Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[Hombre del mont]

Has anyone attempted making a "sativa microbe starter"? Like with sour dough but using early larf as a endogenous source of microbes to add to a fresh harvest? I would expect a faster cure time when the microbes penetrate immediately, instead of build up slowly?

Interesting, but is it necessary?

Fermentation starts naturally easily enough and will provide a smokable product within a matter of weeks; of course for a chewable cob, it takes much longer.

Possibly, by having a large number of microbes initially, it may speed things up, but it it necessary?

Also, you'd have to be careful not to allow anything nasty to grow in your starter.

Will you give it a go? It'd be an interesting experiment.

 

[Shua1991]

Interesting, but is it necessary?

Fermentation starts naturally easily enough and will provide a smokable product within a matter of weeks; of course for a chewable cob, it takes much longer.

Possibly, by having a large number of microbes initially, it may speed things up, but it it necessary?

Also, you'd have to be careful not to allow anything nasty to grow in your starter.

Will you give it a go? It'd be an interesting experiment.

I want to give this a try, I've got 3-4 months before I have a fresh harvest. I'll document it here if I can

 

[Hombre del mont]

I want to give this a try, I've got 3-4 months before I have a fresh harvest. I'll document it here if I can

Cool.

 

[albertgriffiths]

I'm curious about that too, but I'm not sure I understood what you planned on using as an innoculum.

I was thinking about using a well fermented cob I like best, ground and mixed with the fresh one.

Apart from speeding things up (which is not absolutely necessary, as Hombre said), it might help develop particular aromas, as is the case with some cheese, miso or bread recipes that use such innoculum.

However, fermentation can often be simplified as a succession of bacterias living, dying, and feeding on the dead ones. So the increased presence of the end bacteria may not particularly help speeding up the early one. There are also many cheese, sausage, pickles or sauerkraut recipes where no added innoculum is needed nor beneficial.

(I'm doing an analogy with classic anaerobic lactic fermentation, that I know better. I don't pretend I know exactly what happens in a cob)

The innoculum could also be another plant or bacterial colony. In a certain way, corn husk is an innoculant. Adding alcool could work as well (as is suggested in some urban legends such as "burry your bud with rhum and come back one year later, it will be more potent"). And then, why not try it with aspergillus orizae and salt? (that might be a bit extreme but... why not?)

I do mix some weed with my sauerkraut, as a "spice" (one teaspoon for 1kg of cabbage, more or less). It makes for a nice, low-dose, edible. The lemony weed flavour really enhances the flavour of the fermented cabbage, it's delicious apart from making you happy. Strong weed aftertaste that lasts long. I call it my "Jamaican Sauerkraut"

 

[Hombre del mont]

I'm curious about that too, but I'm not sure I understood what you planned on using as an innoculum.

I was thinking about using a well fermented cob I like best, ground and mixed with the fresh one.

Apart from speeding things up (which is not absolutely necessary, as Hombre said), it might help develop particular aromas, as is the case with some cheese, miso or bread recipes that use such innoculum.

However, fermentation can often be simplified as a succession of bacterias living, dying, and feeding on the dead ones. So the increased presence of the end bacteria may not particularly help speeding up the early one. There are also many cheese, sausage, pickles or sauerkraut recipes where no added innoculum is needed nor beneficial.

(I'm doing an analogy with classic anaerobic lactic fermentation, that I know better. I don't pretend I know exactly what happens in a cob)

The innoculum could also be another plant or bacterial colony. In a certain way, corn husk is an innoculant. Adding alcool could work as well (as is suggested in some urban legends such as "burry your bud with rhum and come back one year later, it will be more potent"). And then, why not try it with aspergillus orizae and salt? (that might be a bit extreme but... why not?)

I do mix some weed with my sauerkraut, as a "spice" (one teaspoon for 1kg of cabbage, more or less). It makes for a nice, low-dose, edible. The lemony weed flavour really enhances the flavour of the fermented cabbage, it's delicious apart from making you happy. Strong weed aftertaste that lasts long. I call it my "Jamaican Sauerkraut"

¿So the weed you added to the sauerkraut, was it already cured? Did you decarb it at all, or was it just fermented a la sauerkraut?
It'd be interesting to ferment a little fresh weed using some sauerkraut juice and salt. It's something I'd like to try; I love fermented food. Perhaps I'll try it in December, providing I remember

 

[CDNINCA]

"Jamaican Sauerkraut"!! Love the name and the idea is interesting, I might need to give that a try sometime! As for the "Bury your bud with rhum" idea, I do make a pretty nice "Weed Rum" as I call it... one shot and it provides some nice "lifted" vibes for a few hours. It doesn't take a year... but a month is about the right amount of time to let the extraction work. I don't think there's much fermentation going on though
I'm with Hombre, December testing is a great idea - if I remember too!

 

[Buzzzzd]

I do make a pretty nice "Weed Rum" as I call it

Hmmm....I need more details!!!!
I must say I am enjoying my Choco-cobs. I am still experimenting with emulsion times and fineness of the grind. But I am attempting to see if all the goodness transfers to the melted chocolate or if I need to still chew the chunks.

 

[albertgriffiths]

¿So the weed you added to the sauerkraut, was it already cured?

Yes I always used dry material! Cured... well it depends what I have available at that time of the year. Usually about a 1-2 months cure in jars, or old bud from the previous year. Cobs would work as well. Fresh buds would be nice to try as well!

 

[CDNINCA]

Hmmm....I need more details!!!!
I must say I am enjoying my Choco-cobs. I am still experimenting with emulsion times and fineness of the grind. But I am attempting to see if all the goodness transfers to the melted chocolate or if I need to still chew the chunks.

Hey @Buzzzzd,
It took me a while to "perfect" this, and it's really strain/ desired effect dependent, but I take one oz. of good jar-cured bud, grind/ chop it up, decarb it (240F/ 115C) for about 40 minutes then let it cool.

A trick here when decarbing is to take parchment paper that fits a baking sheet, crumple it up into a ball then unravel it to fit the sheet pan again. This will make a surface that doesn't completely touch the pan but has little raised areas - helps prevent overheating on the hot sheet pan. Spread the ground/ chopped bud around on the parchment paper then bake it.

I then take a large mason or ball jar - basically glass with a tight fitting sealable lid, pour in one 750 ml./ 26 oz. of REALLY GOOD rum - crap rum makes crap weed rum in my opinion and dump in the weed. Seal it up, shake it every day or two until the weed gets "rum-logged" and sinks. Leave it for a month and you are good to go!

I've done it with many different strains and the effects aren't altered as they are with cob, but they are good! Mix up your favorite cocktail and you are off to the races!
@Tangwena, apologies for the "diversion" from the theme of the thread brother, but I did at least mention cob? I do need to try making some with gold old "lively" cob, sans the de-carbing though. I bet that would be so good!

Oh yes, I like really good aged rum a lot. Any booze will work as long as it's at least 80 proof. A friend has made versions using bourbon/ scotch, whiskey, gin, vodka, and on, and on. I'll stick with the rum!

Cheers!

 

[Tangwena]

apologies for the "diversion" from the theme of the thread brother, but I did at least mention cob? I do need to try making some with gold old "lively" cob, sans the de-carbing though. I bet that would be so good!

Oh yes, I like really good aged rum a lot. Any booze will work as long as it's at least 80 proof. A friend has made versions using bourbon/ scotch, whiskey, gin, vodka, and on, and on. I'll stick with the rum!

Not off topic brother this thread is about thinking outside the box ha ha.
Back when I could still handle a good piss up. I used to take a big piece of cob. GT golden was my favorite.
Then buy the best Mezcal or Tequila I could lay my hands on grind up the cob and put it into the bottle.
Let it sit for a month and then do shots ha ha.
I got pretty loose pretty quick and would cause mayhem at parties ha ha.
My wife reckons she doesn't know how I didn't get my teeth knocked out ha ha. Still got the full set ha ha.
Works a treat I had some rowdy friends come over one time a couple of shots and they were like pussy cats ha ha.

 

[Tangwena]

Some macro shots of the resin on some aged cob cured drier.

 

[Tangwena]

Some year plus Panama x Panama/Honduras I tried this the other day as I was feeling a bit frazzled from a week on the Mulanje x Malawi/Ethiopian cob.
Absolutely stoned effect not sleepy just taking things way slower everything was great couldn't wipe the smile from my face.

Today I felt ready to visit Alice and had some aged Mulanje from 2023 this is good medicine it makes you feel strong unbothered by anything i love it.

Some crystals forming on the surface I love it when they form.

 

[Tangwena]

I saw this post on another site.
I dont know your thoughts my but my first thought was now that looks well cured.

 

[CDNINCA]

Not off topic brother this thread is about thinking outside the box ha ha.
Back when I could still handle a good piss up. I used to take a big piece of cob. GT golden was my favorite.
Then buy the best Mezcal or Tequila I could lay my hands on grind up the cob and put it into the bottle.
Let it sit for a month and then do shots ha ha.
I got pretty loose pretty quick and would cause mayhem at parties ha ha.
My wife reckons she doesn't know how I didn't get my teeth knocked out ha ha. Still got the full set ha ha.
Works a treat I had some rowdy friends come over one time a couple of shots and they were like pussy cats ha ha.

Ha!! I should have known that you had probably given the "cob-in-booze" trick a go! I do appreciate Tequila and Mezcal too... you are giving me ideas!!

 

[weedebook]

2 half month thai landrace cure it smell like chocolate. effect like the old day but softer i think i cut to early.
How many months does Sativa take to cut? This year I will try again. thank you very much

 

[oldmaninbc]

2 half month thai landrace cure it smell like chocolate. effect like the old day but softer i think i cut to early.
How many months does Sativa take to cut? This year I will try again. thank you very much

Regardless of your cutting time, it looks like you did a swell job on the cure. looks good.

 

[Tangwena]

2 half month thai landrace cure it smell like chocolate. effect like the old day but softer i think i cut to early.
How many months does Sativa take to cut? This year I will try again. thank you very much

Nice color on that cure there my friend.
I dont have any experience with Thai myself and growing in Thailand would be very different due to the climate and day light hours.
I should imagine they are long flowering.
Back in the 70's in London was the only real Thai I had. It was smuggled in by a friend from Thailand it was fine small flowers tied to a stick it was very powerful a couple of drags on a pin joint and I was high as a kite.
The buds had a fine tasting smooth cure (not that fresh green dried taste) that was my first and only experience with Thai grass.
At the time I was fresh from Africa and thought it was very nice grass though the high was very different to Malawi types I had been used to.

 

[weedebook]

Nice color on that cure there my friend.
I dont have any experience with Thai myself and growing in Thailand would be very different due to the climate and day light hours.
I should imagine they are long flowering.
Back in the 70's in London was the only real Thai I had. It was smuggled in by a friend from Thailand it was fine small flowers tied to a stick it was very powerful a couple of drags on a pin joint and I was high as a kite.
The buds had a fine tasting smooth cure (not that fresh green dried taste) that was my first and only experience with Thai grass.
At the time I was fresh from Africa and thought it was very nice grass though the high was very different to Malawi types I had been used to.

Effect are the same like the old day but softer. i think i cut it early. if modern cure smell like dry grass effect is not the same like malawi cure. i'm newbie grower. i find old effect and smell like the old day but now in thailand can't find it anymore. i missing it very much. my english is to bad i try to explain to you. so sorry

 

[Tangwena]

Effect are the same like the old day but softer. i think i cut it early. if modern cure smell like dry grass effect is not the same like malawi cure. i'm newbie grower. i find old effect and smell like the old day but now in thailand can't find it anymore. i missing it very much. my english is to bad i try to explain to you. so sorry

Your English is better than my Thai my friend. I understand exactly what you are saying.
To increase the effect it needs multiple re flowerings all different ages of maturity.
Outside in nature she doesn't have to hurry.
You are lucky to grow her where she evolved you will get what your after, with a little experimentation on length of flowering before harvest I'm sure.
I'm sure each good farmer has his own method of growing and time of harvesting.

 

[Tmik]

FWIW: pics of 2 different cobs 9 months old. I have tried eating a chew a couple times and nothing really. I didn’t try very hard either. It tastes like crap.

I had some 9 month old cobs and 9 month old (same) flower and compared side by side across 3 strains:

Smoking these old Cobs is very nice tho. Very smooth, cooler, less coughy smoke.

The cob effect (smoking) is deeper, calmer, more relaxing than the flower. The cob could be described as more potent than the counterpart flower in 4 out of 4 comparisons. It is not a shocking difference with the cob being 2x or 3x more stonier but there seems to be a headier more sedate difference in all. Maybe there is just more CBN in the cob? The cob flavor is earthier and sweeter than the flower.

Storing the cobs is easier since they are basically sticks. The 9 month old flower is starting to breakdown but still OK from being in a grove bags.

I like the whole cob thing for long term storage. I will be putting up 1/3 to 1/2 of my future harvests into cobs. I recently cob’d some Golden Tiger and Malawi. I look forward to these aging properly and then trying a chew again.