Full melt hash is ice water hash that vaporizes on a hot surface and leaves little to no residue. The grade describes how much plant matter the hash holds. A full melt sample is almost all trichome heads.
Understanding Full Melt Hash and Its Effects on Cannabis Users
Grades run on a 1 to 6 star scale. Full melt sits at 5 and 6 stars. Most full melt comes from the 73 micron and 90 micron screens, with 120 micron close behind.
What the melt test measures
Hash made with ice water and filter bags separates resin heads by size. Heads break off the plant and pass through mesh. Stalks, leaf fragments, and waxes come along. Small contaminant particles land in the same bag as resin or get caught in the screen.
cannabis full melt extraction method
Heat shows what survived the wash. Resin boils and turns to vapor. Plant matter does not. What stays on the nail is the residue.
what is full melt hash cannabis grade
- Full melt: puddle forms, residue is light or absent
- Half melt: bubbles, dark residue remains
- No melt: chars, leaves ash
The star scale
Hash makers use stars as shorthand. The scale is not standardized. Two producers can rate the same batch with different numbers.
- 1 to 2 stars: food grade, used for edibles and topicals
- 3 stars: half melt, smoked in a pipe or joint
- 4 stars: partial melt, dabbed with residue, common input for rosin
- 5 stars: full melt, dabs clean with a small ring
- 6 stars: full melt with near zero residue, the rarest grade
Micron sizes
Ice water hash is sieved into bags that range from 25 to 220 microns. Trichome heads on cannabis measure about 70 to 120 microns across. The 73 micron to 120 micron range collects heads with the least stalk and leaf material.
The 45 micron bag catches smaller heads and broken pieces. The 160 micron and 190 micron bags hold more plant matter. Some batches pull full melt from 45, 73, and 90 micron screens. It depends on the strain and the grow.
Numbers to expect
Full melt water hash tests higher than pressed kief and lower than top rosin. Reported THC content runs about 40% to 70%. Terpene content changes with strain and wash. Labs measure cannabinoids and terpenes. No lab test measures melt. The melt test is a manual check done by hand and eye.
How it is made
Fresh frozen or dried cannabis goes into ice water. Agitation knocks trichome heads off. The water and plant slurry passes through a stack of filter bags. Collectors pull hash from each bag and dry it on a screen or in a freeze dryer. Low temperature drying keeps the resin from bonding into a dark mass.
Live hash uses fresh frozen flower. Cure hash uses dried and cured flower. Live versions hold more of the volatile terpenes.
Full melt hash vs rosin
Rosin is hash pressed with heat. The press pushes resin oil out of the hash and through a filter. Full melt hash is the raw input or the finished dab. Some consumers dab full melt with no press at all. Others press it into rosin and leave the waxy fraction behind.
How to dab full melt
Full melt burns at low temperatures. Heat a banger to about 450 F to 550 F, or use a cold start. Drop a piece the size of a rice grain onto the surface. It bubbles, spreads, and vaporizes. Swab the banger after each dab to keep the residue from baking on.
Storage
Full melt hash is sticky and it degrades with heat, light, and air. Keep it in a glass jar in a refrigerator or freezer. Let the jar reach room temperature before opening. Cold hash pulls moisture from the air, and that moisture cuts shelf life.
What full melt is not
Full melt is not a legal grade or a lab result. It is a description of behavior under heat. A jar labeled 6 star carries no certification. Buy from a source that posts melt videos or lets you inspect the hash.