Drying & Curing Question

[Weaselcracker]

Smoked a couple bowls. Maybe not all that much flavour but it’s otherwise very smooth and nice. Definitely works!
Next harvest in a week or so I might repeat the experiment - it seems like something worth messing around with.

 

[InTheShed]

Thanks Weasel...for science!

Tagging @Mr. Krip here to read the above for his thoughts.

 

[Bionic Chronic NZ]

Good information brother..... interesting little experiment.

 

[StoneOtter]

And thanks for this test. I always meant to come back and find out what happened with it but I lost track of the thread.

Hey Weaselcracker, your welcome! The little things add up. Burping is more than that in my opinion. Good to see you!

 

[CBD BudMan]

A thread that came up today made me curious to revisit this bud experiment another ten months on.

So- The original experiment 15 months ago was to dry some Strawberry Blue bud the normal way. Then I took some of it and kept on drying it on the shelf for several more days till it was completely crispy.

-I jarred half the crispy stuff and put it away to cure (or not).

-I rehydrated the other half of the crispy stuff back to 62% RH and jarred that as well.


———————

Anyway....... today.

Overdry experiment

• Weaselcracker
• Jan 11, 2021

The stuff that was stored crispy still smells bad. Hardly surprising. Has a sharp bitter almost chemical smell not really like bud at all. A smell I now recognize as the smell of over-dried uncured bud.

Big surprise though when I opened the jar of rehydrated crispy bud just now. It smells good. Seems to have slowly recovered a bit. It doesn’t smell as good as the Strawberry Blue should smell but it’s still quite decent. The smell of the rehydrated bud is night and day compared to the perma- crispy jar. I’ll smoke some later on to see how it tastes

Hey there @Weaselcracker,
Love your post. I have some buds that are over dry too. You say that you rehydrated; How? I'm looking for "details".

Thanx man...

 

[Weaselcracker]

Oh there are lots of ways to rehydrate the bud. Because I live in a moist climate I usually just spread it out in a open container in my workshop or unheated back room, or even just keep it in the jar but leave the lid off - a few hours at a time or sometimes as long as overnight- and then put the lid back on and check how the hygrometer looks. Then usually have to repeat.

But another favorite way which I like even better is to put a smallish fresh (not dried) bud in the top of the jar, then put the lid back on. Set it up so that the fresh bud is not touching the dried bud directly.

I put it in its own little saucer like a container lid or just on top of a piece of paper or plastic or whatever so it’s not in direct contact. Then put the lid on and leave it a few hours or longer/overnight and check the RH.

There’s been times I just left that bud in there permanently and it dried out on it’s own while rehydrating the older bud. It adds a lot of nice smell to the jar.


Rather than a fresh bud you can substitute something like an orange peel, fruit slice, whatever. Same rules apply.

Keep an eye on the fresh bud (and everything else) to watch for mold. Although I’ve never had it go moldy doing this.

Tobacco shops sell clay pallets that are made for rehydrating tobacco. Those work well and are clean.

As you probably gathered from the thread above the general idea is that rehydrated bud will never be very good again. But I do know that this last batch of mine recovered a lot of its smell eventually, for whatever reason. The next couple harvests I’m going to repeat the experiment a bit more scientificishly.

 

[StoneOtter]

Oh there are lots of ways to rehydrate the bud. Because I live in a moist climate I usually just spread it out in a open container in my workshop or unheated back room, or even just keep it in the jar but leave the lid off - a few hours at a time or sometimes as long as overnight- and then put the lid back on and check how the hygrometer looks. Then usually have to repeat.

But another favorite way which I like even better is to put a smallish fresh (not dried) bud in the top of the jar, then put the lid back on. Set it up so that the fresh bud is not touching the dried bud directly.

I put it in its own little saucer like a container lid or just on top of a piece of paper or plastic or whatever so it’s not in direct contact. Then put the lid on and leave it a few hours or longer/overnight and check the RH.

There’s been times I just left that bud in there permanently and it dried out on it’s own while rehydrating the older bud. It adds a lot of nice smell to the jar.


Rather than a fresh bud you can substitute something like an orange peel, fruit slice, whatever. Same rules apply.

Keep an eye on the fresh bud (and everything else) to watch for mold. Although I’ve never had it go moldy doing this.

Tobacco shops sell clay pallets that are made for rehydrating tobacco. Those work well and are clean.

As you probably gathered from the thread above the general idea is that rehydrated bud will never be very good again. But I do know that this last batch of mine recovered a lot of its smell eventually, for whatever reason. The next couple harvests I’m going to repeat the experiment a bit more scientificishly.

Nice ideas Weaslecracker, I've used orange peel and apple slices in tobacco and it makes for a pleasant flavor. Gotta watch for mold though.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Those clay pellets work well for that. No mould or slime to worry about

 

[StoneOtter]

Here's one.

The harvest has hung for 8 days in a room with a humidifier and a fan running away from the buds. I've made comment to Ms Otter about how I was happy how the rh and temp was steady in the zone I was trying for. Temp 62F rh between 57 and 61%. The first few days were higher.

I cut some buds off yesterday and put them in a jar with a hygrometer and it's reading 56% over night. Thinking that was strange I checked my gear and the hygrometers seem to be all in the same ballpark in the room drying. Count them 4! 3 individual and 1 on the humidifier! All reading the comforting numbers I dialed in. I usually have trouble hitting and keeping the numbers, not this time. Steady as she goes.

Why then do I have a room rh of say 59 or 60 average when they hang, then in the jar I see 55%?

IMG_0376.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

Drying

IMG_0377.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

Drying

It took a short time and no lingering to snip off the buds and get em in jars and bag.

IMG_0378.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

Drying

IMG_0379.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

Drying

IMG_0380.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

Drying

This one is going against science as I know it. That tells me I'm missing something I think. Someone unburden me please? Nothing ruined here, I just would like to understand this. These are dense buds and should be holding good amounts of water for the time spent in the room. ???? What's your theory?

 

[InTheShed]

How long had the buds been sealed in the jars when you took the pic?

Have you salt-tested your hygrometers and labeled them afterward?

I have those and they range from -3 to +3.

 

[StoneOtter]

How long had the buds been sealed in the jars when you took the pic?

Have you salt-tested your hygrometers and labeled them afterward?

I have those and they range from -3 to +3.

Hey Shed, that's a good idea. I should have done that to begin with. I just snipped the rest of the harvest in case the day or two makes a difference. I hope your idea proves them all off in a good way. So far the first breeder plant got to 55% in the jar. The rest higher and going up slowly I think. Maybe the rest can come up to more wanted numbers. Hope so! Nutso! Wait, I'm going to put the very hygrometers into the jars/bags and see what they read next to the ones there now. Here we go! For science!

 

[StoneOtter]

How long had the buds been sealed in the jars when you took the pic?

The left(first) one reading lowest 24 hours, the rest 2 or 3. Bags just got started, maybe 1 hour.

 

[InTheShed]

24 hours should be plenty to be reading the whole buds, so that seems low. I'd try putting one of your higher-reading hygrometers from the drying area in the jar as well and see if they match.

 

[StoneOtter]

It's the operator and/or the meters. How'd that happen I can't tell you but I have to give them a salt test or a bovid test and give them the offset data they need. The meters on the right came from the room in both pics. You nailed it Shed! Thanks!

IMG_0382.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

rh meter deficit

IMG_0381.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Jan 22, 2021

rh meter deficit

 

[InTheShed]

Salt test for sure, not a boveda test.

One capful of salt to the brim, then fill with distilled water to make a slurry without any spillage. Stick them in a closed container at room temperature for at least 12 hours, and the accurate ones will read 75%. Mark them on top with whatever they read so you'll know how far off they are.

 

[StoneOtter]

Salt test for sure, not a boveda test.

One capful of salt to the brim, then fill with distilled water to make a slurry without any spillage. Stick them in a closed container at room temperature for at least 12 hours, and the accurate ones will read 75%. Mark them on top with whatever they read so you'll know how far off they are.

On it!

 

[Weaselcracker]

Silver widow- crispy cure test

• Weaselcracker
• Feb 4, 2021

Take two.
Just out of the drier last night at about 65 RH. Then I left this bit up above my wood stove for the last 12 hours, so it’s definitely dry... I’ll rehydrate most of this, keep some crispy, cure the main batch normally, and see how all three jars compare in future.

All I really want to know is if overdried bud is forever ruined, or if it can still cure or recover at all.

 

[InTheShed]

All I really want to know is if overdried bud is forever ruined, or if it can still cure or recover at all.

I thought you already answered that here:

Maybe not all that much flavour but it’s otherwise very smooth and nice. Definitely works!

Seems like if the flavor is gone then what have you gained other than smoothness?

 

[Weaselcracker]

The flavour wasn’t all gone, it just wasn’t very flavourful. And it smelled nice enough.

The main thing that made me want to do it again was that the rehydrated bud seemed to eventually regain quite a lot of its smell over time.

The first few times I checked the jar it just smelled kind of nasty, but after about a year or whatever it smelled way better.

It wasn’t as nice as the properly cured stuff. But the point is- it still improved with a lot of curing time. Or appeared to. I want to double check my results. With even crispier bud this time.

As before, it’s to test whether or not its true that over-dried bud will never cure.

 

[babyggrow2]

I just completed my first harvest and I was initially having trouble keeping the humidity even about 45% in the first day of curing, but I took quite literal and drastic measures to rehydrate. In addition to having a boveda 62 in there (which was not working the first day); I also would tilt the jar over a humidifier, let it fill with vapor and get to about 70%, then leave the jar open until it reaches 65 and the condensation is gone. After doing that at least 8 times, the humidity in the jar has been stable at ~55 for almost a week. It hasn’t completed curing, but do you guys think that this shows signs of successful rehydration after a slight overdry?