Finish drying my bud in the freezer in my kitchen?!?

Wooderson said:

Well im all in on the Freezer Cure Method! Got a 6 cubic FT freezer! It's all going in there!! Will see what happens?

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I'll tell you what's going to happen, you'll start doing it that way all the time. Just be careful about over drying it, which is easy to do. Frozen buds makes it difficult to tell how wet the weed really is. I did some twenty years ago and let some line dry and my fossils threw a few O's in the freezer. When we tried the two, it was real obvious which tasted better. I didn't notice a difference in potency, but that may be true as well. I wish I had a situation now where I could go back to that method, it is the poo. Besides that, I don't know of a better way to store pot long-term. One last thing, mold #@$%&#@ hates freezers, so you can't really fuck it up that way unless you're special... That is, it is bozo proof, except for the possibility to over dry it.

BrownThumb said:

I'll tell you what's going to happen, you'll start doing it that way all the time. Just be careful about over drying it, which is easy to do. Frozen buds makes it difficult to tell how wet the weed really is. I did some twenty years ago and let some line dry and my fossils threw a few O's in the freezer. When we tried the two, it was real obvious which tasted better. I didn't notice a difference in potency, but that may be true as well. I wish I had a situation now where I could go back to that method, it is the poo. Besides that, I don't know of a better way to store pot long-term. One last thing, mold #@$%&#@ hates freezers, so you can't really fuck it up that way unless you're special... That is, it is bozo proof, except for the possibility to over dry it.

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Thanks for the Tip! Brown Thumb

Would baking soda add or detract from the deep freeze cure?
Could you screw it up by putting your buds in sealed freezer bags cuasing persperation inside the bag before the product freezes.

All right Wooderson! I think BrownThumb nailed it. Once tried twice happy.

20 degrees is is pretty hard freeze IMO. Get a little air movement in there if you can. A pair of old CPU cooling fans and a battery pack does the trick. You might freeze the batteries first to get an idea of actual fan performance. Don't need a breeze, just a little flow. Again IMO.

puppy, wouldn't bag it myself. I've jarred with window screen lids to slow drying somewhat. Don't know where you're going with the baking soda question.

That sounds crazy an ass backwards if you freeze the weed with water in it it doesn't evaporate that's goes against the laws of science the water freezes so the bud feels crunchy soon as it defrost it should evaporate a bit of water so if you defrost a few times is might feel dry but also when bud is fresh it is less potent then when you let bud age to a point and gain its own flavor by freezing you don't get that rember "best things come to those who wait" Hienz 57...lol

Bobbito Blaze said:

That sounds crazy an ass...by freezing you don't get that rember "best things come to those who wait" Hienz 57...lol

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The weed is dried for a period before you stick it in the freezer, otherwise cells would rupture. You still have to give it time and let it breathe every so often to allow the moisture to evaporate. That's where you can fuck it up by over-drying. How about, "you can lead a horse to water, but....".

City Twin said:

All right Wooderson! I think BrownThumb nailed it. Once tried twice happy.

20 degrees is is pretty hard freeze IMO. Get a little air movement in there if you can. A pair of old CPU cooling fans and a battery pack does the trick. You might freeze the batteries first to get an idea of actual fan performance. Don't need a breeze, just a little flow. Again IMO.

puppy, wouldn't bag it myself. I've jarred with window screen lids to slow drying somewhat. Don't know where you're going with the baking soda question.

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Absors moisture in the air and funky fridge smell.

Ahh, smell. Gotcha puppy. Freezing don't really stink much.

Bobitto. Sublimation is what apparently goes on in a freezer dry. I wasn't sure about that till someone here brought it up. If you haven't read the whole thread, Here's my take.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4454268&postcount=65

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=4841436&postcount=129

City Twin said:

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So I'm a week in I opened the Freezer pulled out all the containers opened them up for 15 minutes or so, everything still looks and feels the same consistency as when it went in to the freezer not any drier I wouldn't say. I freezer is really cold, like -6 on its lowest setting

Wooderson said:

... pulled out all the containers opened them up for 15 minutes or so...

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What kind of containers do you have the buds in? Airtight or breathable?


I've been pulling out and trimming buds that have been in the freezer in shoe boxes with no lids, undisturbed for 4 weeks and they are perfect (could've been ready 1 week ago, I've been busy). After trimming/airing out at room temperature for a few hours, the buds reach 52-55% humidity when jarred up and the smell comes back full force within the day.

Good luck and take care,



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Wooderson, Gil's got it.

The material must be open to breathe. I lay on screens or even paper for air circulation. Guess we weren't clear enough.

Gil, like the shoe box idea! Do you fill it or ?.. I would think that would slow the drying for a decent cure. Open screens with a small fan dries them pretty quick.

City Twin said:

...like the shoe box idea! Do you fill it or ?.. I would think that would slow the drying for a decent cure. Open screens with a small fan dries them pretty quick.

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Yo CT, how goes it? I'm glad you are still keeping with this thread.

I actually start with the shoe boxes from the beginning of the drying/curing process. I chop up a plant into branches that are long enough to just fit in the shoe box, give a rough trim taking only big fan leaves, then loosely stack the branches in the box. Popcorn buds go on bottom to keep the big nugs from getting flattened, keeps them "pretty". Doing this has allowed me to slow the drying process before the buds go in the freezer. With a hang dry I was looking at 3-4 days to proper moisture content, now I can stretch it from 7-10 days. I believe it makes a difference.

I've been dealing with a notoriously smelly strain, Critical+, and the odor thats been preserved is OutRageous. So stinky in fact, I have to change genes!

Take care everybody,



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I was interested in trying this. After reading 15 pages... I want to clarify what works best for you.

Hang dry for 3-4 days (slightly crispy on the outside, spongy in the center)
Place in a cardboard box (or on a screen) in the freezer
Best temps seems to be around 30f?
Ideal Humidity level in freezer?
Is using a fan recommended when using the cardboard box? Or just the screen?

Pull buds out once per week to evap moisture and turn buds, and place back in freezer

after 14-20 days buds should be cured. Place in jars and allow to sweat for a few days, burping if needed (normal hygrometer method)

Enjoy?

I have been thinking of using the shoebox method with small holes drilled all over the box - to allow air flow through. I plan to do 1/2 in the freezer and 1/2 normally, comparing and reporting back the results. I will be cutting her in about 1 week.

Thanks for the awesome thread and all the help.

forge said:

I was interested in trying this. After reading 15 pages... I want to clarify what works best for you.

Hang dry for 3-4 days (slightly crispy on the outside, spongy in the center)
Place in a cardboard box (or on a screen) in the freezer
Best temps seems to be around 30f?
Ideal Humidity level in freezer?
Is using a fan recommended when using the cardboard box? Or just the screen?

Pull buds out once per week to evap moisture and turn buds, and place back in freezer

after 14-20 days buds should be cured. Place in jars and allow to sweat for a few days, burping if needed (normal hygrometer method)

Enjoy?

I have been thinking of using the shoebox method with small holes drilled all over the box - to allow air flow through. I plan to do 1/2 in the freezer and 1/2 normally, comparing and reporting back the results. I will be cutting her in about 1 week.

Thanks for the awesome thread and all the help.

Click to expand...

Haha, close! I now dry for about a week, I'm toying with lengthening the dry/cure process longer and longer. The length of time between chop and freezer really depends on your specific environment.

Yup, into a shoe box (with or without lid). No holes needed for circulation.

The temperature in my freezer ranges from 0-10 fahrenheit. I don't know what the humidity is, it hasn't been important.

Definitely no fan needed! Definitely no need to touch the buds at all while they're in the freezer.

I posted this just a few hours ago, you may have missed it:

jus'plain'gill said:

...I've been pulling out and trimming buds that have been in the freezer in shoe boxes with no lids, undisturbed for 4 weeks and they are perfect (could've been ready 1 week ago, I've been busy). After trimming/airing out at room temperature for a few hours, the buds reach 52-55% humidity when jarred up and the smell comes back full force within the day...

Click to expand...

In other words, KISS. It is absolutely as simple as putting bud in a shoebox and into your freezer, forgetting about it for a few weeks, and coming back to ready to consume cannabis. Good luck and take care,



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jus'plain'gill said:

What kind of containers do you have the buds in? Airtight or breathable?



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I'm using plastic shoe boxes with the lids on, but now I have the lids off

Hey Gil,

Things be mellow in the hills. Thanks for the reply. The whole “Shoe-bang” in one post. LOL.

0-10. Hummm, Guess I can put some ice cream back in then. After this mushroom season that is. Wild weather is shaping up for good foraging ahead.

forge,

1/2 & 1/2, please do. This thread needs more field reports.

My freezer experience came from mushroom drying experiments back in the late 70's. The 30-32 degree F and small fan came from my understanding of the processes of caloric exchange in ice formation. Plus the 90% water content of my produce, seemed like a good idea. Hadn't considered sublimation as a possibility, making lower temps no prob for herbs and most veggies.

As I recall, industry publications weren't specific on humidity since it fluctuates between freezing and defrosting cycles. Think it was avg. 57%, depending on ambient RH + # of times the door was opened, but don't quote me. Wouldn't bother trying to influence it myself.

Listen to Gil, the Champion of Chill. An unpinned Hero of the Cannabis Evolution.

Peace All, CT

greetings from Paradise

Been following this thread with much interest.
I'm an old and well cured 'weed', with permission to produce from my keepers. Bless 'em all!

First planted a bag seed in 1970, produced a lil' cutey the head narc who snapped it's spine before my eyes laughed hysterically. I think he got a 'dermal high'. LOL!

I digress.
in 1995, my cousin, much younger than I but with worlds of experience, taught me the 'basic cure' - dry, jar, bags, jar ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

I being older and smarter (and much lazier) than he, decided I could improve on said method. - (c'mon now WHO hasn't decided they could improve a design??? LOL).

I came up with my version the latter (freezer treatment) by accident, since I had begun storing cured stuff in the freezer in sealed jars . I noticed frost inside some of the jars where the contents had been a bit moister. The bud was quite dry, but soft and would easily crush with firmer pressure and a rubbing between thumb and finger. The fragrance was awesome.
So since then (~1995) this is how I do it.

After brief drying using the damp climate growers best friend - Calcium Chloride - to bring typically 65% RH down to about 35%, slight bump above RT to about 75F stabilized with a thermostatically controlled heater with a separate small fan to circulate the air inside a sealed cardboard box.

The CaCl is in a shallow, wide dish where the moisture it absorbs from the air will collect, and this 'syrup' may be periodically poured off and subsequently dehydrated to get crystalline CaCl again and use over again and again.
The air captive in the box loses it's moisture to the CaCl, the bud loses it's moisture to the dry air.

Once desired parameters are determined, the amount of CaCl to use, the length of time in low humidity, and the best (lowest effective) amount of heat to add to increase the vapour pressure of the air, can be adjusted to suit the needs of your harvest. This can be scaled up as big as you want.

In "The Day", we used multiple 'totes' with 5 to 10 lbs of CaCl in each to dehumidify large rooms. Fans blowing directly onto the CaCl in the totes, with other fans circulating the air.
We processed many types of crops in extremely rainy periods. We would have teams with someone boiling water off the CaCl solution (outside sheltered) then bringing the dry chunks in to add back to the totes.

We also had several jacketed drying cabinets with thermostatically controlled temps, and gas flow management for drying under nitrogen (for 'fragile' harvests). Same arrangement there, glass pans of CaCl crystals on the 'floor', computer fans circulating the air inside the cabinet, and 6 perforated drying trays on slide outs.

Now I got a cardboard box. sweet! still works!

Once 'Optimum' dryness is achieved (subjective - when you know, you know), it goes into jars. lids tightened and into freezer. Usually overnight.
Remove from freezer. Swap foggy, frosted jars for dry ones, or dry off the frosty ones. If bud seems too moist (really soft green), give it an hour in 35%RH then back in the freezer. After several rotations, the jar will no longer have accumulations of frost inside.
Now leave the lids loose, and back in the freezer. The laws of nature will ensure an equal distribution of vapours and given enough time a bathtub of water could travel through a pinhole to the desert on the other side. (i've been told this but haven't tried to do it).
Check after several days, repeat as needed, and once cured. seal jars tightly, and go have a hoot.

Great thread, nice community.

best regards
stay well 'cured'

Djaan

Welcome to the community Djann. Glad you dropped in.

Quite an operation you had there. "Tight Jar" to frost sounds like a perfect produce check solution for our personal use grows. Particularly for those of us without RH meters.

Thanx Neighbor - CT

Update: first off I love the "Freezer Method" it cures the flowers perfectly! I did a slow hang dry for a week in Pitch Black Darkness trying to maintain a constant 65 temp, and 65 RH in the drying area. I then put all the flowers in open plastic shoeboxes for 3 weeks in the freezer. Then putting all the loose flowers on a screen back in the darkroom for 2 more days until it has the desired texture. After I used a Mega Cvault for storage with the 62% Boveda humidipaks inside.

All right Wooderson!

Welcome to the Club.