Fridge Dry Experiment

I

Indicolas

Well-Known Member
My electric bill is soaring. I'm in the islands so drying is a problem! I'm going to tent dry with AC for a 2 days to get the bulk moisture out then hang them in the fridge 2 days @40-45°F. Im hanging because my mini fridge has no air circulation? Buf it is frost free. Then bag them till they're down to 65-62°Rh. Then into Grove bags for the rest of way. I will check weekly. For bulk long term storage I'll burp/air them down to 58rh and store in a cool dark space. Do you think I'm on the right track. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts and comments.

Stay lit my friends...ph aka Indi
 
I heard good things about drying in the fridge. So far I have not attempted to do it because I am not sure if the humidity is at the desired level for drying cannabis, 55%.
 
BAKIND said:
I heard good things about drying in the fridge. So far I have not attempted to do it because I am not sure if the humidity is at the desired level for drying cannabis, 55%.
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The mini fridge is designated only for this. Nothing else in there to add moisture other than the buds itself. This is my first time so we'll see. Hopefully the pudding. I could rotate big dried sponges to draw it down some... hmm.
 
BAKIND said:
I heard good things about drying in the fridge. So far I have not attempted to do it because I am not sure if the humidity is at the desired level for drying cannabis, 55%.
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When it is dry to touch, but still spongey and smelly - 6 weeks in the fridge
 
Azimuth said:
Have you seen the Low and Slow thread?
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I read thru most of it. There's many variables and most of it problematic because of the ongoing changes thru the process. Too cold you get mold. On empty my #s are 40/35rh at setting 3. I'm going to try to stay 50+F. No matter how much you got in there the fridge will cycle to that temp. So it's the Rh (62)that needs to be dailed in constantly as the process goes on. If it's still to dry then they will be bagged. The Grove bag will automatically sweat the batch when into cure. That's how I seem to see it.
 
Indicolas said:
I read thru most of it. There's many variables and most of it problematic because of the ongoing changes thru the process.
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Most of the variables and changes tend to be things that others have tried. Some successfully and some not but it is enough to help someone new to the process get an understanding of what is going on.

When I finish a basic trimming most of the buds are still on a piece of stem. Then it is a bud wash and a drying. Next step is putting them into brown paper grocery bags. Bags loosely folded over and put to the side of one of the shelves in the kitchen fridge. After a few days I check the bags, give them a shake and bounce since the contents seem to have settled.

Most of the time it takes about 2 weeks and the buds are dry and ready to go into jars. Sometimes a bit sooner and sometimes several more days or a week. I believe that the pieces of stems that are in the paper bags act as a moisture release that helps prevent everything from drying out faster than it can be controlled; sort of a natural 'Boveda humidity pack'.
 
Indicolas said:
Had to scratch the fridge and go back to tent drying. The fridge could not adjust temps upward. It has freezer coils.
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Interesting discussion but I am a bit confused by the temperature, humidity numbers and the way your fridge works. I then back-tracked and found this comment that I had overlooked earlier.

Indicolas said:
Too cold you get mold
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It does not work that way. The optimum temperatures for the growth of molds, mildews and fungi are about 60F to 80F. Even better when the humidity or moisture condensation is enough to create the right environment for the spores to start growing.

If cold temperatures will cause mold to start growing then why have people been putting foods in the fridge for the last 100 plus years? We are not trying to grow mold on our foods but instead putting it in the fridge to slow down the process that makes foods go bad including getting mold.

We keep our kitchen fridge at about 36 to 38F which is colder than many others seem to set theirs at. So far I have not noticed any mold developing on the buds that are in the paper bags on the shelf in our fridge.
 
I currently use what I call my "Curealator". It is a wine fridge compressor run (not Thermo Electric whole different set up) and frost free. Compressor units fair better in warmer areas than Thermos as well. I put a small USB fan in the bottom of it along with a small container of water (just to have moisture) and use a sock rack to hang my bud stems from (see photos) My unit maintains a temperature of 62 degrees pretty precisely, and I monitor it not only with the temp read out on the unit, but a separate Temp/Humidity reader. I maintain an average of 55 to 58 percent RH inside. The fan does just enough to keep air in circulation. I have seen studies on temps/humidity for drying and 55% RH and the temp of 62 degrees, I am running just speeds up the dry a couple days faster (8 to 10 days overall), but should not affect the terps. My investment is roughly $60 for all.
So far I am running a test of several stems and buds that I didn't think would make it to full maturity as a trial run, so far so good. Once my product is dried I will be putting it into Kure Bags and or Grove bags for the remainder of the cure an additional 3 to 4 weeks plus.. Only issue I have is not enough room for more than 1 plant at a time, so hoping my 4 ladies give me about a week or so in between their maturity, currently looks like I will get that from them. Once a full harvest is dried I will follow up for those interested in how it goes.

curearator2.jpg


Cureartor Pre 3.jpg


Cureator Pre run.jpg
 
SmokingWings said:
Interesting discussion but I am a bit confused by the temperature, humidity numbers and the way your fridge works. I then back-tracked and found this comment that I had overlooked earlier.


It does not work that way. The optimum temperatures for the growth of molds, mildews and fungi are about 60F to 80F. Even better when the humidity or moisture condensation is enough to create the right environment for the spores to start growing.

If cold temperatures will cause mold to start growing then why have people been putting foods in the fridge for the last 100 plus years? We are not trying to grow mold on our foods but instead putting it in the fridge to slow down the process that makes foods go bad including getting mold.

We keep our kitchen fridge at about 36 to 38F which is colder than many others seem to set theirs at. So far I have not noticed any mold developing on the buds that are in the paper bags on the shelf in our fridge.
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Very true. Regular fridge temp should be set to 37 ish (freezer at 0) which inhibits mold and pests. So if his is in the 40s it’s not working right. Probably will grow mold in that environment, which also seems way too humid.

I do a hybrid fridge drying where I do a pre trim and hang the entire plant for about 3 days and it loses about 60-70% of its moisture weight. No need for fans here, it loses the weight anyway. Then cut into 6 inch sections or less, into the fridge in a paper bag -which is a low humidity environment and 37F if working properly.
I weigh it daily and rotate the bag as it progressively loses less and less weight until the day it only loses 1g. Usually about 7-8 days. Then I take it out, do the full trim and put it back in the fridge for a day.
Then into the house environment in the paper bag for a day. Then into jars to watch and burp and rotate. About 12-14 day process and it’s already part way to cure. Ideally at least a month being burped in glass but it rarely makes it that long lol 😂
This is actually a good method for people with little patience, as I believe the terps are preserved well during that critical cold period and seems to make the weed smokable as early as humanly possible.
Of course it always tastes better around week 6 if you get there..
 
Justin Goody said:
Very true. Regular fridge temp should be set to 37 ish (freezer at 0) which inhibits mold and pests. So if his is in the 40s it’s not working right. Probably will grow mold in that environment, which also seems way too humid.

I do a hybrid fridge drying where I do a pre trim and hang the entire plant for about 3 days and it loses about 60-70% of its moisture weight. No need for fans here, it loses the weight anyway. Then cut into 6 inch sections or less, into the fridge in a paper bag -which is a low humidity environment and 37F if working properly.
I weigh it daily and rotate the bag as it progressively loses less and less weight until the day it only loses 1g. Usually about 7-8 days. Then I take it out, do the full trim and put it back in the fridge for a day.
Then into the house environment in the paper bag for a day. Then into jars to watch and burp and rotate. About 12-14 day process and it’s already part way to cure. Ideally at least a month being burped in glass but it rarely makes it that long lol 😂
This is actually a good method for people with little patience, as I believe the terps are preserved well during that critical cold period and seems to make the weed smokable as early as humanly possible.
Of course it always tastes better around week 6 if you get there..
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Yep - I learned that here and now that is my preferred method
:passitleft:
 
Indicolas said:
My electric bill is soaring. I'm in the islands so drying is a problem! I'm going to tent dry with AC for a 2 days to get the bulk moisture out then hang them in the fridge 2 days @40-45°F. Im hanging because my mini fridge has no air circulation? Buf it is frost free. Then bag them till they're down to 65-62°Rh. Then into Grove bags for the rest of way. I will check weekly. For bulk long term storage I'll burp/air them down to 58rh and store in a cool dark space. Do you think I'm on the right track. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts and comments.

Stay lit my friends...ph aka Indi
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I live in a very humid climate and just recently harvested a little over a month ago. Plants were grown outdoors so they were six feet plus in height. I try to hang dry on the stalk for 12 to 14 days with temperature and humidity at 65 degrees with 60 percent humidity. I'm using food grade 7 gallon buckets with Omega lid to cure the buds. Works pretty good for me.

I would like to hear how the refrigerator works. I thought about it but haven't tried it yet. Climate control is a beast sometimes.
 
Buckets420 said:
I live in a very humid climate and just recently harvested a little over a month ago. Plants were grown outdoors so they were six feet plus in height. I try to hang dry on the stalk for 12 to 14 days with temperature and humidity at 65 degrees with 60 percent humidity. I'm using food grade 7 gallon buckets with Omega lid to cure the buds. Works pretty good for me.

I would like to hear how the refrigerator works. I thought about it but haven't tried it yet. Climate control is a beast sometimes.
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I trim the fan leaves, then hang in the tent until they are dry to touch but still spongy when squeezed
Then I roughly trim and put it in a plastic tub in the fridge with a hygro
RH slowly drops from around 70% to 65% after about a week
2nd or 3rd week I'm at about 50-60% so I take it off the stem and jar it and put the jars back in the fridge
The fridge slows down the final dry process so the window of opportunity is much wider, much easier to get it spot on and preserves way more flavour
 
Roy Growin said:
I trim the fan leaves, then hang in the tent until they are dry to touch but still spongy when squeezed
Then I roughly trim and put it in a plastic tub in the fridge with a hygro
RH slowly drops from around 70% to 65% after about a week
2nd or 3rd week I'm at about 50-60% so I take it off the stem and jar it and put the jars back in the fridge
The fridge slows down the final dry process so the window of opportunity is much wider, much easier to get it spot on and preserves way more flavour
Click to expand...
I may try that with some of the stuff I have curing. Humidity in the bucket is close to 62 now. Smokes great with tons of flavor. I will try this.
 
SmokingWings said:
Interesting discussion but I am a bit confused by the temperature, humidity numbers and the way your fridge works. I then back-tracked and found this comment that I had overlooked earlier.


It does not work that way. The optimum temperatures for the growth of molds, mildews and fungi are about 60F to 80F. Even better when the humidity or moisture condensation is enough to create the right environment for the spores to start growing.

If cold temperatures will cause mold to start growing then why have people been putting foods in the fridge for the last 100 plus years? We are not trying to grow mold on our foods but instead putting it in the fridge to slow down the process that makes foods go bad including getting mold.

We keep our kitchen fridge at about 36 to 38F which is colder than many others seem to set theirs at. So far I have not noticed any mold developing on the buds that are in the paper bags on the shelf in our fridge.
Click to expand...
Thank for the reply. My previous attempt before this was in full size fridge with a separate freezer. It was filled with food of course. So there was humidity. Most of the food were contained except for fruits and some veggies. The nugs were in a colander. They developed that mold musty smell after 8 days. Then put it back in the tent 70/60 to somehow end this process. Got it down to 60Rh then jarred and cured. 4weeks curing, opening jars daily but the mustiness remained.

So I tried the mini fridge. 35-40F is the only target. It shares a freezer bin. The freezer coils is the element of the cooling. Info here hints it should work. My outside humidity is 70+ higher waves at night. A wet bud in a paper bag is nearly 100% rh. I was not in paper bags. I cannot reach 55rh in the fridge or lower temp of 60 in the tent. So my only ideal setting is rh at 55+ at 68 temp in the tent. My nugs shrink and become airy. An Am haze will be harvested this week so I'm racking my brain on this fridge thing. I think my problem is ambient RH either way.
Someone explain what paper bags do. I'm guessing it shields rh or does it contain rh?
BTW, cheese molds in the fridge. But it is mold.
 
The fridge operates at a single target temp. The adjustment knob is to prolong the cycling on/off to reach the target. I would have to nearly stuff the fridge to get the temps and rh to rise and without adjusting the knob. I need to get some fresh cut mowed grass and keep playing with it. I can't keep ruining my nice girls over this.
 
Roy Growin said:
I trim the fan leaves, then hang in the tent until they are dry to touch but still spongy when squeezed
Then I roughly trim and put it in a plastic tub in the fridge with a hygro
RH slowly drops from around 70% to 65% after about a week
2nd or 3rd week I'm at about 50-60% so I take it off the stem and jar it and put the jars back in the fridge
The fridge slows down the final dry process so the window of opportunity is much wider, much easier to get it spot on and preserves way more flavour
Click to expand...
Are your tubs and jars sealed or left open, cracked etc..?
 
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