All cannabis growers will face the challenge of trimming their buds—whether by hand or using a machine—before selling them to a wholesaler or retail dispensary.
The traditional method of trimming cannabis is hand trimming. However, machine trimming is often used to process large quantities of cannabis where time and labor costs are a concern.
While both methods of trimming cannabis buds have their pros and cons, cold trimming, or cryo-trimming, offers an alternative to both hand trimming and bladed machine trimming that saves time without sacrificing quality or yield.
Key Differences Between Hand Trimming vs Machine Trimming
The main difference between hand trimming and conventional bladed machine trimming is that hand trimming produces an aesthetically beautiful, customized result. Machine trimming is quicker but often sacrifices quality, size, and bud retention ratios.
Put in these simple terms, the decision between hand trimming and machine trimming might seem to come down to personal preference or marketing directives. However, there are a few nuances that need to be taken into account.
Time
Hand-trimming is a time-consuming process. In an eight-hour shift, the average human trims one to two pounds of cannabis flower, which would cost a business owner $160 per day (plus benefits) per worker if each trimmer is paid $20 per hour.
While the trimming process can be pleasant enough if you put on some good music or get stuck into a great conversation, even the strongest hands and backs eventually get tired and start to cramp up, which is why many growers want to know how to trim weed faster.
Machine trimmers can trim up to 60 pounds of buds per hour (sometimes more) and the process happens in the background while you go about your business. This presents several obvious advantages for growers:
- You can clear the current crop quickly to make room for the next crop.
- You can save a significant percentage in labor costs.
- You avoid the sticky mess of chlorophyll and trichomes all over your gloves.
- No one gets muscle cramps, carpal tunnel syndrome, or RSI.
As far as time (and health) is concerned, machine trimming makes a lot more sense than hand trimming. However, time isn’t the only factor that goes into the equation.
Shape
When it comes to shape, hand-trimmed flowers have long been considered the gold standard because experienced human trimmers can manicure cannabis buds much more delicately and artfully than a bladed machine. In a research report published by Cannabis Business Times in August 2021, 83% of the producers surveyed said that they hand-trimmed their buds (to some degree).
Whereas automated bladed machine-trimmed cannabis buds all tend to come out the same shape—regardless of the shape of the original bud—hand-trimming showcases the unique shape of each flower, nugget size, and strain.
Potency
As you’ve probably guessed, the bladed machine trim process is rougher on trichomes than hand trimming and tends to take off more of the trichomes than a hand trimmer would. This leads to a lower product weight, which means lost income for the grower.
If a processor takes a more conservative approach and trims their buds as little as possible, their machine-trimmed cannabis will often end up with too much excess plant material at the end, compromising the flavor and leading to a harsher smoke.
The Third Option: Bladeless Trimming with Cryo Technology
Fortunately, thanks to the ingenuity of craft cannabis enthusiasts over the past decade or so, there is now a great alternative to both hand trimming and conventional machine trimming, and that’s trimming with CO2—commonly referred to as “cryo-trimming.”
The Original Resinator is possibly the best all-in-one patented CO2 cannabis trimmer, kief separator, and bubble hash-making machine on the market today. Not only does it save time compared to hand trimming but it can also generate additional income thanks to the quality of the resulting “whole-bodied” trim.
How The Original Resinator’s Cryo-Trim® Process Works
Instead of cutting off the sugar leaves with blades, The Original Resinator uses micro injections of CO2 to make the leaves brittle, at which point they fracture and break off when the horizontal rotating cylinder is turned. The process is gentle and keeps the trichomes intact.
Buds cleaned up with the Resinator’s Cryo-Trim® process are often indistinguishable from hand-trimmed buds when compared side by side. In some cases, Resonator-trimmed buds are even more beautiful than buds trimmed by hand.
Time
The time taken to trim cannabis buds using cryo-technology depends on the capacity of the machine. For example, the Original Resinator OG trims up to 1.5 pounds of flower in a minute or less and the Original Resinator XL trims up to 7 pounds of flower in 3.5 to 7 minutes.
Once you factor in the time taken to manually buck the outer leaves at the start and give them a light tidy-up at the end, you’re looking at around an hour for one person to finish a job that would take eight hours with hand trimming. When you multiply this figure to apply it to your entire crop, you’re looking at significant savings, all without compromising quality or quantity.
Shape
The shape of cryo-trimmed buds is around the same as (or superior to) that of hand-trimmed buds because the only thing you’ve removed is the leaves. Rather than cutting the buds to a certain shape and size like bladed trimming machines—which can put the trichome-to-plant-matter balance off—the Original Resinator simply encourages the excess leaves to snap off naturally. What you’re left with are exactly the same buds that went in (bring your microscope🔎), only without the sugar leaves.
Potency
Our certificates of analysis show that a mere 0.3-0.8% of the total THC and CBD are lost from the raw flowers during the entire Resinator Cryo-Trim® process, which is simply amazing. Some estimates put the loss of cannabinoid-rich trichomes at 5% with hand trimming and 20-30% with standard machine trimming. Going by our CoAs, The Original Resinator is far superior to both!
In addition, cryo-trimming allows you to trim fresh-frozen live buds after which they can be freeze-dried using the Crop-to-Cure® methodology—preventing the cannabinoid and terpene loss that can happen when buds are exposed to oxygen and heat in less-than-ideal drying conditions. The result is essentially a live-dried product with an exceptional flavor that’s sure to win your customers’ loyalty.
Bonus Advantage 1: Whole-Bodied Trim
In our patented Cryo-Trim® process, The Original Resinator separates the sugar leaves and full-bodied trichomes so cleanly that the resulting whole-bodied trim can be sold at a great price or used to create premium extracts and sift for infusions and pre-rolls. When examining the trim under a microscope, you can easily observe how trichomes remain perfectly intact.
With both scissored and bladed trimming, the clippings become contaminated with chlorophyll and plant particulates, lowering the rates you can charge if you sell the trim to processors. However, thanks to the unique capabilities of The Original Resinator, growers can charge top prices for both their buds and their trim—raising your overall earning potential.
Bonus Advantage 2: Volume Retention
Hand trimming protects your premium buds from being trimmed too small or damaged by a machine. That equates to more bud in your bottom line. It’s the cost associated with manually cleaning up your buds that leads business owners to consider machines.
Compared to other bladed machine trimmers, cryo-trimming® with The Original Resinator can more than double the throughput of its competitors with unrivaled preservation of A-to-B bud ratios. Labor cost savings coupled with efficiency makes this a conversation that you can’t afford not to have.
The Verdict on Hand-Trimming vs Machine Trimming
Hand trimming and machine trimming each offer distinct advantages on the time-quality continuum: Hand trimming produces the highest quality whereas machine trimming gets the job done in the fastest time. For this reason, small boutique producers often go with hand trimming and industrial growers with large harvests often opt for machine trimming. (learn how to properly trim cannabis here).
As a best-of-both-worlds solution, Cryo-trimming® with The Original Resinator gets around 85% of the process done—essentially the most tedious and tiring part—using sub-zero temperatures and a gentle tumbling action that doesn’t damage the trichomes or buds. Then, a light bucking on the front end and a few final touch-ups at the end allow you to manicure your buds when it really counts for a beautiful, efficiently-achieved result.
