Do Dry Herb Vaporizers Produce Visible Vapor?

By Nexi Miller
Last Updated on

Do Dry Herb Vaporizers Produce Visible Vapor?

As the wind of change blows smokers into vapers, new converts tend to choose inexpensive starter units just to get the feel of vaping or just for the thought of testing the waters and may just end up getting disappointed or distraught.

Switching from smoking to vaping is not just something you think of at the spur of the moment. It is, in fact, a serious decision-making stage of your life, as it will determine your future health and your soon to be new well-loved pastime or habit.

If that’s how you see switching to vaping then you wouldn’t want to choose just any vaporizer, but something that will truly let you experience that real essence of vaporizing and will never make you look back to smoking.

Blowing circles with dry herb vaporzier vapor

We have made a comprehensive post on vaporizers, that you can check out here if you haven’t started your research yet. But if you have already taken the step and bought a vaporizer, then today’s topic will be an interest to you.

For someone who is new to vaping, the expectation is high to see huge clouds after every draw. It’s kinda fun and cool anyway! However, that is not always the case. There are factors to consider why a vaporizer does not produce visible vapor at all after you exhale.

One important factor for better vapor production or visible vapor is the temperature. Every dry herb has its corresponding heat level to reach its boiling point or the stage where the material releases its full flavor in a form of vapor.

Setting the heat at a lower level may lead to ineffective vaporization of materials, which will result in less flavor and aroma and may produce less visible vapor.

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With temperature playing a big part in vapor production, a digital vaporizer is most preferred by users to ensure a precise temperature setting, when vaporizing a particular material.

FocusVape Pro Digital Vaporizer dispaly
FocusVape Pro Digital Vaporizer with Adjustable Temperature Settings

However, despite the recommended heat setting for a particular dry herb, vapor production may still vary due to the moisture content of the material. Hence, a perfectly dried herb is also essential to achieve that desired vapor output.

Water Bubblers for dry herb vaporizers
The Aqua Bubbler is an optional extra for the FocusVape PRO, Vapir Prima and Phantom Premium Portable Vapes

One overlooked aspect of dry herbal vaporizing is grounding the herbs to a very fine consistency. It could be out of laziness or impatience that we just like to rush everything, including our dry blend.

With smoking, simply shredding the herbs will do as it will be burnt without problems. Whereas with vaporizing, materials are not burnt but heated to the recommended heat setting to reach their boiling point and release the vapor.

Massive Vapor Cloud our of portable vaporizer

The finer the herbs are the more surface area for the heated air to pass through in the chamber for a convection heating method vaporizer.

The same consistency applies to vaporizers with conduction heating, to read more about convection and conduction heating method, head over to our How Vaporizers Work article.

The finer the dry herbs, the more particles get in contact with the heated walls and effectively release the flavors and aroma of your blend, resulting in a more visible vapor.

Therefore, it is very important to own and use the right grinder that will do the job, as coarsely grounded herbs can also cause airflow restriction.

Now, grinding your herbs to a fine consistency is just one thing, the right manner of packing your herbs into your vaporizer’s chamber is another step to consider for more vapor production and visible vapor when you exhale.

With your finely ground up herbs, load them into your vaporizer’s chamber and using a packing tool or your finger push the materials in and make sure it is packed fairly well but not overpacked.

Storz and Bickel Crafty Vaporizer
An overpacked chamber – Crafty Vaporizer

You don’t want them loose either as they will not be thoroughly and evenly heated resulting in an ineffective performance of your vaporizer. Make sure not to overpack the chamber either, as this will also cause restricted air flow, which can result in an uneven vaporization process.

Now, there are devices however that work better with a loose pack, like the Volcano vaporizers that utilize a pure convection heating technology.

Volcano Digit Vaporizer
Volcano Digit Balloon Desktop Vaporizer

With a convection heating method, vaporization is not dependent on the materials touching the heated surface. Instead, it uses hot air that works through the ground up herbs to release the vapors.

Just remember, a vaporizer that uses conduction heating works best with a tight pack, as more herbs touch the heated walls, while a convection heating vaporizer will work well with a loosely packed ground up herbs, as it uses hot air that passes through the material simultaneously to vaporize the material and bring out the best flavors and aroma of your herbs.  

Another thing to note is that some herbs tend to produce more visible vapor than the others. For example, herb leaves like lemon balm and peppermint produce less vapor than herb flowers like chamomile and lavender, as the latter contains more oil and terpenes.

Above all the factors we talked about is the vaporizer itself. A high-quality dry herb vaporizer comes with a price but it will be worth your investment considering the satisfaction you get with its performance and delivery.

And remember, whether you get lots of visible vapor or less or maybe none at all, doesn’t mean you are not getting the benefits of your dry herbs.

If you are just starting to vape and used to seeing that big smoking clouds you get from cigarettes, vapor from vaporizers whether visible or not is produced by heating and not by burning or combustion.

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It is free from carbon monoxide and other unhealthy by-products derived from smoking.

But… If you really want a cloud blowing vaporizer to start your journey then we recommend you check out the CloudV product range for the portable ones and a whip vaporizer for a desktop vape.

Vaping the new way to unwind

 

Nexi Miller

Nexi Miller

I am passionate about vaporizers, vaping lifestyle and travelling. Always up for a good laugh and aiming to look at things from their fun and bright side. Let's Share The Vaping Love Together :)

2 thoughts on “Do Dry Herb Vaporizers Produce Visible Vapor?”

    • Not as common as e-cigarettes but still quite a lot of people do it. Butane powered devices like the Iolite Original and WISPR2 have been popular among dry tobacco leaf vapers. Most pages we publish about dry tobacco leaf vaping generates a fair a bit of interest, so I assume there are quite a few people out there, who is vaping tobacco with dry herb vapes.

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