2019 Best Rosin Press Buying Guide

Pressing Material: Flower, Hash, and Kief

​Each strain that you simply press will produce various tastes, yields, and consequences. This is the reason some strains produce perfectly fantastic rosin, while some fall spectacularly short.

If you're looking for the best quality, you're going to wish to press flowers. But, you'll be trading high quality for low returns. On the flip side, pressing hash or kief will supply you with excellent quality and more satisfactory returns. Additionally, it is advised that you kief your product before you go through with the pressing process (this also includes the flower).

​Trim: 3% – 8%
​Shake: 8% – 15%
​Flower: 15% – 30%
Kief / Dry Sift: 30% – 60%
Bubble Hash / Hash: 30% – 70%
​Having the Temperature Right

​As we've alluded to before, producing good rosin requires the ideal temperature. Typically, lower temperatures around 150°F- 220°F will create a rosin having a more butter/honey texture where as higher temperatures 220°F- 250°F will produce rosin having a sap-like consistency. Quite honestly, there's no need to go any higher than 300°F.

Pressure

There is no magic number for how much you need to press but most people use the formula of press pounds/plate surface area.

For example:

A 10-ton press = 20,000 lbs. If you have a 3"x5" plate = 15 square inch.
Hence, 20,000/15 = 1,333 PSI

Note: These numbers serve as a guide only. Results will always vary depending on temperature and material as well the press you choose.

Now that we've got those out of the way, let's get on to the good stuff.

How does a Rosin Press work?

A rosin press uses dual heat plates that heat up and a pressed together either pneumatically, manually, electrically or hydraulically. The metal plates join together and squeeze out the rosin onto parchment paper. This paper is scraped with a tool and then placed into a silicone container for consumption. A lot of users will take this product and use it in their dab rigs or concentrate vaporizer.

All you have to do is hold the button, and you can make your own rosin! Believe it or not, a popular method of producing rosin was to use a hair straightener and some clamps. We do not recommend this method due to obvious fire code violations and it makes your hair smell like weed.

So; what should i look for in a rosin press? Well a rosin press isn't for everyone. If you think you are going to buy a consumer rosin press and make millions, you should do some further research. You need to ask yourself the following:
What will it be used for?
How often will it be used?
How much material will you be pressing?
How much space do you have available?

Rosin presses come in many different sizes, varieties and styles. The most popular are pneumatic, hydraulic, and electric. Pneumatic presses use an air compressor to squeeze the rosin press plates together and produce your concentrate. A hydraulic press uses powerful hydraulic cylinders surrounded by an H frame to generate a significant amount of force; and achieve a higher psi than the pneumatic variety.The electric press is designed for home use and doesn’t have any external pumps or compressors. The pressure is enough for home consumption, but not enough to handle the high volume for industrial manufacturing. Although these are the main categories, you will also encounter hybrids i.e. manual hydraulic pumps that use a hand pump, hydraulic cylinders and frame. Or if you are handy you can purchase a rosin press kit, which has all the different parts you need to build yourself a DIY model.

What is the Best Rosin Press?

As with any hot industry, it’s no surprise that new rosin presses pop up nearly every day. Due to this, it’s also no surprise that getting into rosin pressing can be quiet a daunting task for beginners.

Luckily, it doesn’t have to be that way. Though there are many different rosin presses, they all, more or less, fall into their respective categories. After figuring out which category suits you and your needs, it becomes much easier to find the complimentary rosin press to suit your needs.

Though things may change, the current categories of rosin presses include: homemade solutions (otherwise known as DIY presses), manual rosin presses, pneumatic rosin presses, hydraulic presses, electric rosin presses and hybrid rosin presses.

Now that you know the categories, the next logical question, of course, is to ask yourself is which category is for you. We will go into detail the pros and cons of each category but below are a few questions to keep in mind when choosing yours:

How will you be using your press? Is it for smaller yield personal use or large-scale commercial use?

How often will you be using your press? A few hours a week or 12 hours per day?

How much material will you be processing at any given time?

Do you have a lot of space or is space a scarce commodity?

Best Rosin Presses for Your Money 

Best Portable and Budget :ECO FARM ROSIN PRESS MACHINE- KP1 Under $300

What makes this a manual press is that you have to apply the pressure yourself, in this instance with a manual pump arm.

This personal heat press machine features sturdy construction, a locking lever mechanism, 115mm*120mm dual heating insulated solid aluminum plates, temperature controls located at the front of the press, and a convenient carrying handle.

Adjustable Maximum Pressure / Pressing Force Up To 4 tons.

This heat press machine is very lightweight (9.5KG only),super portable,perfect for personal desktop operating or use it during travel.

The recommended temperature is 220°F,Voltage: 110 V

This personal heat press machine arrives fully assembled and ready to use out of the box, No extra equipment required .

What makes this the best manual press is: pure value for money.
There are more powerful presses, but none that provide such high performance and build quality at this price point.

PROS:
4 tons pressure
Compact size: 115mm*120mm
Fast heating aluminum plates
Super portable,perfect for personal desktop operating or use it during travel.

Very flexible—operate with hydraulic, electric or pneumatic pump
Price! Few presses are this cheap and few cheap presses are this good

CONS:
Some portable models are a little smaller

NugSmasher OG — The Best Rosin Press Under $1000

The Original NugSmasher has our recommendation as the best manual rosin press, because it presents the best value for your money. There are definitely more powerful models available (see the alternatives below), but they all cost a lot more. No other model combines high performance with low cost like this one.

The NugSmasher Original Rosin Extraction System stands only 17.75 inches tall and is 9 inches wide. It is quite heavy for a manual press at 74 pounds, but that is due to the extremely robust solid steel construction and the large smash plates.

Despite the compact size, the OG delivers up to 12 tons of pressure through dual heated extraction plates and can process up to 14 grams of material at a time. The plates use 160 watts each to heat rapidly. Accurate temperature control ensures the plates stay at the exact temperature you need.

All NugSmasher presses are made in the USA and incredibly well built. The manufacturer backs that up with a lifetime warranty.
Pros
Low Price: the OG is very well priced considering the capability and build quality
Extremely Robust: solid interlocked Amercian steel frame
Capacity: can process up to 14 grams of material at a time
Warranty: lifetime manufacturer's warranty
Cons
Heavy: 74 pounds is heavy for a manual press

Alternatives
NugSmasher Mini: lower price for those on a budget who don't need the full capabilities of the OG
NugSmasher XP: for those who need more pressing capacity (can handle 2x 14g bags at one time) and/or want a digital pressure gauge
NugSmasher Pro: for those who need even more capacity (up to 112g at once) and/or who might want to upgrade to a commercial level press in the future (can operate both manually and with an air compressor)

Best Electric Rosin Press: RosinBomb M-50 Under:$1,850.00 

Quiet, fast, plug-and-play, compact, no operating effort whatsoever: electric rosin presses are our favorite for home use. They lack power compared to commercial presses, but they’re often cheaper than similar hydraulic or pneumatic presses, even before you take into account extras like pumps and compressors. And the electric pump delivers more than enough pressure for small batch use.

Leaving aside hybrid presses (like various Sasquash models), the electric rosin press market isn’t too crowded yet. But RosinBomb is very much the name to beat. The M-50 is pretty much the state of the art: commercial-level tech for home use. With a form factor that makes it only a little bigger than portable presses (16” tall, 35lbs), it still delivers 5000lbs of pressure. And it’s simplicity itself to use.
PROS:

Processes up to 14g of material
Ready to use as soon as it arrives
More portable than many competing pneumatic or hydraulic presses—and can be set up vertically or horizontally to maximize your use of space
Push-button operation, like a pneumatic press—but no need to buy additional pumps or compressors
Almost no noise
5-year warranty on structural parts, 1-year for electrical components
CONS:

Not as adjustable as some other types of press
We prefer aluminum heat plates to stainless steel

What do I need to consider when buying a rosin press?

First, consider your available workspace:
If noise is going to be a problem, avoid pneumatic presses
If space is limited, pay careful attention to the unit’s dimensions
Where are you going to put the press? Will it be able to support the weight?
Will you often need to move the press or take it elsewhere?

Next, think about how much starting material you’ll need to process, what kind and how often:
Is manual operation going to become tiring or too time consuming? Consider a pneumatic or electric press
Is the press versatile enough to handle different kinds of starting material well? The more adjustable the pressure and temperature, the more likely you’ll get good results with everything from trim to hash to flower

Finally, what end product are you looking for?
Some presses allow much finer control over heating and pressure than others, which allows you to achieve a wider range of rosin consistencies. If you like to experiment and perfect, bear that in mind