Rosin Presses Explained: How to Choose and Run a Graveda Rosin Press
Rosin is one of the oldest plant materials we still use. It is the resin pressed or tapped from a plant and reduced to its useful fraction, and it has been on violin bows, in varnishes and under gymnasts' hands for centuries. What has changed is the equipment. A modern rosin press applies controlled heat and pressure to plant material and produces that same resin in minutes, with nothing added.
No butane, no ethanol, no vacuum ovens, no purging, no residual solvent testing. If you work with aromatic or resinous botanicals and have been put off extraction by cost, chemistry or fire risk, rosin pressing is the method to know about.
How rosin pressing works
Material goes into a rosin filter bag. The bag sits between the two heated plates of the rosin press. Pressure is applied, by a hand-worked lever driving a hydraulic cylinder or by an electric pump on automatic models, and the heat lowers the viscosity of the resins until they flow.
Under pressure those resins are forced out through the mesh, leaving plant fibre behind. The rosin collects on release film either side of the bag and you scrape it off once it has cooled.
That is all a rosin press does. The skill is in the variables.
The four variables that decide your rosin
Temperature. The biggest lever on any rosin press. Around 70–90°C gives thicker, lighter rosin with better retention of volatile aromatics, since those are the first compounds lost to heat. Up to around 120°C gives looser, darker rosin and a higher yield. There is no correct answer, only a trade-off between aroma and quantity.
Pressure. More is not automatically better. Too much ruptures the rosin bag or forces fibre through the mesh and contaminates the rosin. Build gradually and watch for the point where flow slows.
Time. Most rosin presses run 60 to 180 seconds. Longer at lower temperature is generally kinder to aromatics than shorter at high temperature.
Material preparation. Moisture content matters enormously. Too wet gives watery, unstable rosin. Too dry and the resins will not flow. Around 10–12% is the usual target, and a moisture analyser removes the guesswork entirely.
Plate area beats tonnage on a rosin press
This is the specification most people get wrong when buying a rosin press. A 20-tonne press is not twice as good as a 10-tonne press. What matters is pressure per unit area, and that is force divided by plate contact area.
A 10-tonne cylinder acting across small plates generates far higher PSI than a 20-tonne cylinder spread across large ones. The bigger rosin press is not pressing harder, it is pressing more at once.
So the question is not how many tonnes you need. It is how much material you want to press per cycle. Answer that, pick the plate size, and the tonnage follows.
Why Graveda rosin presses
Graveda are a German manufacturer who build rosin presses rather than treating them as one line among many. That control shows up in the things that fail on cheaper rosin presses: plates that heat evenly across the whole surface instead of running hot in the middle, cylinders that hold pressure without creeping, frames that do not flex under load.
The Graveda Graspresso rosin press range also scales properly, with plate area growing alongside cylinder force so the working pressure stays in the same useful window across the line.
Choosing a rosin press
Grasspresso GP6003 3 Ton Hydraulic Rosin Press — £455.99. The entry point and the best first rosin press in the range. Genuinely capable for small batches and the sensible way to find out whether rosin pressing suits your work before committing real money.
Grasspresso GP30-5 5 Ton Hydraulic Rosin Press — £485.99. Where most small-scale producers land. Enough force for consistent rosin on 12 x 6cm plates, still compact enough to live on a bench.
Grasspresso GP50-5-7 7 Ton Hydraulic Rosin Press — £549.99. For anyone pressing rosin regularly rather than occasionally. The extra force lets you work a fuller bag per cycle without dropping below the PSI you need. It also carries a pressure indicator, which is the difference between repeating a good press and guessing at it.
Grasspresso EPIC 15 Ton Hydraulic Rosin Press — £799.99. Production rosin equipment. Check weight and footprint before ordering.
Graveda GMP 20 Ton Rosin Press — £1,499.99. The top of the range, pairing a hydraulic cylinder with a manometer so you can read and log the pressure you actually applied. Without a gauge you cannot record what you did, and if you cannot record it you cannot repeat it.
Rosin bags and press film
Graveda rosin press filter bags run from 5 to 220 micron across eleven ratings, in two sizes, ten to a pack, at £7.00. They are dimensioned around Graveda's own plates, so nothing needs improvising.
Coarser mesh at 120–220 micron flows faster but lets more fibre through. Finer mesh at 5–45 micron gives cleaner rosin at the cost of yield. Start around 90 micron and adjust from there.
You have two sensible options for the release layer, and the choice is about how you work rather than which is better.
HiVEX Silicone Ultra parchment is the disposable route. True genuine parchment with silicone on both faces, pre-cut to 4x4", 500 to a box. Fresh sheet every press, no cleaning, no carryover, pennies a go. It doubles as collection and storage paper, which is why most people get through a box faster than they expect.
Honey Slick PTFE roll is the reusable route. A solid non-stick film at 0.12mm rated to 260°C, cut from the roll to whatever plate size you run. Higher up-front cost, then it lasts.
What does not work is supermarket baking parchment. It tears under hydraulic pressure, sheds fibre into warm rosin, and holds aroma from whatever you baked last. The few pence you save is not worth picking paper out of a finished press.
Storing your rosin
Collect while warm and store cold. Rosin scrapes off far more easily at around 30–40°C, and once collected, cold storage in an airtight container preserves the volatile compounds you worked to keep. Light, air and heat are what degrade a finished rosin.
Glass is the right material. It is non-reactive, it seals properly and it does not hold odour between batches, which matters if you press more than one botanical.
UV Miron violet glass jars are the best rosin storage for anything you are keeping more than a few weeks. The violet glass blocks the visible light that degrades terpenes and delicate aromatics while letting UV-A and infrared through. Sizes run from the 5ml cosmetic jar at £1.99 up through the 150ml, 250ml and 500ml wide-neck jars. Wide necks matter more than they sound when you are filling with something as viscous as fresh rosin.
Childproof jars are the sensible default for any concentrated botanical kept in a household, particularly essential-oil-rich material. We stock round and square 5ml and 9ml childproof storage jars from £0.60 with push-and-turn closures.
Boveda humidity packs are worth adding if you are storing source material rather than finished rosin, since holding a stable moisture level is half the battle before you press anything.
The full storage and packaging range covers vacuum jars, curing bags and heat sealing alongside the above.
Getting better rosin
Pre-press first. Forming material into a dense puck matched to your rosin bag dimensions before it goes near the plates removes air, spreads pressure evenly and reduces blowouts.
Fold the bag properly. Fold the open end over rather than leaving it loose, and orient the fold away from your collection point.
Look after your PTFE. It is reusable, so wipe it down warm and store it flat. Keep a dedicated piece per botanical if you press more than one material, since that is the only real carryover risk. Replace it once it is badly creased or scratched.
Keep a rosin log. Temperature, pressure, time, micron, material weight, yield. Six entries in and you have a repeatable recipe.
Look after the plates. Rosin press plates last indefinitely with reasonable care. Use release film, never scrape the surfaces with metal tools, and wipe them down while warm.
What people press rosin from
Rosin pressing is used across a genuinely wide range of trades:
- Pine and conifer resin — colophony, the original rosin, still used for violin and cello bows, gymnastics and climbing grip, soldering flux, varnishes and traditional sealing waxes
- Craft brewing — hop rosin has become a serious technique for late additions and dry hopping, giving concentrated aroma without vegetal material or the volume loss of whole-cone hops
- Herbalism and balm making — oleoresins from rosemary, calendula, lavender, arnica and St John's wort, extracted with no solvent residues to account for
- Incense and perfumery — frankincense, myrrh, benzoin and pine resins pressed into refined concentrates for burning or blending
- Culinary work — citrus peel, vanilla and spice oleoresins for high-intensity natural flavouring
- Beekeeping — propolis processed into a usable, workable form
- Cosmetics and soap making — botanical concentrates for natural scenting and active ingredients
The equipment is the same in every case. Only the temperature, micron and timing change.
Rosin press FAQs
Is rosin genuinely solvent-free? Yes. The only inputs to a rosin press are heat and mechanical pressure. Nothing is added and nothing needs purging afterwards, which is why rosin suits anyone making products for skin, burning or consumption.
What temperature should I press rosin at? Around 90°C is a sensible first attempt for most resinous botanicals. Adjust down for aroma, up for yield, and change one variable at a time.
Will an unheated press make rosin? No. Without heat the resins stay too viscous to flow and you will just compress the material. Heated plates are essential.
What micron rosin bag should I start with? Around 90 micron suits most material. Go coarser for faster flow and higher yield, finer for cleaner rosin.
Can I use baking parchment instead of PTFE? You can, but it is a false economy. Parchment tears under load, sheds fibre into warm rosin and goes in the bin after every press. PTFE film costs more up front and then lasts.
How much material per press? Plate size dictates it. Overfilling is the most common beginner error and the usual cause of bag failures.
Manual or automatic rosin press? Manual gives tactile feedback, and you feel resistance change as the rosin flows, which is genuinely informative. Automatic gives consistency and saves your shoulders.
Buy a rosin press in the UK
The full Graveda Graspresso rosin press range is in stock at BHO Hardware with free UK shipping over £50, along with rosin press bags, Honey Slick PTFE and the storage to go with them. Not sure which tonnage and plate size suit your volume? Call the Barnsley showroom on 0114 229 1807 — we run this equipment ourselves.
Graveda rosin presses are supplied for lawful horticultural, culinary and craft applications only.
