Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[JustGrowing420]

That is going to cure nicely crazy good colors if it smells as good as it looks WOW!
Make sure to dry it nicely to keep the terps and color or it will ferment too much and loose the smell and colors but not the power ha ha.

Smell has changed quite a lot! Surely sweeter as described by others, nice sign for such an early stage. It's like a different plant now.

I dried it for 14 hours it was feeling leathery dry to the touch outside, so re sealed it and put in 28-30c.
I will watch for any more water droplets forming because it may still be overmoist inside. If not I leave it sealed and watch progress week by week correct?

Also thanks for putting this method out there giving us the chance to try it

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Ace Auto Zamaldelica cob #2 after sweat (16g)


Cobbed this one at 40% harvest weight; got 2 more, 1 at 35% harvest weight and 1 at 30% harvest weight, but I think this might be close to the sweet spot, good balance of sour vs. resinous after sweat

 

[CDNINCA]

Ace Auto Zamaldelica cob #2 after sweat (16g)


Cobbed this one at 40% harvest weight; got 2 more, 1 at 35% harvest weight and 1 at 30% harvest weight, but I think this might be close to the sweet spot, good balance of sour vs. resinous after sweat

View attachment 18799169

Hey Prof Lefty, how did you form your cob? It looks like you might have done it using a caulking gun? That's one option I've considered trying before... looks like you've got the system down whatever you did - nice!

 

[Tangwena]

Ace Auto Zamaldelica cob #2 after sweat (16g)


Cobbed this one at 40% harvest weight; got 2 more, 1 at 35% harvest weight and 1 at 30% harvest weight, but I think this might be close to the sweet spot, good balance of sour vs. resinous after sweat

View attachment 18799169

Cool looking puck or compress nice colors as well.
Chase that sweet spot over the next few weeks your nose will know when you hit it my friend.

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Hey Prof Lefty, how did you form your cob? It looks like you might have done it using a caulking gun? That's one option I've considered trying before... looks like you've got the system down whatever you did - nice!

I used a jumbo pollen press, packed 16g of flower down to a little plug about 30mm diameter x 20mm high

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Cool looking puck or compress nice colors as well.
Chase that sweet spot over the next few weeks your nose will know when you hit it my friend.

Looks like it might be a pretty broad range actually, even the first cob I took at 50% of harvest weight is looking good—it looks like “fully dry” is about 25% of harvest weight, so that cob has about twice the water content of conventional cured flower

Edit: that’s not right, it’s a 20g cob, but would be 10g if fully dry, so that’s 10g of water weight

 

[CDNINCA]

I used a jumbo pollen press, packed 16g of flower down to a little plug about 30mm diameter x 20mm high

View attachment 18799378

Thanks very much, that looks like the tool to use and it produces nice looking results!

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Thanks very much, that looks like the tool to use and it produces nice looking results!

Thanks!

Might do the caulking gun thing next time, hopefully I’ll have at least 3 cobs 28-56g each, but I don’t think I can cram much more than 20g in the press

 

[Greenfingers420UK]

cob cure

cob cure

Hi Joe2 yes as long as you revac the bag afterwards, I usually open the bag after 5 to 7 days to re bind the cob tighter, as it decomposes it shrinks and if you rebind it it compresses the bud further creating the hard dense cob effect. Then revac the bag for the last week.
After the 2 weeks take it out and let it air dry somewhere cool and dry for a week, its then ready to smoke but just gets better the longer you leave it.
The only major variable is how dry the buds are going in. It effects the end product result, but by experimentation you can get the cob just how you want it. You should feel free to inspect, unwrap, smell ect at any time its a very hands on organic experience and something I find very enjoyable to do.
Also if the cob is smaller or thinner going in the bag shorten the vac bag time by half, and check after 4 days or so everything id going well before re sealing vac bag. The sweat happens quite quickly.






Good luck.
Tangwena

Hello and thank you, May I ask how you dried and how long you dried the flower for ? Also how many buds do you use on average.

 

[Ur Humbl Nr8tor]

Ace green Old Timer’s Haze.

That’s dried for a bit less than two days. RH around 80%. No corn husk this time. 23 hours at 40C. The ICMag Haze went from the sweat into a dark cupboard where it sat at room temp around 19C until this was ready. Now both hazes are in the water bath curing together. You can note from above the significant color change during the sweat.

 

[Greenfingers420UK]

Ace green Old Timer’s Haze.

View attachment 18799665
View attachment 18799671
View attachment 18799666 View attachment 18799667 View attachment 18799668 View attachment 18799669 View attachment 18799670
That’s dried for a bit less than two days. RH around 80%. No corn husk this time. 23 hours at 40C. The ICMag Haze went from the sweat into a dark cupboard where it sat at room temp around 19C until this was ready. Now both hazes are in the water bath curing together. You can note from above the significant color change during the sweat.

how fresh is the flower used ? Dried?

looks awesome

 

[gumzgi]

@Greenfingers420UK he dried the bud for 2 days

 

[Tangwena]

Hello and thank you, May I ask how you dried and how long you dried the flower for ? Also how many buds do you use on average.

Hi my friend I like to dry for 3 to 4 days just hanging the branches in a large cardboard box in my attic.
But it depends on the relative humidity, in summer they dry much faster than winter for example.

The buds should be about the same as you would be able to smoke them, dry sugar leaves with a moist center to the buds that causes a joint to need relighting is my favorite stage.

BUT dryer is ok it just gives a different final cure its just up to your personal taste.
Something you will only find out by experimentation.
There are no hard and fast rules its something you can only learn from experience.
I doubt any of the experienced curers on this thread do it exactly the same as anybody else, thats the beauty of this cure plenty of room for artistic expression.

Every cob I ever bought in my time in Africa was different showing the skill of the producer. The cobs I make are just one of many possible outcomes and I still struggle to find that perfect cob every cure.

As to how much to use once you feel you have a handle on it the more the better 2 to 3 ounces is generally a good starting point.

 

[Tangwena]

Ace green Old Timer’s Haze.

View attachment 18799665
View attachment 18799671
View attachment 18799666 View attachment 18799667 View attachment 18799668 View attachment 18799669 View attachment 18799670
That’s dried for a bit less than two days. RH around 80%. No corn husk this time. 23 hours at 40C. The ICMag Haze went from the sweat into a dark cupboard where it sat at room temp around 19C until this was ready. Now both hazes are in the water bath curing together. You can note from above the significant color change during the sweat.

Looking done already go easy on the moisture content a good drying would be my best advice you dont want to over cook it and loose the unique terps during the aging/cure.

 

[CDNINCA]

Just opened my first attempt at a cob, the Saturn Citrus, after about a month of initial curing. Wow, does it smell great - orange citrus - from the African orange male that it came from, with a strong lemon aroma coming through from the Lemon Haze female. It almost smell like a really good marmalade?! I'm having a hard time describing it, but it smells incredible.
So here's the question that this rookie needs some help with - how the heck do I know when it's cured long enough? I can hear it now... "when it smells good!" Just kidding... anyway, I'm tempted to leave it another month at least and could use some sage advice on whether that's a good idea or not. Yes, hard to recommend an approach when you can't smell it -here's a few pics!
It's really sticky, and I like what I see so far.
And, now I get to open the others that I started after this one... Thanks all for any suggestions and advice!

 

[StickyBandit]

Just opened my first attempt at a cob, the Saturn Citrus, after about a month of initial curing. Wow, does it smell great - orange citrus - from the African orange male that it came from, with a strong lemon aroma coming through from the Lemon Haze female. It almost smell like a really good marmalade?! I'm having a hard time describing it, but it smells incredible.
So here's the question that this rookie needs some help with - how the heck do I know when it's cured long enough? I can hear it now... "when it smells good!" Just kidding... anyway, I'm tempted to leave it another month at least and could use some sage advice on whether that's a good idea or not. Yes, hard to recommend an approach when you can't smell it -here's a few pics!
It's really sticky, and I like what I see so far.
And, now I get to open the others that I started after this one... Thanks all for any suggestions and advice!

I found 3 to 4 months was a good start. Others may say earlier but compared to 2 months there seems to be a big improvement

 

[Tangwena]

Just opened my first attempt at a cob, the Saturn Citrus, after about a month of initial curing. Wow, does it smell great - orange citrus - from the African orange male that it came from, with a strong lemon aroma coming through from the Lemon Haze female. It almost smell like a really good marmalade?! I'm having a hard time describing it, but it smells incredible.
So here's the question that this rookie needs some help with - how the heck do I know when it's cured long enough? I can hear it now... "when it smells good!" Just kidding... anyway, I'm tempted to leave it another month at least and could use some sage advice on whether that's a good idea or not. Yes, hard to recommend an approach when you can't smell it -here's a few pics!
It's really sticky, and I like what I see so far.
And, now I get to open the others that I started after this one... Thanks all for any suggestions and advice!

This is the most important time a slow dry and reseal is in order.
Dry slowly as you will want to keep as much of the terpy smell as possible, too fast and it will tend to evaporate.
Experiencing the changing aromas is one of the major sources of enjoyment of this cure.
They will change as they mature keeping as much as possible in the final product is the art.
Once aged they will be different again, so will the high if you have got it right.

 

[CDNINCA]

This is the most important time a slow dry and reseal is in order.
Dry slowly as you will want to keep as much of the terpy smell as possible, too fast and it will tend to evaporate.
Experiencing the changing aromas is one of the major sources of enjoyment of this cure.
They will change as they mature keeping as much as possible in the final product is the art.
Once aged they will be different again, so will the high if you have got it right.

Thanks @Tangwena , to make sure I have this correct, to ensure a slow dry - which is what I want, would you recommend opening it every week and then re-sealing? If so, of for long? I know, this is very subjective and hard to make a recommendation, but if you could?
How does this sound, open it every week for 30 minutes or so, then seal and leave for another week, until it smells so good you can't let it go further? I guess that I could always separate a small piece for sampling while the rest goes back into the cure for a bit longer?
This is so interesting, thanks for any and all suggestions!

 

[Ur Humbl Nr8tor]

Looking done already go easy on the moisture content a good drying would be my best advice you dont want to over cook it and loose the unique terps during the aging/cure.

Truly appreciate the immediate feedback. I pulled both Haze cobs out of the water bath immediately upon the advice. Both haze cobs are definitely on the darker side of things. The ICMag cob is still smelling very sweet. The new OTH needs to dry a touch and then vacuum seal for a few weeks to determine if it has fermented correctly. Next year, I will let them dry a bit more before I sweat as it seems 80% RH may be a bit too high?.

 

[Ur Humbl Nr8tor]

I have a bit of the OTH that’s just been trimmed. Now low 70’s. Maybe I will start a cob and see how it compares.

I will have to consider as I only have a few ounces of primo bud from that plant. its all trimmed, on smaller stems and finishing its dry in a brown paper bag. Tomorrow morning I’ll see what I’ve got and whether to start another cob.