[SweetSue]

repuk, thank you for your patient tutorials on posting pictures.

[ReikoX]

Originally Posted by SweetSue

Neiko... good to see you over here. Tangwena, meet one of my favorite growers of high-grade sativas.

I opened the cobs so I had a point of reference and then resealed them and found the warmest appropriate spot in my apartment.

Cob #1

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Cob #2

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You bet I’m having fun!

Looks like you nailed it!

[Tangwena]

Originally Posted by Neiko

Great info! I'm officially on board. Thanks Tangwena and Sue for lighting my curiosity. I am going to cob most of my next harvest. So having never done this I'll follow the flow chart but I would like to know Tangwena, when you do a strain for the 1st time, what do you look for to tell you have a good sweat time and temp? Then when you are fermenting what clues do you go by to say that is at the right point to start the cure? Lastly during the cure, I see you are supposed to open them every week or handful of days. What are you looking for here? Do you open the cob each time during this period and if so for how long? Sorry lots of questions but I'm in learning mode.

Hi Neiko great to see you taking the plunge. Sativas really shine with this cure I personally dont have much use for Indicas I need all the energy I can get ha ha.

I go by experience but following this basic recipe on the flow chart Repuk drew up takes you to the ball park.

Sativas that are light and airy dry quicker and require less of everything. 12 to 24 hrs sweating is more than enough to start them off the more delicate the bud structure the less time 12hrs being the minimum.

You will be looking for a good wet effect after sweating the color needs to have just started to fade and you should detect a sweeter aroma from the bound cobs.
This is where the canary buds are good it lets you see easily if they are changing.

I keep the maize wrapper on at this stage so that when drying which happens quite fast as most of the moisture will have been sweated out already.

The wrapper lets you easily feel when its dry to the touch and the inside will still be moist because the wrapper slows the drying of the inside.

After re sealing the cob and canary buds you let them cure/ferment sealed for a week. When you open the bag after a week if all has gone well you can smell it.

Depending on the temps that you had them stored at this can happen in one week or two or three.
If you have multiple cobs take them at varying times to see which you prefer they will all be different 1,2 or 3 week cured.

The smell at each weeks stage will deepen and change you can only tell which stage you prefer the result of from experience after the second drying and aging stages are complete.
The cobs skin will be wet again as the moisture spreads from the core and will need to be dried again before resealing to age for a minimum of 1 month 3 months being optimum.
Every strain needs to be treated differently to get the best results.

Use your nose its the best tool you have as long as they smell sweet like good hashish from Pakistan or Afghanistan they are right.

When the smell is so sexy to your nose you have reached the sweet spot and the cure needs to end.
The look of the cob is secondary to the smell once you cant take it any more and believe me when its right you WILL know stop the cure.

Take the maize wrapper off and slow dry the core until the outer skin of the cob feels dry the inside should still be slightly damp.
It is now ready to re seal and age.

At every stage the smells and textures change commit these changes to your memory as reference for future cures.
Open the bags and test take samples dry them and try them at varias stages of the aging drying the cobs further if they are too damp.

You want the outer skin of the buds to feel dry but the inner core to be moist during the aging process.

The smells lessen as the aging happens at any stage you can fully dry the cobs if you want to lock in that stage as far as texture/aroma when this happens is up to your taste and can only come from experience.

You can see its not a mechanical type of process but the basic cure using the flow chart will get the job done to an acceptable level.
Once you have a little experience you will know instinctively when to do what and its a very simple easy cure.
Most good growers take to this like a duck to water its just an extension of the growing experience and is easy if you know your plants.
Also make sure you keep some of the cobs to age its easy to smoke them too soon once you get them right. The aged sativa cobs are the best high out and worth the wait.
The younger age cobs may taste and smell great but the effects are so much more profound once aged.
Good luck my friend if you get this right you will experience best a plant can get and want nothing else I promise.

[Tangwena]

Originally Posted by SweetSue

Neiko... good to see you over here. Tangwena, meet one of my favorite growers of high-grade sativas.

I opened the cobs so I had a point of reference and then resealed them and found the warmest appropriate spot in my apartment.

Cob #1

View Image

Cob #2

View Image

You bet I’m having fun!

They are done nice job. They could have gone for 12 hours of sweating they have turned really quickly.
Dont let them be too damp when you reseal them dry them again until the outer skin is dry to the touch.
Then reseal them for 5 days it should be enough.
Taking them at differing times will be good and let you see the difference between them.
If you pull this first cure off they are going to be awesome from the look of them already he he.

[SweetSue]

Originally Posted by Tangwena

They are done nice job. They could have gone for 12 hours of sweating they have turned really quickly.
Dont let them be too damp when you reseal them dry them again until the outer skin is dry to the touch.
Then reseal them for 5 days it should be enough.
Taking them at differing times will be good and let you see the difference between them.
If you pull this first cure off they are going to be awesome from the look of them already he he.

Hehe! I'm like a little girl at Christmas. Lol!

I learned a lot from your reply to Neiko. I don't doubt he'll nail it the first try too. I'll remember the part about the delicate bud structure. Malawi is one such chemovar. Next Malawi cob I'll do the sweat for 12 hours.

So that I'm clear, ferment them for a week, and let the one I'm going to reseal dry to the touch like I did this time, and then let the other surface dry before resealing it without a cob for the cure itself.

I'll be curing them both a full three months, taking samples along the way, of course.

I'm considering only curing half of one at this time and sending the second half of that cob back into another 2 weeks of fermenting, so I have some at all three weeks. I just jarred up 20 grams that hung to dry. With a three-month cure I'll have a plethora of comparisons to make when it's all done. Haha!

I'm experimenting with rehydrating some buds that were stable at 62% RH, in an attempt to see if mold would occur from such an attempt. I'm using a slice of fresh bread suspended in the jar with the buds. If they'll absorb up to 68% I'll cob them up and see what happens.

[led05]

the consistency of your pressing skills and what/ how you do this is quite important... too tight is actually bad, my guess 95% + are to loose, some go He-man and too tight... guilty, I have too many tools.

Currently I use Parchment to roll tightly like a joint an amount of flowers, it's pretty cool, fun, 1-4 oz J's.... work small, wrap in parchment, roll however you want,... I then use a nice hardwood vice press I have- I could use a mold but I don't, the press & rotation I think do just enough, mold too tight.

this gets you started and then you start the Sweat which is aka a boost to the fermentation process, the higher temps are necessary for what follows...

reality, it's all fermentation till it's dry, what temp and time do you like it at?

[Mick]

Originally Posted by led05

https://www.excaliburdehydrator.com/...oor-black.html

This is what I use.. I already had this for fall harvesting of fruits and veggies, always nice to have multi-purpose gadgets laying around . The one I have does not have clear plastic door, the trays easily slide out to see what's going on though.

It says 105-165 temp range on ad, not sure why, my dial goes down to 95 for living foods and even a little lower than that and I've tested it holding at that range just fine FYI

That's a nice unit you linked too, a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for hey. The stacked tray system looks good too, but I doubt you'd be able to cob big buds, so the sliding tray system looks like it ticks all the boxes. Just read a Dehydrator Review page that's probably good reading for anyone considering buying one.

https://www.dehydratorreview.net/art...ood-dehydrator

[SweetSue]

I use a Nesco stacking dehydrator with extra shelves. I cut out the centers of every other shelf to give me more room for buds. I use this for quick-drying a harvest. It’ll be jarred within three days. Good for fast oil production. I make a lot of medicinal oils.

[SweetSue]

Originally Posted by led05

the consistency of your pressing skills and what/ how you do this is quite important... too tight is actually bad, my guess 95% + are to loose, some go He-man and too tight... guilty, I have too many tools.

Currently I use Parchment to roll tightly like a joint an amount of flowers, it's pretty cool, fun, 1-4 oz J's.... work small, wrap in parchment, roll however you want,... I then use a nice hardwood vice press I have- I could use a mold but I don't, the press & rotation I think do just enough, mold too tight.

this gets you started and then you start the Sweat which is aka a boost to the fermentation process, the higher temps are necessary for what follows...

reality, it's all fermentation till it's dry, what temp and time do you like it at?

Some very insightful thoughts led05. I'll keep this in mind for my next cob. I know mine worked because you could feel the heat coming off them when I took them out of the bags after the sweat, but I'll pay more attention to being too aggressive. These were wrapped pretty tight. I've a strong core. Lol!

[Mick]

Originally Posted by SweetSue

I use a Nesco stacking dehydrator with extra shelves. I cut out the centers of every other shelf to give me more room for buds. I use this for quick-drying a harvest. It’ll be jarred within three days. Good for fast oil production. I make a lot of medicinal oils.

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Great idea. I was wondering if you could do that.