Curing and burping jars?

[Cmitch55]

Hi all Cmitch again I finally chopped some test buds and am ready to dry and cure I took all the little popcorn buds and my smallest plant and chopped them let them dry for 4 days and have now put the bud in a glass jar for curing...when I chopped the plant the buds had a nice dank smell now after drying for a few days a leafy smell is present...I'm hoping to get the dankness back after curing and would like some tips as to how long to cure and I heard of burping but am not sure how often i should burp the cans any help is appreciated
~Cmitch55

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Burp the jars when you see moisture forming on the jar. If you can go buy a hygrometer that will help with drying your buds correctly. That way you can monitor the RH inside the jar, if it increases several % an hour, you want to burp them for an hour or two, this can be done with the lid off, or you can put it in a brown paper bag for a more even dry. A 3 week cure is good, month or more is optimal. Heres some more info to help with RH levels if you buy a hygrometer.

Cut the product, trim it per your preference, but don't dry it until the stems snap. Take it down while the stems still have some flex, but the product feel dry on the outside. This is a perfect opportunity to drop the dry-feeling flowers onto a screen and collect prime-quality kief that would otherwise get lost in the jar.

Jar the product, along with a Caliber III hygrometer. One can be had on Ebay for ~$20. Having tested a number of hygrometers - digital and analog - this model in particular produced consistent, accurate results. Then, watch the readings:

+70% RH - too wet, needs to sit outside the jar to dry for 12-24 hours, depending.

65-70% RH - the product is almost in the cure zone, if you will. It can be slowly brought to optimum RH by opening the lid for 2-4 hours.

60-65% RH - the stems snap, the product feels a bit sticky, and it is curing.

55-60% RH - at this point it can be stored for an extended period (3 months or more) without worrying about mold. The product will continue to cure.

Below 55% RH - the RH is too low for the curing process to take place. The product starts to feel brittle. Once you've hit this point, nothing will make it better. Adding moisture won't restart the curing process; it will just make the product wet. If you measure a RH below 55% don't panic. Read below:

Obviously, the product need time to sweat in the jar. As such, accurate readings won't be seen for ~24 hours, assuming the flowers are in the optimal cure zone. If you're curing the product for long-term storage, give the flowers 4-5 days for an accurate reading. If the product is sill very wet, a +70% RH reading will show within hours. If you see the RH rising ~1% per hour, keep a close eye on the product, as it's likely too moist.

 

[Lucky man]

daze61 explained it perfectly.
Nice read.

All I would add is, 30 day cure is minimal for me, but 60 day is perfect IMO.

 

[ThaRealTreJay]

So if you dry your buds, then cure them in a jar. You can smoke them, while they are curing?

 

[Twelve12]

So if you dry your buds, then cure them in a jar. You can smoke them, while they are curing?

Of course. However, best taste and effects may not be optimal when the buds not properly cured.

 

[ThaRealTreJay]

Of course. However, best taste and effects may not be optimal when the buds not properly cured.

Of course. However, best taste and effects may not be optimal UNTIL the buds are properly cured.

Ahh, I see. Perhaps people should just keep their weed in jars... lol

 

[Android]

Hi!

I have some friends who ,much better prefer smoking (handling) bud that is super dry, and I mean dry to such point, where one wouldn't even needed a fron't even need a grinder - anyone could pick up a small bud, lightly squeeze between two fingers - and get a pile of near pollen-small powder - something to easily stuff in a dugout and use one-hit wonders

Even I, with history of smoking on some well-cured and manicured flowers for a long time, I won't claim that cutting 1-2 weeks of curing from the production cycle, even sacrifizing some taste qualities is undoubtedly a bad idea, but personally - I cannot ignore the chlorophyll in the taste....I mean, I would have rather vaped something that was quick-dried or too fresh for smoking - but wouldn't try to burn it to consume. It's would have been as pleasant as flies that fall into upright halogen lights and start burning and smoking. Yuk!

But because I have the skills and instant gratification seeking friends - I thought - why not build a megafast drier, that would do the drying in 24 hr - cracker-dry!!

Here is how


I've used this technique before, but not as safe and well-engineered as my final version. It falls into a category of drying techniques using various kinds of ice-melts, due to the fact that all of them chemically react with any kind of water: solid, vaporous or liquid- exothermally - so it melts ice by reacting with it all the way to. One of the strongest and cheaper ones available commercially, that don't turn into slush and is relatelatively safe (relatively still means it would ruin a concrete driveway or cause poisoning taken internally or as a dust) = Calcium Chloride (CaCl2).

I buy a really good kind (no dust - mostly pellets) at WalMart for under $4 per 9 lb transparent plastic jar with a handle - brand name =Morton Safe*T*Power. It says "pure Calcium Chloride", "Salt free", "Melts to -25F"

The process is simple - put some of CaCl2 in the same, small, COMPLETELY airtight container where you intent to put the thing you want to quick-dry.

There are however two difficulties that CaCl2 air drier design would have to solve:
1) CaCl2 should not be in contact with food (I am guessing this would very well be true if applied to smokables. Because ice-melts are generally dusty - we have a danger of dust settling on your bud or worse.
2) When CaCl2 reacts, it condenses water on itself.
If someone had too little of CaCl2 and too much of bud - CaCl2 would heat up, soak up water with itself, which would clump slushy CaCl2 pellets together when done reacting, turning them into a solid brick-like stone.

These two problems made me spend a lot of ice melt and other thingies until I saw the insides of a hangable closet dehumidifier (luckily it was transparent and everything explained in the instruction that came with it.

The trick was the fact that there were two horizontal chambers inside, interconnected with tiny holes. CaCl2 was on the top layer, bottom was empty. The instruction said: Wait until the bottom is full of water before tossing it out.

So THE quick-drier I made was quite simple, but very effective and solved both design problems I mentioned earlier - no change in aggregate state of CaCl2 and no contact with the end product.

I am using a square (14 cups) Rubbermaid "Produce Saver" plastic container (the one with green lid and green internal produce tray inside) - if you intended to use the same - make sure you put some tape over breathing holes in the lid I used glue from a glue gun
The process is simple - leave the green veggie tray on the bottom and get some Tyvek (available for free in the form of FedEx or USPS Express envelopes (Netflix sleeves are way too small ) Cut out two roundish/squarish - whatever your tupperware size is - add extra 2" for the top layer and 1" for the bottom.
Tape the bottom tyvek layer to the sides of the container really well (waterproof), but don't put any tape in the middle - the bottom sheet is meant to let water through, but leave CaCl2 above it. After it's done - I pour (careful not to breathe the dust) CaCl2 on the bottom Tyvek. You should get a little water chamber on the bottom - this will enable CaCl2 remain a desiccant longer, since water won't clump it up or slush it,but should drain through the bottom Tyvek, yonowamasain?
I used maybe a 1/3 of the volume of the tupperware dish to fill with CaCl2 - this should leave you plenty of room for your end-product. (remember that we are talking about small batches only. - for whatever your reasons are.
Level the CaCl2 (I put another green tray from another set right on top of it), and use the second larger Tyvek piece to eliminate any possibility of CaCl2 getting onto the product - even go ahead and drop it several times just to make sure.

So in the end we have a super-mega quick drier without any heating, fanning or hanging on the line.

P.S. I use a small plate for the bud I put there, - it makes handling much easier. I made the plate out of Tyvek as well, though.

For those who didn't know - Tyvek is the synthetic fiber that is strong, but allows for air and some water seepage through.