Why i stopped curing in jars

[Nomad]

I can't tell you how many times I've ruined a good harvest by jarring too early, even when at times the bud feels crisp to the touch they would end up smelling like wet grass clippings or hay. Curing is just too risky as any bud even remotely moist will start to mold in a glass jar overnight, I've had this happen to me a few times. The other drawback of curing in jars is you have to constantly monitor the jar humidity, you have to burp the jars which is a waste of time especially if you have a big harvest, plus the jars take up a lot of space and if you break one of them well you have shards of glass in your stash! Let's face it, I'm a lazy stoner and curing buds is just far too much work, and too much of a risk. So this is what i do and will do for now on:

1) Hang the plants, use fans in an open room with plenty of ventilation (open window or door or use 2 vent fans in/out). Let it dry for 2 weeks or so (or until you can easily SNAP the lower branches).

2) Cut the plant down to size, let them continue to dry on paper grocery bags. Remove the main stem.

3) separate the buds that are completely dry (the bud should be CRISPY to the touch, they should be light as a feather and make a slight crunchy sound) for the bud that looks dark green, moist and flexible.. place those on paper-bags and put a fan on them until they finish.

4) Place all the crispy dry buds into paper lunch bags or regular plastic bags (not ziploc or air tight bags! Never put heavy or moist buds in plastic bags!). and store in a cool dry place.

I think it's so important to never store bud until they are completely and 100% dry, even if there's one bud that is moist in the batch and molds then you have spoiled the entire thing. So be careful.

After using this method all my weed smells like fruity high-grade weed rather than musty hay smelling shite because every bit of moisture in the buds are gone. When moisture hangs out for a period of time in bud it starts to stink, and when it starts to stink bad things like mold will start to grow and now your faced with either throwing it away or smoking it, NEVER SMOKE MOLDY WEED... don't risk your health!

Curing is just not worth the risk to your stash and to your health. Anyways, i hope fellow bud smokers well.

 

[SOTF420]

This my brother, is what the fridge is for. Cannabis needs some moisture to burn properly as well as cure correctly. I find that overdried buds have far less aroma and flavor than those that have a small moisture %. I like to dry until crispy but still slightly squishy (about a week at 75F and like 50% RH in room) and then they go into jars that are placed in the fridge and burped a few times the first few days. Then I will empty it all out onto paper plates or similiar once the buds are totally equalized moisture wise and let them "crisp up" a bit at room temps for a few hours outside of the fridge. You want to be able to roll a joint with it and the bud stay lit but not be so dry it crumbles into dust & shake when handled. Cold temps preserve the thc & cannabinoids much better than room temperature storage and even after a year in the fridge they are like smoking buds from a fresh harvest.

Then the buds just stay in the fridge from there on out and I never have any mold issues and my nug is always fresh, fruity & potent. 35F is the perfect temp, very cold and just above freezing. Just a tip you may want to consider because too dry is just not good in all reality. Also if you vaporize your buds they are much better with a little moisture in them they produce far more medicinal miracle mist before turning into the dry hot burnt popcorn stuff.

 

[Donald Trump]

i hang the whole plant and slow dry it 2-3 weeks 68F 50% humidity, manicure and then..........

i use simons method here on the mag...

 

[DankDaFyed]

i use xlarge turkey bags for large yields, works great and they are durable =)

 

[señorsloth]

it's a small window, i have had issues getting it right before too, one thing that helps is making sure your plants are super ripe, i have found that the riper they are the more they smell and the more they smell the more that it will carry over into the finished product obviously. it takes just a little work to get it right. my last harvest has been in plastic jars for the past 3 days, they reak like crazy and smoke smooth already! they will get burped occasionally for the next few weeks though before they are at their peak. the key with that is to just practice, you can tell by the smell right when you open it if they are too moist or getting a little dry.

it kinda sounds like you jarred a batch too early, made it stink like beasters, and are now scared completely away from a widely accepted process...drying your pot for more than 3 weeks like you describe and not using any kind of jar is way overkill, your weed will never smoke as smooth as if you had properly cured it, and trust me, the smoother the weed is, the easier it will be to taste all the wonderful nuances of your personal crop. when your lungs are burning and your choking back painful coughing fits because your smoking crispy, shaky bud, and a month down the road you will wish you had nice cured buds, that don't crumble but burn nice and smooth.

 

[Hammerhead]

I have no issues with my buds after cured. When the RH% is stable at 65% you can close the lid with no mold problems. For long term storage I bring it down to 60% and vacuum seal it.

They have jars that will hold lbs.

Let the plants dry out all allot after you put them in a sealed container the moisture that's still in the buds will start to rehydrate the buds. Check RH if its high leave the top open over night. check RH keep doing this until you get 60% and then close it if the RH goes over 60% open the jar take the buds out and put them back in. When it stable at 60% its good the curing will start. Its very easy really.

Here is Simon's curing instructions
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=156237&highlight=perfect+cure

 

[THC123]

try simon's method and only jar a bit of your harvest to get it right

and try softs fridge method to preserve aromas/smells

i have also had the same issues with jars for years

and for years i havent cured , till now i am doing it again , but not everything cuz i also like non cured weed in the vape

the reason why your stash prolly goes bad in jars is cuz you jar it when it is too dry , that also gives a bad effect after some time like hay weed and very rough bad smelling weed

now i only dry for 5-7 days and in the jar they go without old or smell issues

 

[BudToker]

I agree and recommend implementing Simon's curing method using Caliber III meters. IMHO it is simple and flawless.

Good Luck,

-BT

 

[ijim]

Hang until they stems inside the bud snaps. Then paper bags for a week then the jars. Foil mylar ziploc bags work well also. They keep the light out, medical and food grade are not permeatable like plastic and you can stuff them anywhere. We used to cure the too dry problem with bails from Mexico by stacking them in the bathroom and taking hot showers.

 

[trichrider]

being that my RH rarely goes below 40%, it's hard for me relate.
i built a humidor with an extraction fan that dries to snap in ten days, then into jars/containers.
like SOTF420 said, buds burn better with about 50-60% humidity, taste better, & don't choke.
could be you are drying too much?

 

[MIway]

This my brother, is what the fridge is for. Cannabis needs some moisture to burn properly as well as cure correctly. I find that overdried buds have far less aroma and flavor than those that have a small moisture %. I like to dry until crispy but still slightly squishy (about a week at 75F and like 50% RH in room) and then they go into jars that are placed in the fridge and burped a few times the first few days. Then I will empty it all out onto paper plates or similiar once the buds are totally equalized moisture wise and let them "crisp up" a bit at room temps for a few hours outside of the fridge. You want to be able to roll a joint with it and the bud stay lit but not be so dry it crumbles into dust & shake when handled. Cold temps preserve the thc & cannabinoids much better than room temperature storage and even after a year in the fridge they are like smoking buds from a fresh harvest.

Then the buds just stay in the fridge from there on out and I never have any mold issues and my nug is always fresh, fruity & potent. 35F is the perfect temp, very cold and just above freezing. Just a tip you may want to consider because too dry is just not good in all reality. Also if you vaporize your buds they are much better with a little moisture in them they produce far more medicinal miracle mist before turning into the dry hot burnt popcorn stuff.

If you tested this for Moisture Content... likely be at 12%, give or take. Perfect.

 

[SOTF420]

Buy yourself a locking dorm room mini-fridge and put it somewhere safe and out of sight. They are pretty safe and don't take up much space. If you can't find a locking one you can just get some little self tapping screws and a metal latch to put a lock on.

Buy the little digital battery powered temp/RH meter at walmart for like $15 and just sit it inside the fridge, try to get it right around 35F - 36F as you don't want to go below 32F or you may damage the buds because that's freezing. You can keep your seeds in there as well, perfect storage if well sealed. I used to keep buds in my big fridge in the kitchen but once people who come over regularly figure out you have buds in the fridge you have to watch it like a hawk all the time and that gets tiring. lol

 

[señorsloth]

thanks for the tip on the fridge sotf420! i'm testing my different pheno's as i type, trying to decide what to keep as mothers, and one thing i can tell you is that the stuff i harvested a week earlier than the rest, which subsequently has about 10 days cure(7 in my fridge), thawing then burping twice a day, while the bulk has only been curing for 3 days in the same fasion. i have never really tasted them side by side before but after even just 10 days curing the buds are sooooo much sweeter and smoother, much more complex tasting, same strain but with only 3 days cure and it really has a burn to it, so harsh still that it really is hard to taste the flavors that i know are there.

basically...if you aren't curing your weed, your lungs are missing out! properly cured bud is a completely different animal than uncured!

 

[SOTF420]

There is really alot going on during the curing process and gases are being released from the vegetative matter (like ammonia for instance) and chlorophyll is breaking down, complex sugar conversions are occuring in the plant tissues and so much more so there really are many important quality increasing processes occurring which will eventually lead you to the best end product. THC-A which is the acidic form that is not very active is also converted into fully psychoactive THC through proper drying of the buds in the first place. This is why properly dried and cured bud tastes so much better and smokes so much smoother without the harsh "green" taste to it and is generally more potent. But it needs to be properly dried and then it needs to be properly stored and allowed to cure over time. It would cure faster outside of the fridge but this is where most people do not store their buds correctly and the still semi-moist buds are very prone to mold attack or can develop strange tastes & aroma's due to lack of care at crucial points. (like ammonia cat-piss or hay smelling nugs)

The cold process actually slows down the curing somewhat because biological processes in general are far slower in very cold temps like those in the fridge but those same temps prevent mold and also preserve the THC & Cannabinoids far better than storing in room temps so you really have to find the balance that works best for you but I find a longer slower cure in the fridge stored in glass jars works great for me at least and keeps the buds fresh, tasty, & potent long term. Burping the first week or two is essential no matter what you do and it also helps to shake them around a little bit to help release the gases from the plant matter and then when you open up the jars and let them sit out and crisp up a bit you are letting all of this air out and also the buds are releasing excess moisture that is coming out from deep inside the stems inside the buds themselves. You also get a nice even moisture consistency in the buds overall because of the sealed container in the cold temps it really helps to even things out so they smoke smoothly and burn properly. I have some totally world class buds in a jar that have been stored this way for well over a year in the fridge and slowly cured and are absolutely amazing in a vaporizer because they are not overdried and are still frosty, sweet, aromatic & more potent than ever!

Glad it is working out for you senorsloth!

 

[trichrider]

whew^^^figure i could use some of what you're using.

and furthermore...i would like it!!!
i know, follow the scent of grapefruit or something of that nature...

hope springs eternal.

 

[hydroton man]

I like to dry it until the smaller stems snap, but the larger ones still have some flex and the buds feel dry on the outside.. Then I'll cut off the buds so they fit in the jars, trying to get an even match of smaller and larger buds in each jar..

Then I use a few of the electronic hygrometers in a few of the jars, like this one below..

Then vent according to the of the humidity within the jars..
+70% RH - too wet, needs to sit outside the jar to dry for 12-24 hours, depending on environment.

65-70% RH - the product is almost in the cure zone (if you will). It can be slowly brought to optimum RH by opening the lid for 2-4 hours and will also vent the grassy ass gases. I will also sometimes pull them out and rotate the buds around..

60-65% RH - usually all the stems will snap now, the buds feel sticky, and we're now curing. I still open the jars once every few days for 15-30 minutes at a time..

55-60% RH - at this point it can be stored for an extended periods without worrying about mold. The product will continue to cure and you'll notice the jars smell sweet as candy when opened.


Just how I do it anyway...

 

[BET]

I agree and recommend implementing Simon's curing method using Caliber III meters. IMHO it is simple and flawless.

Good Luck,

-BT

^ this

I have used the freezer method, and Simons. Both produce outstanding results and NO molding.

 

[THC123]

I have some totally world class buds in a jar that have been stored this way for well over a year in the fridge and slowly cured and are absolutely amazing in a vaporizer because they are not overdried and are still frosty, sweet, aromatic & more potent than ever!

well i can tell you that tha buds /jars that i didnt put into the fridge smoke real nice now


But they are unvapeable , you can smoke em and they are smooth nut in the vape...........

it makes me cough cough and cough when i vape it and the taste is really stale and bland , those jars are at 59-60% and smell wonderfu!ll when i open them , but they vape like ass

the one in the fridge still tastes good


But still the nugs out of the freezer have the best freshest taste , you just taste the smell of the herb and so smooth

i think in the future i'll just cure max 2 weeks and then i'll freeze cuz i think after 2 weeks of jar curing the smell and taste are at the peak(when vaping)

 

[SOTF420]

the one in the fridge still tastes good

I have heard good things about the freezer, just never kept my buds in there. I recall hearing or reading something about damage to them and getting frostbite or something like that if they were not dry enough and also the taking them in and out of the freezer messes them up too because of the temp extremes where as the fridge is close to freezing (mine is) but not quite that low so you get all the pro's of the cold storage without the potential drawbacks. Good to hear that you have some nice buds to vape man, this last harvest which was mostly seeds required me to dry the buds far more than I usually would to ensure the seeds dried properly. As a result the dry dry broken up nug does not vape too well at all because it's bone dry but the hash sure as hell vapes like a champ & I luckily still have nice juicy squishy fridge kept buds from the last harvest before this with plenty of juice in them for vaping into big clouds of sweet magical mist.

 

[THC123]

hahaha i am also glad i have a big stash of frozen buds from the last years


too bad the jar cured stash from last indoor 2* 600 w was all kept in jars

i should have frozen 2/3 and try to cure 1/3

i am gonna give it some more time and if it doesnt become better i'll somehow get rid of it


too bad especially for the amnesia and sssdh 2 of my favs

i almost didnt touch the weed in the beginning cuz i thought it was gonna be even better 3 months later

the sad part is in the beginning in jars it was da bomb ,so now i have like 16 jars full of "cured" herb that i dont really like

i open the jar , it smells just wonderfull everything looks great but when i vape those glass curedbuds (RH59-60%) i do not taste the smell in my vaporizer and i have to cough + effect seems less psychoactive and more sleep inducing

the buds smell great and normally with vaping i taste the smell , well not with this cured herb

i really dont get it

when i vape the same herb but frozen after 14 days of hang drying with leaves on i just get a rich deep smooth taste and the same effect as when the herb was still fresh and new


i Must say during the first 14-30 days of curing the vcured herb was better then the frozen , but then it went downhill fast , i sealed the jars at 59% and put em away thinking they would cure further and do nothing but improve , when in fact quality has taken a nosedive

i mean i have had buds hang in my attick for 3 months exposed to air(with leaves on) that where smoother more potent and better tasting then the glass cured herb

with simon's method i do not get anyh hay or ammonia smells , the smells are good , it is just the taste in the vape

the only thing this glass curing does for me is it make smoking a joint real smooth


the cured herb is perfet for smoking a joint , it burns real nice and smokes smooth , but for vaping i dont need this , for vaping i just want flavor and potency and a lil moisture