SweetSue;3357864 said:Oil-making particulars
Some time ago DrZiggy introduced us to his Low and Slow method of drying cannabis. Loosely fill your jar with buds, put a screen on instead of a solid lid, and put it out of the way in your refrigerator for at least two weeks. You want temperatures around 35 degrees F and humidity around 40%. This is pretty close to where mine hovers, so I didn't bother to check. I simply placed them in the drawer and forgot about them. When I came upon them I'd give them a gentle tumble, but mostly I ignored them.
This morning I'm testing it out, and OMG! This is a strain I grow continuiously. I'm over ten individual specimens by now, I'm sure. This is a completely different euphoric effect than I've gotten from any of the others, including this same plant that was processed into fresh-harvest oil the day what I'm smoking went into the fridge.
Ziggy uses half-gallon jars. I only had popcorn buds, and very few at that.
I harvested about three weeks ago, I believe, so no cure at all yet. The very first thing I noticed when I removed them from the fridge was the bright greens in the sugar leaves. It was startling. Since coming to room temperature the smell has become consistent with what I expect from Carnival, excepting this one smells more like lemon flavoring, it's that intense. Had me thinking of lemon drop candies yesterday, where my buds dried the conventional way smell more like lemon-scented Lysol. Hmmm..... Interesting. I'll have to give that closer consideration.
My theory is that the temps suspend the evaporation of the terpenes and the flavonoids. This is causing a more profound entourage effect. I wish I'd done more of the plant like this. The cold would have killed any mite eggs, making this another option to save an infested harvest.
I'm considering the potential of buds dried in the refrigerator and processed into GrowGoddess's ND SAP oil. If what I'm experiencing is any indication of what can be expected, we're on to something here. I'll be drying my next harvest in this manner, and likely every harvest from here on out. I keep very little food in my refrigerator as it is. Leaves lots of room for drying.
They're not pretty buds at all, but potent as hell. I almost forgot this technique and these were the popcorn buds, all that was left. All the best buds had already been cut up and were in the pot to be cooked down into oil.
I highly recommend you experiment with this method. When your cannabis smacks you go and thank Ziggy.
Edit: DrZiggy tells me it must be a frost-free refrigerator.
For more information, Dr. Ziggy's thread on this topic can be found at:
DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest
Since beginning this thread we've had a member show up who'd spent the years since 1993 refining this very process. He's already worked out what we were trying to discover - the most favorable atmospheric conditions, how to adjust humidity levels when it's time to jar it up, and for that matter...
www.420magazine.com
