Kief Hacks: 5 Ways You could be Kiefing Better

We all know and love those sweet tasting, potent-punch packing, lung clearing kief hits but keeping a sustainable stash of this smokable delicacy can sometimes be a challenge.  For most kief (or pollen) is accumulated at a very slow rate as it just collects sack… after sack… after sack.  Some even find the process so slow that it can take months before anything significant is ever gathered.  But no worries if you happen to be one of those people.  You can start following these super simple tips immediately to start saving more kief at a faster rate starting today.  So here’s to some more bountiful and voluptuous pollen banks.
 
1. Stash Wisely
 
Not all storage containers are created equal especially when it comes to plastic bags.  Have you ever noticed that cloudy residue on the inside of all your bags after you just finished your last nug?  That’s your precious kief being ripped right off your buds, sticking to the side of your bag and getting closer and closer to being thrown in the trash.  How many “empty” baggies with cloudy sides have you thrown out in your lifetime?
 
Some will preach about cutting the empty bag open and scraping it clean with a utensil or even worse, a razor.  However this is never recommended due to the risk of plastic shavings being gathered along with the kief.  There are well known toxins and carcinogens associated with burnt plastic so that’s the last thing you want to potentially expose yourself to.
 
Instead get yourself a nice glass storage container, or even better, a kief box.  A nice glass container would ideally be air tight and with a flat smooth catching tray.  This will make scraping for kief a breeze when it’s time to clean it out.  Other things to consider with glass storage are lighting and size/shape.  If using glass chances are light will get through potentially compromising your precious flower.  To prevent this just store your jar in a dim, cool and dry place.  As far as shape/size goes, just make sure you have something that can accommodate the size of your stash and the size of your hands.  No point in collecting kief if what you’re collecting it in is unfit or inaccessible.
 

 
An alternative to a glass jar/container is a kief box.  Most you’ll see are made out of wood but if you search long enough you’ll find them in metal and glass as well.  The cool thing about kief boxes is that most come with screens already installed in them which suspend your buds above a collection tray.   Naturally and over time the screen that’s supporting the bud kind of sifts off kief shavings down into the collection tray below – kief that would have otherwise stuck to the side of your bag if you were still using plastic :).  Same concept here when scraping your kief though.  You want both your collection tray and your scraping utensil to be solid, stable material.  We don’t want anything other than the good stuff ending up in our prized catch.
 
2. Grind Wisely
 
Still breaking up buds with your hands? Or using scissors?  Again, by doing this we’re wasting serious amounts of that precious pollen.  You can see it sticking to your fingers, scissors and even falling to the surface below – all not your bowl nor your wrap.  Did you know that one of man’s greatest inventions is herb grinders?  Of course you did but did you also know some are designed specifically to grind AND catch kief?
 

 
Commonly referred to as a 4 piece grinder, these babies grind up your beautiful buds and collect your dank kief deposits all in one convenient, hand-held device.  It’s a pretty simple concept actually – a normal herb grinder, just with holes in the grinding chamber that allow everything, once small enough, to fall through to an additional tier with a screen.  The screen then only allows the smaller kief particles to fall through below to the kief collecting chamber.  You can usually get a decent one for less than $20.  Pennies for, what again, would otherwise be wasted goodness.  Then there are those who use coffee grinders… No problem with that but again don’t waste the kief.  A lot of the area within a coffee grinder is inaccessible to a scraping utensil and you also have to be responsible with your finished grindings – this will be discussed further in #4.
 
3. Store those Stems
 
Stems are a great source of kief.  You can sometimes see them completely candy-coated in crystally nourishment but unfortunately stems almost always get thrown out.  There are plenty of ways to harvest kief from stems but most commonly you can either simultaneously stir and filter them through screens with ice water or you can sift them through a similarly screened device except with dry ice instead of ice water.
 

 
Either method leaves you with perfectly enjoyable pollen.  The latter dry method of course is ready to be enjoyed almost instantly while the wet one will need time to dry first.  More intricate kief catching devices will separately catch different grades of kief using varying screen sizes.  How seriously would YOU like to kief?
 
4. Right time and PLACE
 
Most people have their happy time down to a set, loyally-followed ritualistic routine.  Everything is cared for from the music selection to your attire and sometimes even the lighting – fan off of course.
 
Then most people proceed to grind up (hopefully in their new kief catching grinders) and unfortunately make another kind of mistake.  They dump their freshly ground up product onto the world famous Rolling Tray.  Whether we’re rolling wraps, stuffing cones or just packing bowls most of us do so on the exact same surface every single time.  Sometimes this surface is wood, plastic, metal and sometimes it’s even a lunch tray from the local McDonald’s… Whatever but it’s rarely, if ever, a surface specifically designed to trap kief.
 

 
Yes, there are rolling trays out there that use a screen as the actual surface with… you guessed it…  A kief-catching tray underneath.  Still about the same thickness as a normal rolling tray except with a little added functionality.  Something like this combined with the other tips above could send your kief catching pace into hyperdrive.
 
5. Don’t Leave the Leaves
 
Alright so this last tip is a little more geared towards the growers out there but still it’s an often overlooked one.  Leaves can be saturated in pollen just like their stems.  This pollen can also be harvested through the exact same methods as harvesting from stems.  With both leaves and stems you’ll want to start the harvesting process by first cutting them to smaller clippings.  Even if you’re not a grower there are sometimes nearby growers who are eager to get rid of their trimmings and are willing to give them away or sell them.
 

 
By following the 5 tips above anyone can easily increase the amount of kief they get to keep from each sack they spend their hard earned money on.
 
So now that you’ve managed to save up a mountain of kief what can you do with it?
 
Firstly, remember to store it in a cool, dry and accessible place.  Next, consider a pollen press as this will allow for cleaner, more efficient storage.  As far as enjoying the stuff goes use your imagination… Kief butter, tinctures, coconut oil capsules, e juice or just plain ol toke it out with some kief topped bowls! If you prefer to take it to the kitchen here are some of my favorite recipes:
 
Coconut Oil Kief Capsules

Kief Butter

Kief Tincture

Kief e-Juice

Heatless Bud Tincture – at the bottom of the page

You can even get a fancy accessory called the Magical Butter Machine for a more automated and hi tech way to indulge.  No matter your preference, enjoy!