A perfect cure every time

[simon]

I notice a similar effect with my stash jars. They have very little aroma. Even breaking open a bud smells only moderately. But if I leave a bud out to breathe for a while, it smells up the room.

[...]

Has anyone else experienced this, or do I sound as crazy as I fear I might?

I know exactly what you mean. In a sense, it can be compared to aerating a red wine or a younger white. Once the wine is uncorked and allowed to mix with air, the interaction can bring out a more complex and noticeable fragrance. In my own situation, if I want to really impress with the smell of my product, I fill a big jar ~1/2 full for a few days (after the flowers are well-cured).

Simon

 

[SKAGITMAGIC]

Ps, it sounds like the center of your buds are rehydrating the outsides, thats why they start to stink, your room RH, imediately starts pulling moisture and it wicks to the outer material of the bud. be careful they're not rotting inside, if they're great big cola buds cut one open and look for mold and bud rot. I see you are breaking them open, and I see Simon, thats a game we play at our house when we cure!!! SIMON Sez, LOL

 

[simon]

...thats a game we play at our house when we cure!!! SIMON Sez, LOL

LOL!

Simon

 

[BlazingSaddles]

Hey Simon what RH% do you like your buds to be at when you first place them into jars? As in after they've been hung and air-dryed..

Ive discovered im a chronic "early jarrer" in the past ive been jarring after about 4days of airdry but the buds are always over 70% when i do this.. It causes me hastles i could live without.

This next harvest im going to air dry longer but yeah just wondering whats a good RH% to start them off at in the jars?



BlazingSaddles

 

[simon]

Hey Simon what RH% do you like your buds to be at when you first place them into jars? As in after they've been hung and air-dryed..

That's a hard question to answer due to variances in the drying environment. I'd love to put the flowers into the jars, leave them there for 24 hours and comeback to find ~69%, but that almost never happens.

Ive discovered im a chronic "early jarrer" in the past ive been jarring after about 4days of airdry but the buds are always over 70% when i do this.. It causes me hastles i could live without.

This next harvest im going to air dry longer but yeah just wondering whats a good RH% to start them off at in the jars?

As a rule of thumb, you're best-off jarring too early than too late. The moisture inside the flowers can always be brought down, but can never be raised back to the curing stage. Good luck.

Simon

 

[MicroGrower2011]

If my RH% is between 61%-62%, is there a need to burp the jar?

Do I just keep it closed until it gets higher then 65%?

 

[mmmcake]

does the curing get rid of the chlorophyll smell? ive been air drying for 4 days the first couple days it was pretty humid out. its cooled off and gotten dryer. im debatting weather to jar now or wait another day or two. im planning on picking up a hygrometer in the next day or 2. the meds are for me and i really want the smell/taste to be where it should be not just strong and grass tasting/smelling.

 

[simon]

If my RH% is between 61%-62%, is there a need to burp the jar?

Do I just keep it closed until it gets higher then 65%?

If you're measuring the humidity inside the container with a Caliber III or a calibrated Hydroset II, you don't have to open the jar until the reading is higher than 65%. If you're using a different hygrometer, use your best judgement and don't take chances. Good luck.

does the curing get rid of the chlorophyll smell?

It can.

ive been air drying for 4 days the first couple days it was pretty humid out. its cooled off and gotten dryer. im debatting weather to jar now or wait another day or two. im planning on picking up a hygrometer in the next day or 2. the meds are for me and i really want the smell/taste to be where it should be not just strong and grass tasting/smelling.

How do the flowers feel to the touch and what are the stems like?

Simon

 

[mmmcake]

It can.

is there a better way?

How do the flowers feel to the touch and what are the stems like?

Simon

some of the left over sugar leaf tips are dry, they have shrunken a bit. the stems just bend, a little dryer than fresh but not dry-dry. buds then selves are still soft.

 

[Bud Bundy]

First time trying this curing method, a question

First time trying this curing method, a question

Hi,

This is my first time trying this curing method — I've never cured with a hygrometer before, just by instinct. I bought 2 Caliber hygrometers and tested my drying room, which ranged from about 69-74 degrees at about 45-60% humidity (mostly around 55%) during the dry. Jarred up the different plants when they were ready depending on their respective size and how ready they felt to the nug pinch / stem snap test, but if I had to put an average on it I'd say they dried for close to a week.

I dried until when I bent the stems, a few of them just bent (flexible but did not snap) and most of them lightly snapped (usually with the little fibrous part of green string that comes along with the snapped stem); the very small stems snapped off cleanly as opposed to the larger stems which left the green fiber string behind. [*My previous curing method is that I would wait until all the stems snap before jarring, so it was earlier than I normally would jar em up]

Then, I cut em down and stored the nugs in some giant air tight glass mason jars.

After putting a Caliber hygrometer in my Blackberry Kush mason jar to monitor the cure, I have noticed that the humidity stays at about 47-49%. They've been curing about 5 or 6 days now, and I really haven't seen it go above 50% the entire time.

I've still been burping the jars because I was under the impression from how I cured before that for the first two weeks you should be burping for like 10 min every day or so. But now with a hygrometer, I see that the humidity isn't even rising above 55% so I fear by burping at all now I am just making it worse. I assume with a hygrometer, you don't even need to burp unless it's getting over 60 or 65% humidity inside the jar.

I did try to cut down the drying plants and jar them up a little earlier than I normally do based on Simon's guide — but since the RH% is staying so low in the jar, I fear that somehow I still waited too long to jar the herb up and the nugs might be over dried.

I was under the impression that if most of the stems still left the stringy green residue behind when I snapped (stiff enough to snap, but flexible enough to bend depending on the part of the plant), I'd be golden and I would just have to worry more about mold and having my bud be too wet vs too dry during the cure at that point.

I tried a sample of the curing Blackberry Kush and it is pretty damn tasty, but I want that "perfect cure"...LOL!

So...please help if you can!

What should I do at this point...am I screwed, or is there anything I can do?

Thanks to anyone who can give some helpful advice!

- Bud

 

[SKAGITMAGIC]

When I take my first hygrometer reading in the jars I'm in the mid 70s. I heard once it gets to your readings nothing will change it.

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

I have not tried it but I have seen people recommend using fresh trimmed leaves in overly dry jars to help bring the RH up. I definitely would not burp them any more.

 

[SKAGITMAGIC]

If the stems snaped off cleanly, I think its way over dried,actually I know its way over dried to attempt to cure, sound like it smokes good, so good luck.

 

[Bud Bundy]

If the stems snaped off cleanly, I think its way over dried,actually I know its way over dried to attempt to cure, sound like it smokes good, so good luck.

Only some of the stems snapped off cleanly, about maybe 1/3rd of them. The remaining 2/3rds of the stems were either flexible or broke off with the stringy fibrous material attached, which I figured was a good ratio to jar em up at. Apparently I still waited too long to jar them up though..? For future reference, when would you recommend jarring the drying plants - before any of the stems snap at all and are still a little flexible?

Looks like after over a day in the jar without burping, it's staying at a constant 49% RH.

So, at this point then, the buds are technically not curing at all? By staying in the jar together, is it going to get any better at all, or is it just going to degrade from here on out?

Just so I understand: So at this point the nugs are completely dried for long term storage, and I should never burp the jars at all any more? Anything else I can or should do for the nugs at this point, or just leave them sealed in the jar until I'm going to use it?

Thanks so much for all the help!

-Bud

 

[SKAGITMAGIC]

What I would do if I was You , I'd seal the jars, and go back to the first post and PM Simon, hes around here often and I'm surprised he hasn't posted, anyway the snap when you bend the stem is a felt thing, it just kinda goes pop, but you cant hear it or see it, you feel it.I take mine off the line pretty early but I've been doing it for a while, and haven't spoiled any in a long time, alot of people go to paper sacks after the hang, and dry them that way, I actually have a device that sucks all the air out of my jars, they open like a can of new coffee, good luck to you.

 

[Nomad]

anyone in here that are doing this curing method noticing a "hay" smell to their bud jars? just curious.

 

[Yes_I_Am]

i know it seems like a silly question bud how do you like your bud to feel b4 you smoke it, i have been prefering it when its a lil sticky then i grind it and it goes dry within half an hour, i get the most flavours this way, i believe.

my mates want it bone dry i mean dust when fingered dry, i dont like it that way i dont think it tastes the same as a lil sticky. if i leave a nug out it will go dry after 2 hours, thats how i like mine, but tbh im not sure how its meant to be done, i use a hydrometer as a idea of whats going on in my jar.

 

[THC123]

anyone in here that are doing this curing method noticing a "hay" smell to their bud jars? just curious.

some strains get this at 60% if you leave the jarclosed for a few weeks , and some just smell ddddank when you open them, but when i air it fo 5 minutes it smells good again


so i thik it is strain dependant

 

[Budgina]

Delayed Cure?

Delayed Cure?

I'm in a pickle of sorts and need some input.
I have a couple of plants that will be harvested in approx 3 weeks.
In 4 weeks i have to leave for a month which means i will not be able to cure. My question is can i dry them for a week then bag and freeze and cure when i get back? Any suggestions?

 

[BongDaddy]

The freezer question is hotly debated in most of the curing discussions I've seen. Some people like and will recommend it, while others say they don't like it.

I'm in the same situation as you. I'm about to harvest in a few days, and I'm going out of town for 3 weeks in early July. I've decided I'm going to cure using simon's method for as long as possible, and then the freezer method with anything that isn't at a stable low-mid 60s RH before I leave.

Here's a good discussion of the freezer method.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=186222

I don't know what the etiquette is for posting that link here, so if necessary I'll remove it.

BD