Live and Dry Sift Yield – Cannabis Extractor’s Guide

The typical yield for dry sift will interest both commercial extractors and home growers who are seeking to perfect their technique. Dry sift is a solventless extract produced by sieving cannabis plant material to separate and collect the trichome heads. This can be performed by hand or using a machine.

There is generally an inverse relationship between quality and quantity when it comes to dry sift: Inflated yields tend to contain a fair bit of plant material whereas clean yields are on the smaller side. While low-grade sift can be used for edibles, topicals, and for increasing the efficiency of BHO extraction, you’ll want a very clean sift for dabbing and for solventless applications like rosin pressing. The goals of the extraction process and the specific practices used will influence the final yields.

The following yield calculations are estimates and can vary based on factors like strain, growing conditions, and extraction techniques. Fresh frozen is more challenging to process but often results in higher terpene and cannabinoid retention, enhancing the overall quality and flavor of the final product.

A general rule of thumb for calculating wet or live (fresh frozen) biomass compared to dry (air cured) weight is a 5:1 ratio. This means that if you get a 20% dry yield, that’s equivalent to 4% wet, or for every 5 grams of fresh frozen material, you would end up with approximately 1 gram of dried material after it has been fully dried and cured. This conversion helps in comparing yields from fresh frozen and dried material. Here is a more detailed breakdown.

Dry Sift Yield from Dried and Cured Cannabis Material

Typical dry sift yields from dried/cured buds and trim are as follows:

Dry Sift Yield from Fresh Frozen Plant Material

Yields for live dry sift are calculated a little differently because wet cannabis material weighs more than dry cannabis material.

Typical yields for live sift are:

*The estimated yield percentages for both tables are indicative only. Actual yields are product dependent. Your starting material plays a big role in the final yield. The higher the quality of starting biomass, the better.

Yield for Dry Sift vs Bubble Hash and Dry Ice

Comparing the yields for dry sift hash, bubble hash, and dry ice hash will help you work out the relative profitability of each extraction process (or which is most worth your time if you’re a hobby extractor).

• Bubble hash yields around 1-8% for fresh frozen flower with the water weight removed, which is generally done with the use of a freeze dryer. This includes the trichomes collected after being fractionated in the different-sized bubble bags. When a strain yields more than “4%” in bubble hash, that means it does well. You can multiply the percentage by five to convert the wet yield to the dry weight yield.
• Dry ice hash yields around 30-40% for dry flower. The additional weight is made up of plant material, so the actual yield of trichome heads is less than it seems. Dry ice can tend to bruise trichomes if not gentle, so the most common use case with dry ice hash is an extraction process where color remediation is employed.

Each hash-making process ultimately produces a similar yield once you factor in quality, purity, and the time spent producing the cleanest possible product. As we explained, all of the additional weight you’ll get with dry ice hash is plant debris. Bubble hash and dry sift typically have a similar yield. However, bubble hash is much more popular because of the live processing aspect that is still relatively rare with sift.

Grading Dry Sift

The quality of your dry sift is just as important as the yield. Dry sift hash is graded using the same star system as bubble hash. We outline the different grades and the micron size used to produce each in our micron chart. Each grade is suited to a different end product, each with its own price point.

• One star: There is more plant material than trichomes in one-star hash. This grade of hash is only suitable for edibles, topicals, or BHO extraction.
• Two stars: Two-star hash contains a higher percentage of trichomes but is still considered “low grade.” It is generally used for edibles, topicals, and BHO extraction.
• Three stars: This describes hash that melts 50% when heated. Three-star hash is also described as “half melt.” Half-melt hash can be pressed to make dry sift rosin using a rosin press such as the Lowtemp V2 All-in-One Rosin Press, which is included in our Lowtemp Live Rosin Bundle.
• Four stars: Four-star hash represents the upper tier of mid-grade quality. It makes cost-effective rosin when pressed. Rosin is an especially lucrative application of quality half-melt dry sift, as the price per gram of rosin has risen above that of live resin in recent years. Live resin was previously considered to be the most premium dabbable product.
• Five stars: Five-star hash, also known as AAA hash, melts almost completely when heated. Most good sift rosin is made with five-star hash. You can use Static Tech to remove the small percentage of plant debris and get closer to full-melt hash. This process is time-consuming but effective! We have a Manual Static Tech Bundle for getting started with this process and an Automated Plasma Static Tech Bundle for purifying dry sift at a larger scale.
• Six stars: Six stars describe hash products that melt or vaporize completely when heated. Full-melt dry sift is considered a connoisseur-level grade and is most commonly seen in hash competitions (this grade of hash is not generally commercially viable).

The grade of dry sift hash you produce is affected by multiple factors, including:

• Strain selection
• Cultivation practices
• The timing of harvesting
• Proper drying
• The temperature at which your starting material is handled and stored
• Gentle handling of your starting material
• Temperature control
• The size of the sieve or screen you use for sifting
• The agitation method used
• The setting time
• The setting temperature
• Humidity levels
• Cleanliness
• Proper storage
• Avoiding moisture
• Extraction skill
• The quality of your sifting equipment
• Multiple passes for greater purity

Keeping dry sift cold in air-tight containers out of the light like you would bubble hash will preserve it much better. Don’t treat it like run-of-the-mill low-grade kief. The best trichomes for sifting are usually found between 72µm and 150µm. Smaller and larger trichomes (down to 25µm at the low end and 200µm at the high end) are generally of a lower quality.

How to Improve Dry Sift Yields & Quality

The traditional method of making dry sift with flat dry sift screens and parchment paper works great for home extractors. We sell accessibly-priced dry sift screens as a standalone product or as part of our Manual Static Tech Bundle. Traditional dry sifting is something a lot of home users and boutique growers do. It requires dry starting material and is medium labor intensive (as opposed to static sifting which is very labor intensive).

The best way to improve dry sift yields and quality is to use Cryo-Seive® technology—using The Original Resinator as a dry sift tumbler. The use of liquid CO2 or liquid nitrogen allows you to chill dry, wet, or frozen starting material to make the trichome heads brittle. The rotation of the machine then separates the trichome heads from the buds or trim and they fracture and fall through the micron-rated mesh screens into the collection chamber.

At the end, you simply use a shed-resistant Wooster brush to brush the dry sift in the collection chamber into a container for post-processing and storage. The quality is generally high because the sub-zero temperatures with a longer spin time keep the trichome heads intact throughout the sifting process. In fact, the separation of live/fresh frozen trichomes is only possible with the assistance of a freezing agent like liquid CO2 or liquid nitrogen.

It is imperative to maintain the cold chain when working with fresh frozen material. You can also separate different grades of dry sift hash easily by swapping out the mesh screen for a different size. The removable, washable replaceable screens are a key feature of The Original Resinator.

At The Original Resinator, we sell three Resinator models:

1. The OG Base Model can sift up to 3 lbs dry and up to 10 lbs of wet biomass per cycle.
2. The XL Base Model can sift up to 14 lbs dry or 25 lbs wet biomass per cycle.
3. The XLS Pro stainless steel model has the same sift output as the Resinator XL, with automated and programmable features that the classic models don’t offer. It completes the sifting cycle in 5-15 minutes, which is MUCH faster than sifting by hand!

Maximize Your Dry Sift Yields with TOR

Dry sift yields depend on the strain and quality of your starting material and your dry sifting equipment and process. Dry sift hash typically has similar yields to bubble hash and lower yields (but a higher quality extract) compared to dry ice hash.

When it comes to solventless sift applications and use cases, we have personally seen the best yields and the best quality of dry sift using liquid CO2 and The Original Resinator. Liquid CO2 chills the plant matter gently and helps the trichome heads snap off cleanly. The rotation of the drum then completes the sifting process with maximum efficiency, while allowing you to multitask in tandem with your additional workflow.

When it comes to biomass reduction for hydrocarbon extractions, the XLS pro with its ability to use liquid nitrogen and ultra-low temps reigns supreme.