[ProfGerbik]

id also like some more detailed information about the after process, my only concern is if something happens because my freezer can be set to any temperature or because it gets opened quite a bit for ice, that it may not work as well as it should because of that.

i think leaving it closed all cure is a no brainer but most people use their freezers quite often, so i wonder how well this method works with a household of people who regularly use their freezer opening it several times a day.

i also thought how every freezer ive ever looked in has had ice on almost anything that was in it, i dont know if it was because it was in there long or what but id like to know some way to insure you dont end up with iced over buds that will just melt which im sure is not the idea of this method.

any info on how you jar after the freeze dry process would be great, once jarred do you go about it almost as a normal cure, burping a couple times a day for the first week then slowly keeping it closed longer over the weeks?

interesting method but the risk of freezing it improperly scares me so much i may just stick to jars only.

personally i think you should experiment by making test that are made to fail, to test the ease of use and reliability of this method, for people who might have active freezers, different freezer settings, temps or what not, all fridges are very different thats the only thing that worries me and leaves me with a lot of unknown information about this.

[repoocbd]

Originally Posted by ProfGerbik

id also like some more detailed information about the after process, my only concern is if something happens because my freezer can be set to any temperature or because it gets opened quite a bit for ice, that it may not work as well as it should because of that.

i think leaving it closed all cure is a no brainer but most people use their freezers quite often, so i wonder how well this method works with a household of people who regularly use their freezer opening it several times a day.

i also thought how every freezer ive ever looked in has had ice on almost anything that was in it, i dont know if it was because it was in there long or what but id like to know some way to insure you dont end up with iced over buds that will just melt which im sure is not the idea of this method.

any info on how you jar after the freeze dry process would be great, once jarred do you go about it almost as a normal cure, burping a couple times a day for the first week then slowly keeping it closed longer over the weeks?

interesting method but the risk of freezing it improperly scares me so much i may just stick to jars only.

personally i think you should experiment by making test that are made to fail, to test the ease of use and reliability of this method, for people who might have active freezers, different freezer settings, temps or what not, all fridges are very different thats the only thing that worries me and leaves me with a lot of unknown information about this.

I am just starting the process with my fresh harvest so I can't speak to what happens after you are done. But to answer some of your other concerns.

1. A freezer that gets opened allot.

As long as you do not leave it open long enough to cause it to start to defrost (that frost build up starts to melt) you will be fine. In fact the added air flow from a sudden temp change will actually cause the sublimation process to work faster.

2. Temperature settings in the freezer.

Most freezers have a temperature control so that is not something to worry about really. As long as it is set to be at least 32 degrees farenheit your going to be fine. Going colder won't hurt the sublimation process it also wont speed it up. Your biggest worry will be if you have a fridge attached to the freezer the fridge is actually cooled by the excess cold coming off your freezer. So if you set it too low you may freeze your fridge and end up with slushy soda's

3. The frost build up in your freezer.

This frost is actaully the humidity in your household air that is trapped in the freezer when you open then shut the door. As that air gets cold the moisture is frozen out and begins to collect as frost. If you have a freezer that causes allot of frost build up very quickly then you may have a problem of frost crystals forming on your buds as the humidity freezes and falls on top of them. You can of course minimize this by not opening the freezer as much. But if you live with allot of people good luck with that. In my case I have a freezer with a vacuum seal that sucks all the humidity out everytime I shut the door so it hardly ever has a frost build up. Something else you can try is suspend a piece of paper over the top of your buds so that it is not touching them. That will catch most frost crystals that may try to fall on them.

[Rusty-Axe]

would a deep freeze like one would store a side of beef in, long and deep.would it be to damn cold? seems perfect size to string a line and hang em in.

[repoocbd]

Originally Posted by Rusty-Axe

would a deep freeze like one would store a side of beef in, long and deep.would it be to damn cold? seems perfect size to string a line and hang em in.

Unless you are producing a massize increase in atmospheric pressure or getting the temperature near absolute zero then sublimation will happen normally.

[City Twin]

I dry mushrooms in the freezer set about 32 degrees f. They come out much larger than air or heat dried with perfect color and better taste.

What happens is it takes 1 calorie of energy transfer to raise or lower 1 cc of water 1degree f. but 10 to change state from liquid to ice or steam. There’s not enough cold available for freezing, but the low humidity in the freezer allows for rapid dehydration with even transfer of water from inner to outer cells..

[jus'plain'gill]

Originally Posted by ProfGerbik

any info on how you jar after the freeze dry process would be great, once jarred do you go about it almost as a normal cure, burping a couple times a day for the first week then slowly keeping it closed longer over the weeks?

This question can be answered by reading this thread. Post #'s 25 and 30 give good info but post #'s 18 and 32 also address this.

Originally Posted by ProfGerbik

interesting method but the risk of freezing it improperly scares me so much i may just stick to jars only.

Read this thread, you have nothing to be scared of. You can also stick to jars if you like

Originally Posted by City Twin

I dry mushrooms in the freezer set about 32 degrees f. They come out much larger than air or heat dried with perfect color and better taste.

What happens is it takes 1 calorie of energy transfer to raise or lower 1 cc of water 1degree f. but 10 to change state from liquid to ice or steam. There’s not enough cold available for freezing, but the low humidity in the freezer allows for rapid dehydration with even transfer of water from inner to outer cells..

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I'd be apt to try this too.



repoocbd- Thank you for contributing great info, you seem to know a bit on this subject



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[City Twin]

A quick note. For mushrooms I leave them on a rack till all surface moisture is gone and any sheen has dulled. For leafy herbs, hang for a day or two. For bud I would probably also hang for a couple of days. Maybe till the stem snaps, but probably not would be OK. Moisture in the stems would wick evenly. Might take a little longer in the freezer, but would expect even the largest to be ready to check in 5 to 7 days.

Be sure to calibrate the freezer with a thermometer.

A frost-free freezer operates by maintaining the chamber as dry as possible. To keep frost down the unit will heat its walls on occasion to melt any light frost and a fan agitates the warmish air to defrost other surfaces.

With mushrooms the smaller specimens are usually well dried within 24 hours. Larger, like Boletes might take 3 or 4 to lose their 90% water weight. It doesn't seem to depend much on load. A half dozen mushies or 5 racks full.

Inside humidity is reported by manufacturers to be around 55 to 65% at zero degrees F. I have weight checked loads against herb dryer processed and found the weight to be comparable.

A freezer might actually make the bud a little too dry. Give that a thought if your batch of meds is a larger supply.

[BongDaddy]

Thanks for the tip CT. I won't really have any choice but leave it in there for the 3 weeks that I'll be away, but I'll try to keep it away from the walls so that it doesn't experience too many temperature extremes.

[bigAl25]

Has anyone tried shoe boxes? Top on or Top off? I'm going to use this method on my recent harvest.

[bigAl25]

How about brown grocery sacks, instead of boxes. Anyone tried these for the freezer?