Part 4: How to Harvest And Filter Resin Pitch
How to Harvest and Filter Spruce & Pine Resin
A practical introduction to finding, responsibly gathering, melting and filtering natural tree resin — and understanding an old forest craft through hands-on experience.
For generations, people around the world have gathered tree resin for practical and traditional uses including waterproofing, salves, firecraft, incense and natural chewing gum.
Long before commercial chewing gum existed, Indigenous peoples across North America were chewing spruce and other natural tree resins. Resin chewing later became part of the early commercial chewing-gum industry in North America.
From Traditional Resin to Commercial Spruce Gum
Today, working resin into chewing gum is becoming something of a forgotten craft. Many people have never seen raw pitch gathered and prepared from start to finish.
This guide shares the basics of how raw spruce and pine resin can be responsibly gathered and filtered while introducing some of the history behind the practice.
John Bacon Curtis (1827–1897)
John Bacon Curtis is widely credited with helping turn traditional spruce-pitch chewing into a commercial chewing-gum industry in North America.
Growing up in Maine, Curtis and his father collected and refined spruce resin after observing an already-established practice of chewing spruce pitch. Curtis experimented with processing, straining, molding and packaging the resin into a product that could be sold commercially.
His State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum became an early commercial chewing gum. Curtis did not invent resin chewing — that knowledge was far older — but his business helped move spruce gum into the commercial marketplace.
Some Things Can't Be Learned From a Page
This guide gives you the foundation, but resin is a material you learn by working with it. Tree species, season, resin age, temperature and even individual trees can change how a batch behaves.
How to Find Resin on Spruce and Pine Trees
Spruce and pine trees produce resin as part of their natural defense system. It can appear as amber drops, tears or hardened layers on the bark.
- Look for resin around existing natural wounds, old branch sites and areas where the tree has already produced resin.
- Do not cut into a live tree or deliberately create a new wound to make it produce resin.
- Resin can be found throughout the year, but its texture and condition change with season, age and the individual tree.
Older resin is often harder and more brittle, while fresher resin may be sticky or soft. Both can be useful depending on what you're making.
Part of learning this craft is developing an eye for resin and learning what its color, texture and feel can tell you.
Melting and the First Strain
Once resin has been gathered, it can be gently melted so the larger pieces of natural forest debris can be separated from it.
Resin softens and melts with heat, so excessive temperatures aren't necessary. The goal is to make the material fluid enough to work with without scorching it.
As the resin liquefies, natural material begins to separate:
- Bark fragments
- Needles and plant material
- Dust and other naturally occurring forest debris
A small metal strainer or mesh can remove the larger material. This first pass prepares the resin for finer filtering.
Second Melt and Fine Filtering
After the first strain, the resin can be melted again for a finer filtering pass.
Finer material can be removed using suitable cloth or fine filtering material. Linen, cotton and cheesecloth have all been used for filtering natural resin.
Natural Resin Isn't Laboratory Material
The goal isn't to turn forest resin into a perfectly sterile, laboratory-looking substance. Small traces of naturally occurring material can remain in traditionally prepared pitch.
Heat matters. Excessive temperatures can scorch resin and change its aroma, flavor and physical characteristics.
Finding the right combination of heat, filtering material and timing is one of the skills that develops through experience.
From Resin to Gum
Once strained and cooled, natural resin firms again. What happens next depends on the resin and the preparation method.
Prepared resin can be:
- Broken or divided into smaller pieces
- Gently warmed when a more pliable texture is needed
- Worked or stretched depending on the resin
- Portioned into chewable pieces
Preparation methods have varied across regions, communities, traditions and individual craftspeople. That variation is part of the history of working with natural resin.
What More Than a Decade of Working With Resin Has Taught Us
Our family has been harvesting spruce and pine resin in Alberta for over a decade, using it in balms, soaps, waterproofing and eventually chewing gum.
Working with resin is something you learn through doing. Every batch teaches you something about heat, texture, timing and the differences between trees and seasons.
This guide shares the foundation of the craft, but the real skill comes from spending time with the material.
We also know that not everyone who wants to learn about spruce resin wants to buy finished gum. This knowledge deserves to remain accessible to people who want to explore the craft themselves.
Try Our Prepared Spruce & Pine Resin Gum
We personally wild-harvest and prepare the resin used in our gum here in Alberta. If you'd rather experience the finished chew, explore our current collection.
Explore Canadian Spruce GumMastering Spruce Resin
A complete learning path from tree to traditional uses.