Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[ProfessorLefty]

New technology to add, cool idea to use a wood moisture meter they must be a cheap mass produced home depot buy. Once we are already vacuum sealing, might as well go the whole way. Soon digital controls and a raspberry pi will run programs for certain cures. someone will post that someday. All we need is lots of herb to cob. Me, i like the moisture reader idea... got an infrared thermometer for around 15 bucks and used it for a few things until the battery gave out. I like 2 ways, high tech, and jungle tech to keep on my toes and enjoy myself.
Edit: Lefty your conventional cure flower pic looks like some cobby puck style as well, whats with that? Both look delicious. .

Got the idea from someone on Reddit—turns out Ed Rosenthal uses a wood moisture meter to gauge moisture content of his flower

Got mine on Amazon, $16 USD

I pressed 7g of conventionally-cured flower in the same pollen press I used for the cob just for grins—didn’t make any difference in flavor or anything, but it’s like 1/5 the volume uncompressed, so I can keep it in a smaller jar

 

[sneezydog]

I bet the terps will last longer without all the oxygen spaces.. if nothing else. I can't see any downside. Any change will probably be towards a slow cob effect.

 

[CDNINCA]

Hi all,
I decided to try something with more of the weed that I have in jars from harvest in '21. It's some Maui Wowie. It's has all the terps as when I put it in the jars, the effect is still good, but as with all older weed it's beginning to suffer the effects of oxidation on the color. So, why not try and preserve it as a cob and see what happens?
I also tried to up my game and pull off a cob a la "Hombre style" and used a 1" PVC tube with a 1" dowel as the "ram". I put a 1" long "plug" in one end, stuffed it with 1 oz of de-stemmed buds, and used a clamp to push in the ram to compress it. I think it worked out as I had hoped.


@Hombre del mont , what size tube do you use for your cobs, and how much weed do you stuff them with? My cob seems to be a little longer and thinner than the pics I've seen of yours. Perhaps I should go with a wider diameter tube?

Anyway, a few pics... Cheers!

 

[Tangwena]

Hi all,
I decided to try something with more of the weed that I have in jars from harvest in '21. It's some Maui Wowie. It's has all the terps as when I put it in the jars, the effect is still good, but as with all older weed it's beginning to suffer the effects of oxidation on the color. So, why not try and preserve it as a cob and see what happens?
I also tried to up my game and pull off a cob a la "Hombre style" and used a 1" PVC tube with a 1" dowel as the "ram". I put a 1" long "plug" in one end, stuffed it with 1 oz of de-stemmed buds, and used a clamp to push in the ram to compress it. I think it worked out as I had hoped.


@Hombre del mont , what size tube do you use for your cobs, and how much weed do you stuff them with? My cob seems to be a little longer and thinner than the pics I've seen of yours. Perhaps I should go with a wider diameter tube?

Anyway, a few pics... Cheers!

Nice experiment.
How long is the finished tube?

 

[CDNINCA]

Nice experiment.
How long is the finished tube?

Hi Tangwena,

The large tube is 46.35 cm, or 18.25 inches long, and .25 cm internal diameter or 1inch . The wood plug on the end is 1.25 cm long or .5". The "plunger" (labeled #1) is 27.5 cm long, or 11". The plan was to end up with a finished cob size that would easily fit in a vacuum seal bag. The final cob measured about 15.25 cm or about 6 inches. It easily fit, and I'm wondering if a slightly "fatter" cob, at the same length, would be better? As it is, that's one ounce of material in the bag, so I could do more?

Cheers!

 

[Hombre del mont]

@CDNINCA , good morning to you brother.
An interesting experiment, although I'm a little concerned as to the lack of moisture in your starting material, (some have reported that adding extra moisture works); I can however vouch for adding a proportion of fresh weed to the dry, that works.

My tube is about 6 1/2 inches in length and has an internal diameter of 1.25 inches. The cobs once dry weigh around 45 grams.
So my cobs are fractionally fatter but of a similar length. Tbh, I don't think they the dimensions have anything to do with the finished product.

I also flatten my cobs slightly during the fermentation (I stand on them!) as I like the shape it produces.

Good luck with your experiment.

 

[CDNINCA]

@CDNINCA , good morning to you brother.
An interesting experiment, although I'm a little concerned as to the lack of moisture in your starting material, (some have reported that adding extra moisture works); I can however vouch for adding a proportion of fresh weed to the dry, that works.

My tube is about 6 1/2 inches in length and has an internal diameter of 1.25 inches. The cobs once dry weigh around 45 grams.
So my cobs are fractionally fatter but of a similar length. Tbh, I don't think they the dimensions have anything to do with the finished product.

I also flatten my cobs slightly during the fermentation (I stand on them!) as I like the shape it produces.

Good luck with your experiment.

Good afternoon to you brother! Thanks for your reply and thoughts on the experiment, always greatly appreciated! Also, thanks for the details on your tube and process. I was wondering if a slightly larger diameter tube would be better. I might need to scale things up a little.

I agree that the moisture content of the older material might be a problem. I know that it is at 62% RH so it has some potential but I'm sure this would work much better with fresher product. I will just try leaving it and see what happens eh? This is my first experiment at trying this out and if I get it dialed in I will try again with stuff from the last grow which might work better. Just thought of this, it will be a good experiment, even if it doesn't have enough moister to begin fermenting, to see if it retards oxidation. I will learn something from this!

Thanks again!
Rob- who is about to stand on a freshly made cob... the form sounds interesting!

 

[StickyBandit]

Mrs Bandit was complaining about having no variety, so I cut open a 3 month old 130gm block of KA5H and cut off a 30gm chunk. Should keep her quiet for a while! I'm in trouble if she ever reads my posts
Burns like a dynamite fuse!

 

[Tangwena]

Mrs Bandit was complaining about having no variety, so I cut open a 3 month old 130gm block of KA5H and cut off a 30gm chunk. Should keep her quiet for a while! I'm in trouble if she ever reads my posts
Burns like a dynamite wick!

View attachment 18818051 View attachment 18818052

Nice job brother that looks amazing.
Love the color just about perfect.

 

[flylowgethigh]

3 days straight and it's only February! , you are ok, aren't you?.

I once went several months straight but that was only to prove to one of my children that I could "last until the end of the week".

I've always taken the path of least resistance and followed that great adage
"Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow".
The Mulanje x Malawi/Ethiopian good for getting me going.
That first pheno of the zenith sounds exactly what we both need. Imagine that cobbed!

I love the way Mexicans can put off things so easily ... Manana!

I'll have to try chewing on one of the cobs. I have great edible tolerance already with the cookies. My lungs want me to only vape and quit burning joints.

 

[Ringodoggie]

Opened for inspection, today. It's been 45 days since I sealed it (after sweating and drying).

It lost some of it's peppery beef jerky smell and smells a little more like pot. It is still spongy and when I tried to break a piece off the end, it was like tearing off a chunk of fresh chewing tobacco. So, it is not dry or brittle at all. I assume that's a good thing?

I smoked some and it pretty much tasted like shit. LOL Kind of like old wet pot would taste. I am going to break off another piece and let it dry some before I smoke it. I think that might help.

I am thinking about letting it dry out a little before re-sealing it. Good idea?

I broke one open a little to look inside. Nothing special inside. Smells about the same as the outside.

Took a couple pics.

 

[Hombre del mont]

I love the way Mexicans can put off things so easily ... Manana!

I'll have to try chewing on one of the cobs. I have great edible tolerance already with the cookies. My lungs want me to only vape and quit burning joints.

Mexicans?, not sure were they came from; I'm English (for better or worse).

 

[Hombre del mont]

@Ringodoggie , yes, let it dry until the surface is dry to the touch before resealing it up and back in the warm.
I'm surprised that you don't have a sweat ferment smell after a month and a half though.

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Opened for inspection, today. It's been 45 days since I sealed it (after sweating and drying).

It lost some of it's peppery beef jerky smell and smells a little more like pot. It is still spongy and when I tried to break a piece off the end, it was like tearing off a chunk of fresh chewing tobacco. So, it is not dry or brittle at all. I assume that's a good thing?

I smoked some and it pretty much tasted like shit. LOL Kind of like old wet pot would taste. I am going to break off another piece and let it dry some before I smoke it. I think that might help.

I am thinking about letting it dry out a little before re-sealing it. Good idea?

I broke one open a little to look inside. Nothing special inside. Smells about the same as the outside.

Took a couple pics.

I’m by no means an expert, but they do look like they were cobbed wet to me, so I’d probably dry them to the touch before re-cobbing. I found it useful to record the weight before and after drying so I get an idea of how much water they’ve lost

 

[Taima-da]

@Ringodoggie at this stage I find it can be really beneficial to let it dry quite well to breathe a little before resealing for long term storage and aging.
Looks and sounds like they may have been a little on the moist side going in and so a good dry to stop them fermenting further will slow that process right down, meaning that they won't have a black dog turd vibe down the track.
You probably won't be able to over dry them as some moisture will be retained internally even if you dry for a couple of days, unless you live in a dehydrator.

Letting a chunk dry out well before consuming will help a lot with taste and effect.

 

[Tangwena]

Opened for inspection, today. It's been 45 days since I sealed it (after sweating and drying).

It lost some of it's peppery beef jerky smell and smells a little more like pot. It is still spongy and when I tried to break a piece off the end, it was like tearing off a chunk of fresh chewing tobacco. So, it is not dry or brittle at all. I assume that's a good thing?

I smoked some and it pretty much tasted like shit. LOL Kind of like old wet pot would taste. I am going to break off another piece and let it dry some before I smoke it. I think that might help.

I am thinking about letting it dry out a little before re-sealing it. Good idea?

I broke one open a little to look inside. Nothing special inside. Smells about the same as the outside.

Took a couple pics.

It looks ok but if you have lost the terps it was way too moist for too long.
However it will still get you high so you have only lost the terps the THC is still there.

A lot of people used to green fresh flowers have no idea what pot smells like cured so sometimes its not as bad as they think.
The terpy smell of fresh flower is really just the early stages of curing and never going to stay the same.
However if cured properly it can be changed to a sweet deep hash type of aroma which is what a good cure should smell like.
It takes patience and experience to get a primo cure its an art like tobacco curing, but once you understand the curing process you will find its so worthwhile curing this way.
Unfortunately not everyone will be able to do it properly the first few times but when you do get it right you will know.

 

[Tangwena]

My lungs want me to only vape and quit burning joints.

Thats what started me chewing cob brother listen to your body.
After years of abuse my lungs were telling me stop smoking or die.
Your digestive tract, liver and kidneys are designed to receive cob use and clean up afterwards.
Its just your mind that can struggle being straight after prolonged chewing ha ha.
With the right cob chewed in the right amount you will want nothing else at least thats how my mind feels.

 

[pooman]

It smells deeply sweet ...almost makes you nauseous...but its not offensive or concerning...it's like too much soy sauce or smelling leather dipped in marmite ?

It's not wet...it's like solid...and soft...should I dry this before packing back?

 

[Taima-da]

Wouldn't hurt to dry a bit, otherwise looks really great

 

[pooman]

Wouldn't hurt to dry a bit, otherwise looks really great

Smokes to.white ash and good after taste..I'll dry a little

Also my lungs are also doomed if I keep smoking the pipe or chill um, I invested in some glycerine freezing glass and it's better....I hit through a hammer bubbler too for the ease....I don't know if I have the courage to stop to chew...probably should