Keep reading for tips on how to safely (and enjoyably) smoke shatter.
What Is Shatter and how do you smoke it?
Shatter is a highly concentrated pure form of cannabis extract that is super potent and reflects a transparent amber sheen. It often exceeds 90 percent cannabinoid content, and its terpene content is among some of the highest.
Cannabinoids and terpenes are the natural plant chemicals that give cannabis its characteristic smell and taste. They also allow you to feel the effects you’re looking for, so they’re critical to the experience.
Shatter, like other cannabis concentrates produced by extracting cannabinoids, is based on consistency. Some concentrates are thicker while some are runnier—although all are sticky, thanks to the presence of cannabinoids.
The process of extracting cannabinoids generates the concentrate’s final consistency, which determines the type of concentrate it is. For example, budder is whipped up to be creamier, while shatter (which doesn’t get agitated) stays nice and clear. If you’ve ever made candy, this part will sound familiar. Unlike sticky hash oil or waxy budder, shatter is more like a piece of toffee, hard and brittle—don’t stab it with a dabber or it really might shatter.
To make cannabis concentrates, manufacturers extract cannabinoids (CBD, CBG, CBN, and THC), terpenes, and flavonoids from the marijuana flower buds using a solvent extraction—like CO2, alcohol, or butane. The butane separates the trichomes and cannabinoids from the cannabis plant matter. Trichomes are those tiny glittering glass-like crystals on the buds of good cannabis plants and contain the highest concentrations of THC, other cannabinoids, and terpenes. The product, butane hash oil (BHO), technically applies to any shatter.
Shatter, budder, honey, hash oil, sap, taffy, and wax (a specific type of vaping or smoking wax) are all types of cannabis extracts that are opaque in consistency. Manufacturers stir or agitate budders and waxes to create a creamy texture, while shatter remains still and translucent.
A preferred method for smoking shatter is called “dabbing,” which is done using either an oil rig pipe, or vape pen.
- Dabs are highly concentrated, so start low and go slow. While you might have 15-25% THC in standard flower, dabs are between 60-90%–a little goes a long way!
- Watch your temperature! A dab nail or nectar collector that is too hot leads to a coughing fit and scorches terpenes. Remember, a nail becomes hotter than a lighter or a bowl.
- Dole out your dose yourself, as tiny as you like to start with, in a vape pen, on a joint, or in an oil rig (an oil rig is a glass pipe that looks similar to a bong that contains a vertical chamber and a mouthpiece with a hole for a small dab nail).
- Check and control the temperature when dabbing with a blowtorch. Use a timer, a temperature gun, or your personal dabbers experience. Heat the dab for 30 seconds with a butane torch, let it cool for 60 seconds, and then add the dab– experiment to find the perfect flow.
What Shatter Looks Like VS Other Concentrates Image Below:
How To Get The Smoothest Shatter Hits
We’re cloud chasers too and know you don’t want to sacrifice airflow or intake. Moose Labs filters are made from recycled and biodegradable materials, these triple-layer activated carbon filters remove contaminants, resins, and tar to sanitize shatter vapor or smoke and enhance flavors.
However, smoking is never the healthiest option. High-quality hemp smoke leaves tar deposits deep in the lungs—even more so than cigarettes. Moose Labs developed the MouthPeace and MouthPeace Filters to provide smokers with a safer alternative.
Moose Labs mouthpiece cannabis filter delivers the smoothest shatter hits while also making it a healthier experience. The MouthPeace filter is the safest way to smoke shatter and other smokable products.
It’s the way to get the smoothest hits, hands down. And when it comes to your lungs, smooth is always better for your health.
Most Efficient Way To Smoke Shatter
Here’s our solution for smoking shatter on the go and never wasting a drop: the MouthPeace Mini Bundle.
The MouthPeace Mini is a smaller, more discrete filter, perfect for taking it with you anywhere. It’s designed to fit vaporizers and larger blunts on one side and standard pre-rolls on the other. Perfect for the on-the-go toker who wants smoother and cleaner hits.
The MouthPeace Mini Kit comes with 6 MouthPeace Mini Filters, 2 MouthPeace Minis, and a carrying tube.
Beyond using a mouthpiece, there are a few other things to do to optimize your efficiency:
- Avoid high temperatures and scorching, dab at lower temperatures. This will ensure you are getting the most from your concentrates.
- Use a silicone storage container to avoid losing any to the jar.
- Clean your dab rig after each use to avoid buildup and residue.
- Try an e-rig so your temperature can be more precise.
- A little dab will do—start with a small amount and add to it as needed.
And check out our step-by-step guide to how to use a dab rig efficiently with concentrates.
How to take the strongest hits with Shatter
How do you dose dabs for the strongest hits with shatter? Different concentrates have different THC concentrations. A big dollop of wax or sugar might be less potent than a tiny sliver of shatter. Most solventless concentrates are less potent and some may fall below 50% THC. A few solvent dabs exceed 90% THC, but most are in the 60-90% range.
Size doesn’t always matter! A small dose of shatter is about the size of a grain of rice, and it still delivers an abundance of THC per hit.
Speaking of high amounts of THC, legal markets require that packaging for cannabis concentrate include the potency of THC and CBD. These metrics will help you dose more effectively. For example, let’s say you want a 25 mg THC dab from your gram of hash rosin or other whole-plant cannabis extracts. If it is 80% total THC there will be 800 mg of THC in one gram, because 80% of 1,000 mg is 800 mg. If you split your gram into eight equal pieces, you then have eight doses of 100 mg THC.
All you have to do is continue splitting your stash until you are happy with the amount of THC in each dose. Remember, this all depends on how strong you want your dose to be, like we said, a little goes a long way!
How to smoke shatter with a Dab Rig?
What Is A Dab Rig?
A dab rig is a water pipe that looks like a bong but has a nail for concentrates (rather than flower) and a water chamber to cool the vapor as you inhale the dab. There are many types of dab nails, including the banger(usually made of quartz crystal or borosilicate glass), titanium, ceramic, quartz, or the advanced terp slurper. The standard nail is a bucket-shaped quartz banger. To vaporize dabs, nails must withstand high temperatures between 400-600°F.
Dab joints are gendered male or female and sized where they connect with dab rigs. Dab nails come in 10mm, 14mm, or 18mm.
E-nails, or electronic nails, heat through electricity and attach to dab rigs via a heated coil, eliminating the need for a blowtorch.
Butane torch
You might not have a blowtorch on hand, but it’s easy to find them. Don’t forget to buy cans of butane to refill the torch when you’re shopping!
Carb cap
A carb cap is a dabbing tool used to improve heating and allow for better airflow, which results in smoother hits. Drop a dab on a hot nail and place a carb cap over it to help regulate airflow.
Dab tool/dabber
Dabs and any cannabis concentrates are incredibly sticky, so to get the dab out of its container—ideally a silicone jar—you’ll need a tool! The dabber is this tool. Dabbers can be glass, metal, or ceramic. They also come in various shapes and sizes: blade, paddle, pick, scoop, shovel, and spatula.
How To Smoke Shatter Without A Rig?
If you don’t have a dab rig, that doesn’t mean you can’t smoke shatter. There are so many ways to dab:
- Make edibles with shatter or other concentrates (don’t forget to decarb first!).
- If you use a bowl or a pipe, top your flower with shatter.
- Twax a joint! To twax a joint spread shatter on the inside of the rolling paper with your dabber.
- Use a dab pen.
- Use hot knives in place of a hot nail.
How To Smoke Shatter With A Vape?
You can vape shatter like other cannabis concentrates, just use a higher temperature than you would for cannabis flower. However, go too high (like you would for a distillate cart), and you risk burning the shatter.
Dab pens are a great alternative to your dry-herb vapes and vape pens. Many have dual-use capabilities with two separate smoking compartments–one for dry herbs and another for concentrates like shatter. Smoking shatter with a vape or dab pen offers the convenience of enjoying a smoke session anywhere.
How To Smoke Shatter In A Bong
You can, of course, top off your flower with shatter as you would with kief. If you want to smoke shatter in a bong, place a screen at the bottom of a clean bong bowl, add the shatter, and light as usual. You might need to encourage gentle, even heating by moving the bong bowl.
How to smoke shatter with a cigarette?
To smoke shatter with a cigarette, apply the shatter to the end of the cigarette. By putting the shatter on the end of the cigarette, it will stay there and burn evenly as you smoke. If the shatter is harder, let it melt into the cigarette by placing a little on the ember. Melting shatter is hot and can burn you, so use caution.
Smoke Shatter with a Blunt
Smoking shatter with a blunt is similar to smoking shatter with a cigarette. As mentioned, simply mix the shatter with the flower before rolling, or twax your paper. However, this method of smoking shatter is least effective because of the lack of control over precise temperature, resulting in using more THC/shatter than is necessary.
Smoking Shatter Using Rolling Papers
All you need to smoke your shatter with rolling papers is cannabis, some shatter, rolling papers, a MouthPeace, and the know-how to roll a joint or blunt.
Layout the rolling paper and filter/mouthpiece/crutch and distribute the flower as usual. Then drop small amounts of shatter onto the flower, roll the shatter into a long snake, or heat it until it’s soft enough to spread on the rolling paper if it’s too sticky. The snake can either go inside the blunt or around the outside.
Can You Smoke Shatter With A Pipe?
Yes, of course you can! Simply apply the shatter on top of the dried cannabis and add a pipe screen for easy cleanup. As mentioned earlier, a dab rig, or water pipe, is the preferred method for smoking shatter. Investing in either of these will ensure a pleasant and easy way to smoke shatter.
In Conclusion
Whether you are a cannabis connoisseur looking for a better experience or new to cannabis culture, smoking shatter is complicated–and the extraction process isn’t cheap! However, the effects are well worth the effort!
Though shatter is high in THC, it is still an excellent option for first-timers because it offers more controllability over the smoker’s experience. Just remember to start slow with this powerfully potent form of cannabis–a little goes a long way!
We hope this guide on how to smoke shatter has been useful to you! Remember to watch this space for more smart information about other cannabis products and how to use them safely for the best results.