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Malawi Style Cob Curing.
- Thread starter Tangwena
- Start date
Do tell?Hey Tangwena.. ! nice to see some familiar faces
That sounds fantastic my friend please post any pics you get I would be very interested in anything from the region.
rangergord
Active member
Well I am on day 2 of what will likely be 4-5 days of fermentation. I did a 24 hour sweat at 40 C and then opened the bags to examine the three small cobs I made. The smell was familiar. Not the nice still live and dank terpenes of the buds I rolled into the cobs. Silage, cow fodder, sauerkraut, fermented cabbage. They sweated well because there was lots of moisture still in the buds so I dried the cobs until the husk was dry on its surface and the bags were dry then revacced the bags. They are continuing now at 25-30C. Given their smell, other than terpenes, it is likely acetic and lactic acids that are so dominant. No doubt the buds are undergoing changes but I hope the smell gets better because fermented vegetables have never been something I have enjoyed that much! I will post some pics soon once I have reached the testing stage.
Pics at the start and now would be better than at the end, that way I may be able to suggest things. Once the deed is done its fate is sealed my friend.
The sweet spot varies with moisture content and length of sweating.
The more moist the less sweating is needed, you can over ferment them easily. Its better to have slightly drier than too wet buds the first time.
If you have overfermented them you have only lost the aroma you will still get high.
The art is getting aromatic potent cobs but either one is good at a first try.
I hope after a week of curing they may improve. After a week when you open the bag the smell should be sweet funky like sweet hashish or going that way if you have timed it right.
The sweet spot varies with moisture content and length of sweating.
The more moist the less sweating is needed, you can over ferment them easily. Its better to have slightly drier than too wet buds the first time.
If you have overfermented them you have only lost the aroma you will still get high.
The art is getting aromatic potent cobs but either one is good at a first try.
I hope after a week of curing they may improve. After a week when you open the bag the smell should be sweet funky like sweet hashish or going that way if you have timed it right.
rangergord
Active member
Opened them up again to dry some more. My starting pics are trapped on another tablet atm. Many of the sugar leaves were purple from cool night temps. So there is purple green brown and black color in it. I am gonna dry it quite a bit because I think there is plenty of fermentation already. One nice thing is that the terpenes are locked up now so drying it out does not result in their loss.
Attachments
Thanks for the pics my friend they are over fermented you can tell by the dark color.
Dry then fully and then re seal them to age. You may have lost the funky smell but they should still pack a punch once aged.
The dark fermented cobs usually get very trippy after aging so dont despair.
Every type od bud needs a different approach have you got some pics of the buds before cobbing?
Below are some pics of what the buds looked like before and after 12 hrs sweating as you can see they haven't turned dark yet.
But after the 4 weeks curing they looked very different.
After 4 weeks curing locked in the vac bag they darkened and solidified they now need drying and sealing up to age for at least a month preferably longer.
The last pic is straight from sweating as you can see it hasn't over fermented its just starting to ferment time to remove it from the heat source and seal it up to cure at room temps for up to 4 weeks.
I check weekly and when I smell the sweet smell of buds like hashish I dry them fully and seal it up to age.
The first pic is after a couple of months aging it changes a lot but it needs to be nearly dry or fermentation will continue even without heat just very slowly.
Looking at the pics more closely its only the dark fan leaves that are black.
In the second pic you can see what looks to be seeded heads under the dark leaves.
If those dark leaves were not there it would probably look ok.
Drying it and sealing it up may surprise you its hard to judge without a good sniff.
But def not as fermented as I first thought. My computer was not allowing me to see the pics full size at first but now is working ok.
rangergord
Active member
Yes lots of seeds. This is old school. Not as much left to smoke but lots of future seedless crops.
After drying 24 hours I vacced them up for a 4 to 5 day cure. Took the opportunity to test a small piece or two in my pipe. The afghani indica was losing its fermented smell as it dried and cooled to room temp. I can see it is certainly going to end up hashy The high was euphoric in waves, definitely somewhat different, long lasting and pretty satisfying. Not finished yet for sure but seems to hold promise.
After drying 24 hours I vacced them up for a 4 to 5 day cure. Took the opportunity to test a small piece or two in my pipe. The afghani indica was losing its fermented smell as it dried and cooled to room temp. I can see it is certainly going to end up hashy The high was euphoric in waves, definitely somewhat different, long lasting and pretty satisfying. Not finished yet for sure but seems to hold promise.
Nothing wrong with seeded buds in a cob my friend sounds like its on its way to a good cure the next 4 to 5 days should tell the story.
Some of the best cobs I scored in Malawi were full of seeds its not an indicator of potency and can make for some stella results.
Some of the best cobs I scored in Malawi were full of seeds its not an indicator of potency and can make for some stella results.
F
Fermented
Some of the most memorable highs I've had were from seeded too (tropical ganja)....yet, labs have shown that seeded bud contains less THC than unseeded bud from the same tree.
If your cobs are rolled tight and end up very compacted and dense, then having a few or a lot of seeds in the cobs is a problem when preparing the cobs for a joint. With seeded bud that was loosely rolled into cobs, the seeds can be picked out but with compacted, hard cobs you will need scissors or a blade to slice off thin slivers that are then rubbed or cut into a joint rolling mix and sometimes, even if you are careful and mindful, you will still chop a few seeds in half and even miss a whole or part of a seed and smoke it in a joint (which is horrible).
So maybe it's best to remove the seeds first then make cobs if there's not too many or don't make cobs with heavily seeded bud and instead make dry sift with it? Heavily seeded bud that is slow dried for several months in a cool, dry environment will make excellent dry sifted resin. Nothing zings your brain like pure (as you can get) dry sift made from sun grown equatorial sativas!
F
Fermented
This is an excellent thread..every time I read a poster's observations or see new photos, I further my knowledge and helps me understand my own experiences.
I was lucky enough to be at the beginning of cannabis and the internet...and twenty years on, it's great to continue seeing the same sharing of knowledge and that's a good thing.
You have been spoilt my friend what a problem to have.
Sometimes we spent more time de seeding a joint than smoking it ha ha.
Taking out a few seeds is par for the course in Africa we in the west have it made with seedless buds being the norm these days spoilt rotten we are.
I remember I didn't own a tee shirt that wasn't full of little holes ha ha. If the joint didn't explode now and then we knew someone had spent 10 mins hard work de seeding it ha ha.
Seedless cobs are cool though always a pleasure to smoke or chew.
F
Fermented
I remember I didn't own a tee shirt that wasn't full of little holes ha ha. If the joint didn't explode now and then we knew someone had spent 10 mins hard work de seeding it ha ha.
i used to smoke a lot of western Chinese hash. This is grown in dry, sandy deserts so the resin contained sand which, because it's a lot heavier than ash will fall down red hot and burn the front of your shirt too. ..you're not the only one with holes in your tees!
i used to smoke a lot of western Chinese hash. This is grown in dry, sandy deserts so the resin contained sand which, because it's a lot heavier than ash will fall down red hot and burn the front of your shirt too. ..you're not the only one with holes in your tees!
The only thing to fear about exploding joints, is fear itself.
Yes indeed, as a toker of many a seeded bud in my time, I am very familiar with the snap, crackle and pop that rents the air whilst the "burning bush" is being consumed fearlessly by the practitioner.
Never heard that one before man that sounds mad.
I reckon a red hot grain of sand could be a real problem makes my hair stand on end thinking about the places it could get to ha ha.
I remember driving when a joint exploded and getting a lap full of burning embers in my shorts ha ha.
I sweat alot and it eats little holes in my shirt. My buddies dad saw it and said "y'all think I'm stupid, but I know where those holes come from. That's what happens when u hit a seed u didn't know was there. I'm not stupid."
I said " yes you are, because this is sweat, and our weed don't have seeds no more!". Dumbass
You learn something every day on this forum I have never heard of sweat eating holes in shirts.
I used to install air conditioners in our Aussie summer and sweated like a pig all day. I used to drink 6 liters of water a day and never need to take a piss because we just sweated it out.
it would have been dryer diving in a swimming pool.
But apart from getting a great detox by the end of summer I never had holes in my shirts.
Thats a new one on me.
I guess really it's not the sweat but the how I grab the shirt and wipe sweat off my face. Wears little holes after awhile mid point of my chest
