The Perfect Dab

With all the different kinds of high power extracts out there knowing how to get the most out of each and every dab is key to getting your moneys worth for flavour and potency. There is a sweet spot for temperature that will vaporize your concentrate without burning it. Lower temps will give you a more flavourful draw, while higher temps will speed up the vaporization process but it’ll be possibly a harsher pull.  Different cannabinoids vaporize at different temperatures as well so it’s worth trying your favourites at a range of temperatures to see the effects.  The perfect dab for you might be different than mine or Walter’s. 

THC boils and vaporizes when it reaches 315°F (157°C) This would be the absolute minimum temperature you would be able to pull any good stuff out into a cloud – so for maximum low temp flavour set your device a couple degrees higher – around 160 C – to give you the most flavour.

CBD boils and vaporizes when it reaches 356°F (185°C). This is my personal minimum temperature for anything. I find if the temp is any lower than this it takes too long to cook for the size dab I like, and you won’t get any benefits of CBD if any is present.

THCV boils and vaporizes when it reaches 428°F (220°C). We aren’t 100% sure of the impact of this cannabinoid, but it’s only going to be effective if you’re heating to 220 c. Evidence suggests it’s not psychoactive itself, but a large factor in producing the entourage effect when combined with THC.

That sweet spot where you like it most will also vary from shatter, wax, terp sauce, distillate, budder and live rosin. Sometimes though, that’s easier said than done. The quality of concentrates we have stocked here at buybcbud.com is through the roof so we want to make sure you’re getting all you can from them. We have a few different methods we like and we’ll show you our favourites. 

Flower Vaporizers

Many portable and home vaporizers come with an included stainless steel mesh pad or cylinder. At a glance you may think it was for cleaning or packing but it’s actually for using your favourite concentrates. You’ll need to put a little bit of concentrate on the pad and warm it up so that it melts and “soaks” into the pad. These are only going to offer up a low temp with many topping out at about 220-230 C. a great tool to have, but not ideal for stronger/thicker hits. With these I tend to push them up to their highest heat. Sometimes cleaning them can be a pain, but often not too bad. A great way to start trying concentrates without splashing out for an expensive glass piece or quality portable rig.

Oil Pen

There’s a wide range of Oil pens out there, for any price point. We’ve had good luck with price to performance for the NYX system. Most of YoCans stuff is a good entry level option, but offers up very little control. Same with many of the smaller, thin oil pens. They work, but they only offer high temp dabs which just won’t do for the connoisseur. They also are difficult to clean and prone to clogging.

My go-to is a Top-flow Saionara with a bucket coil for its ease of use, high quality, and great effects. An improvement on the original saionara, the new top flow cap lets you use a sealed bucket, which is SO MUCH EASIER to clean out any reclaim between dabs. It heats up slow enough that you can control the temperature easily, getting hot enough to give you a great medium temp dab (over 250 C) to make sure you get all  the cannabinoids available. If you want to do high temp / instant dabs you can easily swap to a triple quartz coil or kanthal twist coil – but the quartz and titanium buckets are where it’s at for flavour and ease of use. The initial cost might be high, but if you have any adjustable ecig batteries around the blow is softened considerably. Our budder in one of these is a flavourful treat. 

Glass Dab Rig

A glass rig is a great cheap way to get started with concentrates. A good concentrate to start with is shatter.  Often the cheaper ones will come with a soda glass nail that’s susceptible to overheating and breaking. The good news is they’re more or less standard sizes at 14mm and 17mm/18mm  male/female sockets – so picking up new accessories is pretty easy and often cheap. I like a nice quartz banger with a thick bottom. Both for the durability and the ability to hold enough heat to run a couple dabs off of without over or under heating. You will need a dabber and a carb cover which are usually not included – but can be fairly cheap. I have nice glass caps and dabbers but I like a cuticle pusher with a magnet and a quarter on it – it snaps to other surfaces and stays out of the way. 

You will need to do some experimentation to find a reliable way to get to the proper temperature. The *absolute* maximum temperature you should dab at is ~850 F (454 C). You’re already combusting (and destroying some compounds) at that temperature – but if you go higher you run the risk of releasing a larger amount of carcinogens. Don’t heat the glass to the point it glows (especially cheap soda glass – it’ll crack). When you place your dabber on the heat source it should be enough that it boils away into almost nothing. A nice glass rig at the proper temperature is unparalleled for smoothness when it comes to dabbing so heavy hitters will want to consider investing in something that looks like it belongs in a lab with all kinds of filters and percolators.

E-Nail

An E-nail is a temperature controlled device that you can dial in the exact temperature you want. Some plug into the wall and attach to an existing glass oil rig, and others are smaller, more portable battery powered rigs. These are fantastic because they allow you to dial in the precise temp you want to dab at, and repeat with very little hassle. They’re not very portable though, and not at all stealthy options so that may be something to consider. They’re often quite expensive – north of $100 for a small battery rig and pushing into $300-$400 by the time you have a full quality rig all set up. The cost is often well worth the initial splash out of cash though because you can extract the perfect vapour for you. Lots of the battery powered ones have an included dabber and carb cap, but the units themselves are rather fragile and have a limited run time for the battery. 

The larger ones will run all day – but at an increased cost and you’re tethered to an outlet. There are a near infinite range of options here though as you can use virtually any standard oil rig from any number of manufacturers.

Find the Perfect Dab for you

Now that you have a little more information Head on over to the shop and grab yourself some of our fantastic concentrates. My personal favourites are the Budder and house brand Diamonds terp sauce – but any of our shatters, distillates or hash oils are great for using in your favorite rig!