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Malawi Style Cob Curing.

ProfessorLefty

Active member
Hmmm—does this look like mold to y’all?

Wasn’t any white on it when I sealed it up three weeks ago

This is the wettest cob, 40g at harvest, 20g when sweated, currently about 16g, estimated 10g fully dry

1675124901194.jpeg
 

Taima-da

Well-known member
Definitely.

Indicates you need to dry more each time you open for inspection, a surprising amount of moisture stays within the cob, especially if, as you indicate, starting with higher moisture content material.

Check minimum weekly in the early phases of the process, especially if you're new to it.

Really important to dry well the first couple of times opening after sweat, you want it to feel dry on the outside before bagging again
 
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ProfessorLefty

Active member
Definitely.

Indicates you need to dry more each time you open for inspection, a surprising amount of moisture stays within the cob, especially if, as you indicate, starting with higher moisture content material.

Check minimum weekly in the early phases of the process, especially if you're new to it.

Really important to dry well the first couple of times opening after sweat, you want it to feel dry on the outside before bagging again
Yup, the cob I took at 40% of harvest weight is moldy too, but the 35% & 30% cobs are fine—the 30% one is especially fragrant (40g at harvest, sweated at 12g, currently 11g, est. 10g fully dry); I suspect all you need is a scant amount of moisture for the sweat, then dry it down, vac seal & age
 

CDNINCA

Well-known member
I'm new to this too, but if it's helpful..., I hung my plants until the smallest stems just barely "snapped", then trimmed them up into large glass jars. I estimate that they were at about 65-68 RH? Then, I opened and "burped" the jars (left them open for 10 minutes or so), morning and night until the small hygrometers that I have said the internal jar humidity was at about 62-63%. That's where I usually leave the jars for long-term storage, opening rarely to check them. So, the material I'm using for this process is about 62% RH, or maybe just slightly more. I believe that Tangwena also mentioned - a few posts back, that starting the process when the weed might need a day or so more of drying time to be perfectly smokable is a good place to aim for.
I don't go by harvest weight, but maybe that info is helpful? Can you get small hygrometers to measure the RH? These are the ones that I use - less that $5. Us, they work pretty well! https://buildasoil.com/products/hyg...psq=hygro&_ss=e&_v=1.0&variant=41697588510908
 

Taima-da

Well-known member
@ProfessorLefty fwiw I would cut off affected parts as they are likely to be mostly if not completely surface, give it a few hours sunlight to kill any residual mould you may have missed (I know light is not good but the inside is protected, and a bit of sunlight is preferable to mould), then dry and age as per usual. You may not want to smoke the result but assuming no more mould develops it may be good to chew (or make edibles from), as long as it smells good.
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Well, it's been a week so I opened my first cob. It smells like beef jerky. Spicy. I think that's a good thing, isn't it? Considering it was super green smelling going in.

So, now I let it dry for a few days. How dry? All the way though? Should I break it open to check?

After it dries thoroughly, seal it back up, checking on it weekly for new colors and aromas and then re-sealing.

Sound about right?




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Taima-da

Well-known member
Just till the outside feels proper dry if you plan on opening it up weekly for a bit ... You'll know when it's stabilising as it will change less and less in the bag after each dry out...
Actually looking at that colour you could dry it quite well (over a couple of days) to slow up too much further change

looks good, description of smell sounds good too. Spicy is nice, can make the teeth tingle, even fully numb, when chewed!!
 
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Tangwena

Well-known member
Veteran
Well, it's been a week so I opened my first cob. It smells like beef jerky. Spicy. I think that's a good thing, isn't it? Considering it was super green smelling going in.

So, now I let it dry for a few days. How dry? All the way though? Should I break it open to check?

After it dries thoroughly, seal it back up, checking on it weekly for new colors and aromas and then re-sealing.

Sound about right?




View attachment 18806707
Amazing changes its fully done now, just slow dry really slow until its perfect to smoke and stays lit like a ciggy.
@Taima-da gold advice brother so cool to hear others advice I love it.
 

ProfessorLefty

Active member
I'm new to this too, but if it's helpful..., I hung my plants until the smallest stems just barely "snapped", then trimmed them up into large glass jars. I estimate that they were at about 65-68 RH? Then, I opened and "burped" the jars (left them open for 10 minutes or so), morning and night until the small hygrometers that I have said the internal jar humidity was at about 62-63%. That's where I usually leave the jars for long-term storage, opening rarely to check them. So, the material I'm using for this process is about 62% RH, or maybe just slightly more. I believe that Tangwena also mentioned - a few posts back, that starting the process when the weed might need a day or so more of drying time to be perfectly smokable is a good place to aim for.
I don't go by harvest weight, but maybe that info is helpful? Can you get small hygrometers to measure the RH? These are the ones that I use - less that $5. Us, they work pretty well! https://buildasoil.com/products/hyg...psq=hygro&_ss=e&_v=1.0&variant=41697588510908
I found those little digital hygrometers can be off by as much as 5% RH—maybe use a Boveda 62 or similar to get RH to 62%?

As an aside, I keep my conventionally-cured weed at 62% RH with a Boveda 62–doesn’t get moldy, but it does go stale (loses terps) after a few months even in a sealed jar.

Now I’m wondering if compression alone is responsible for the magic of cob cure? Like maybe all you need is to seal in the terps and let them react with each other over time?
 

ProfessorLefty

Active member
@ProfessorLefty fwiw I would cut off affected parts as they are likely to be mostly if not completely surface, give it a few hours sunlight to kill any residual mould you may have missed (I know light is not good but the inside is protected, and a bit of sunlight is preferable to mould), then dry and age as per usual. You may not want to smoke the result but assuming no more mould develops it may be good to chew (or make edibles from), as long as it smells good.
I think you’re right, the visible mycelium is just on the surface, looks just fine inside. Still smells sweet, not moldy at all.

I think what I’ll do at this point is dry them down at 60-65% RH until the weight stabilizes, just to see what the final weight is. Might have a wee nibble at that point as well, lol
 

Tangwena

Well-known member
Veteran
I think you’re right, the visible mycelium is just on the surface, looks just fine inside. Still smells sweet, not moldy at all.

I think what I’ll do at this point is dry them down at 60-65% RH until the weight stabilizes, just to see what the final weight is. Might have a wee nibble at that point as well, lol
It looks like surface to me just get a sharp knife and shave it off its easy like whittling a piece of soft wood.
If it smells good your still on a winner just dry it slowly.
 

CDNINCA

Well-known member
I found those little digital hygrometers can be off by as much as 5% RH—maybe use a Boveda 62 or similar to get RH to 62%?

As an aside, I keep my conventionally-cured weed at 62% RH with a Boveda 62–doesn’t get moldy, but it does go stale (loses terps) after a few months even in a sealed jar.

Now I’m wondering if compression alone is responsible for the magic of cob cure? Like maybe all you need is to seal in the terps and let them react with each other over time?
Sorry, been out of this for a while... I too use the Boveda 62% RH packs in my "cured" weed jars. I know what you mean, some of the hygrometers are a little inaccurate but help me to get close to what I'm aiming for. Thanks!!
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
I opened another package today. This was the little 12 gram plug I posted earlier. It is a week and a day old. I sweat it for a day at 105F but it didn't sweat. It was a little drier going in than my last attempt. So, I didn't open it and I put it at 85F for a week.

Upon opening, it still is not real wet. It has the same peppery small as the last attempt but WAY less smell. The last attempt about knocked me over when I whiffed it. This one is way more subtle.

I will dry it for a few days and them back into vacuum.

Here are a couple pics. The brown pic is under the LED grow light. The green pic is with the camera flash.

1led.jpg

1flash.jpg
 

wutwut

Well-known member
Veteran
here is my attempt to make a cob. the plant material was in 75% moisture stage. it's a 42gr piece of lower buds. first i rolled them in a sushi mat and then i wrapped this stick inside of parchment paper. to make it very tight i used a cord which i rolled around the cob about three times. now it was ready to vacuum but i left some air space in the bag. it is sweated for 24 hours in 40c temp. it went how i expected so a few bubbles did appear. i opened the bag and cleaned stuff and put the cob back in and next i did vacuum it very tight. now it's fermenting in about 30c degrees for 7 days atleast. strain is amnesia core cut. i don't expect anything of it so it must surprise me.
it turned to be super! wow! after my first attempts i didn't expect anything like this now. i love the amnesia core cut, but i want to marry this cob cured version. it's damn smooth and nice. high lasts long time and it's more alive. i even got some uncontrollable giggles so i had to hide myself when being in public :D fermentation changed great weed to master one. thank you for sharing this method and other tips.
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
Thanks. It's pretty dry (but not crispy dry or anything like that). It could probably go back in tomorrow.

I have a question. Instead of vacuum sealing it a bag, could you vacuum seal it in a jar instead? It would make the "open for inspection and re-seal" routine a little easier.

Just curious if a jar would work the same as a bag.

Thanks
 
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