC and CBD concentrations starting at about 50 percent and going up to 99 percent in some cases. THC and CBD levels in flower range between 15 and 25 percent.

There are several kinds of marijuana concentrates that people use for their highpotency and medical and recreational purposes. Some of these forms of marijuana concentrates are hash oil, wax, shatter, bubble hash, dust/kief, terp sauce, ice wax, and so much more.

These concentrated products are made using various solvent-based and solventless extraction methods, but mainly butane/propane extraction, also known as BHO (butane hash oil) extraction. Other common solvents used include ethanol and carbon dioxide.

Check out our cannabis extraction guide to find out more about the pros and cons of different methods of extraction.

Rosin tech is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make marijuana concentrates at home. This method is easily learned when you become a student at the Cannabis Training University.

Now, let us look at the types of marijuana concentrates that are on the market these days and the best ways to consume them.

Different Types of Marijuana Concentrates

Cannabis concentrates vary in color, consistency, potency, and purity.

Here are the most common types of concentrates:

Shatter

Some of the marijuana concentrates that are most popular on the market are glass-like extracts, also known as shatter. The reason they are called glass is due to its transparency. These amber-colored concentrates are clear and light but pack a good punch.

Kief

Kief, also known as dust, is a concentrate made with dry ice or mesh screens using mechanical separation. Kief has a consistent powdery appearance.

Rosin

Rosin is a marijuana concentrate that is prepared using the rosin tech process. Raw cannabis material is pressed under heat and pressure to melt and squeeze out the resin. A similar process can be replicated at home with a hair straightener, parchment paper, and cannabis flower. Live rosin is made using fresh frozen cannabis for better freshness.

Budder

Budder is a marijuana concentrate that looks like butter, but not just any butter – peanut butter. The butane extraction method is used in this case. Cannabis processors use a whipping technique during extraction to create the creamy consistency.

Wax

Wax is a very popular concentrate that has the appearance of ear wax or beeswax.

Oil

Dab hash oil is also popular, but it is usually more potent than other concentrates and can be used in a vaporizeror vape cartridge. Some people include hash oil in their edibles and topicals for high potency.

Ice Water/Bubble Hash

Bubble or ice water hash is considered one of the safest and purest forms of marijuana concentrates. Ice cold water is used to extract the resin using an agitation technique. Essentially, you end up with kief. Its appearance is like sand! You can consume it in different ways.

Scissor/Finger Hash

Scissor hash is one of the marijuana concentrates that is not as popular, but just as good as the rest. The process involves the cutting and handling of the cannabis leaves. The sticky substance that is extracted tends to stick to the trimmer’s gloves and scissors and can be highly concentrated in cannabinoids.

Isolate

Cannabinoid isolates such as THCA and CBDA crystals are derived from a cannabis distillate that has been processed to contain only a single cannabinoid. This concentrate has up to 99% THCA or CBDA and comes in a powdery form.

Terp Sauce

Terp sauce is made using butane to produce a high terpene extract that is runny due to the terpenes and crystalline due to the cannabinoids.

Now, let us look at ways that these marijuana concentrates can be consumed.

Smoking Concentrates: What Dabbing Tools Do You Need?

Smoking and dabbing concentrates allows you to inhale the concentrated cannabinoids and terpenes to experience the fast-acting and high-potency effects.

Here are some of the dabbing tools you will need to smoke and dab these products

Dab Rig

Using an oil/dab rig, you will be able to smoke the wax dabs that you have extracted or purchased. What is anoil/dab rig? Well, it is a water pipe usually made of borosilicate glass  that you can modify by adding certain accessories, but in most cases, you would add a nail to dab the extracts.

Pro tip: Don't have a dab rig yet? That's okay. Check out our blog resource on how to make a homemade dab rigusing supplies you already have around the house.

Dab Nail/E-Nail

The quartz or titanium nail would be attached to the water pipe's intake. Dab nails are heated with a torch or electronic heater coil (e-nail). A user places a small dab of concentrate on the  surface of the heated nail to vaporize it. E-nails provide better temperature control for a consistent dab time after time..

Carb Cap

A carb cap acts like a lid on a boiling pot by restricting airflow and trapping heat so you can vaporize concentrates at a lower temperature and preserve its flavor. After you’ve heated your nail, you can cover it with the carb cap. Directional flow carb caps can be rotated to push the airflow and oil around the nail for more efficient heating. When you're ready to inhale, remove the carb cap and inhale.

Dabber

A dabber is a long and thin tool that comes with a variety of tips that allow you to scoop, cut, poke, or scrape concentrates from their storage container and onto your dab rig nail. Dabbers are usually made of glass or stainless steel.

Dab Torch

A dab torch is used to heat up the dab nail or banger. Heat-up times vary based on the dab nail material and thickness. Generally,  it can take between 45 seconds to a minute to heat the nail. You must allow the nail to cool a bit before placing your dab on its surface. You can also consume concentrates without a torch.

Terp Pearls

Terp pearls are small balls made out of borosilicate glass that can help distribute the oil around the nail. When inhaling, the air flow from the carb cap can make the terp pearls spin around the bottom of the nail for a more efficient dab.

Quartz Inserts

Quartz inserts are small dishes that are placed inside the dab nail. They can be used to keep your nail cleaner for longer and take lower temperature dabs. You can heat the nail first and then drop the quartz insert with your dab inside or drop your insert and dab first and then slowly heat it until the concentrate begins to bubble.

How to Use a Dab Rig

Using a dab rig may seem daunting at first glance, especially the torching part, but it is super easy and safe. If you don't want to deal with torching your nail, you can invest in an electronic nail for easier dabbing.

Here are step-by-step instructions on how to use a traditional dab rig:

1. Fill up the water pipe with sufficient water and then attach the nail to the pipe's intake.
2. Use the torch on the quartz or titanium nail, heating it until it is red hot. Try not to overheat or the nail will be damaged.
3. As soon as the nail is sufficiently heated, allow it to cool for between 20 to 30 seconds.
4. Then, it is time to place a small dab on the dab nail.. For a good dab hit, you only need a small amount of dab because of its heavy concentration.
5. Place your carb cap on top of the dab nail and inhale through the mouthpiece until all the vapor is gone.
6. Exhale and repeat as necessary.

Pro tip: Clean your dab rig and dab tools regularly to ensure you have a flavorful experience time after time.

How to Vape Concentrates

Cannabis concentrates can also be vaped using a portable or desktop vaporizer designed for cannabis oil. Users load the dab of concentrate into the heating chamber (or screw in the vape cartridge into the battery) and heat it using temperature presets or precise temperature controls.

How to Use an E-Nail

An electronic heating coil is placed into the dab rig. First, you have to connect your e-nail controller to a power source. You can set a specific temperature using the temperature control box and allow the e-nail to heat up. The e-nail will remain this temperature for as long as the control box is left on.

How to Use a Health Stone

A health stone is a carbon vapor stone that is very porous and fits within a health stone bowl. You will need to insert the stone into a health stone bowl and apply your dab onto the stone. Use a butane torch to gently melt the dab on the stone without burning it. As the oil seeps into the pores, you can inhale from the mouthpiece.

How to Make a Twaxed Joint

Concentrates can also be applied to your flower products for added potency. The application process will depend on the consistency of the concentrate, but generally, you will either top off your bowl with your concentrate or add the concentrate inside or outside of your joint.

While burning the concentrate directly with a butane lighter won't give you the best flavor, it will increase the potency of your high.

Learn How to Use and Make Marijuana Concentrates at CTU

Do you want to learn how to use concentrates for medical or recreational purposes and make concentrates at home?

Enroll at Cannabis Training University's cannabis extraction training, the world's most renowned online industry training institute. Learn from experts in the field with regularly updated course instruction, high-definition videos, and ebooks written by the Guru of Ganja, Ed Rosenthal.

If you want to know more about other marijuana concentrates, check out the Cannabis Training University where you can enroll as a student!