DrZiggy's Low And Slow Drying: Maximizing Your Harvest

Why don’t I do this proper? :battingeyelashes:

Low and Slo: In The Bag

Basic points:
* Paper bags will help speed the process by about a week.
* You’ll get better than 25% back, so loading the bags at 28 grams wet means every four bags’ll bring you very close to an ounce dry.
* 28 grams to a lunch bag is a good volume for smooth drying.
* Save most trimming for later to retain even more terpenes. I only take off fans.
* Laying the bags on their side increases surface area facilitating the drying process.

I wash the buds and hang dry for 4 hours and then trim the buds into the bags.

After three days open the bags, reach in and gently bounce the buds apart. Close up and put them back in place.

Do this again at least one more time, about 3 days later. After that you can forget about them.

In two weeks I pull them and finish drying with rice balls to 62-65%. Then into a jar with a Boveda.

Hope that helps. :battingeyelashes:
 
SweetSue said:
Why don’t I do this proper? :battingeyelashes:

Low and Slo: In The Bag

Basic points:
* Paper bags will help speed the process by about a week.
* You’ll get better than 25% back, so loading the bags at 28 grams wet means every four bags’ll bring you very close to an ounce dry.
* 28 grams to a lunch bag is a good volume for smooth drying.
* Save most trimming for later to retain even more terpenes. I only take off fans.
* Laying the bags on their side increases surface area facilitating the drying process.

I wash the buds and hang dry for 4 hours and then trim the buds into the bags.

After three days open the bags, reach in and gently bounce the buds apart. Close up and put them back in place.

Do this again at least one more time, about 3 days later. After that you can forget about them.

In two weeks I pull them and finish drying with rice balls to 62-65%. Then into a jar with a Boveda.

Hope that helps. :battingeyelashes:
Click to expand...

You're awesome Sue! Thanks!

:circle-of-love::thanks::hugs:
 
I am always careful not to put too much in one bag. But I have never had an overly big harvest, until ....
soon {{gotta find some more paper bagses}}

The paper allows the buds to breath a bit and absorb moisture as they dry. They stay more green in color, but I have been right on 2 weeks in the fridge every time, then out into however you want to cure. works for me cause I am lazy.

It has been about 6-8 months since my last harvest so I might be forgetting something. It is easy enough, I fully suggest trying it.
I think I opened the bags about every 3-4 days let them warm up out of the fridge while I stuck my nose in to sniff and turn the buds over in position make sure they had room to breath in the bags, Check for general dryness. Then back until done. My guess is with a bigger harvest it might take longer?:hmmmm:
 
Derbybud said:
Sue, have you tried curing in the roasting bags? Works great
Click to expand...

Chris got me interested when I was visiting, but I’ve yet to try. I keep forgetting. Lol! Can you outline the process for us?
 
kelticBlue said:
I am always careful not to put too much in one bag. But I have never had an overly big harvest, until ....
soon {{gotta find some more paper bagses}}

The paper allows the buds to breath a bit and absorb moisture as they dry. They stay more green in color, but I have been right on 2 weeks in the fridge every time, then out into however you want to cure. works for me cause I am lazy.

It has been about 6-8 months since my last harvest so I might be forgetting something. It is easy enough, I fully suggest trying it.
I think I opened the bags about every 3-4 days let them warm up out of the fridge while I stuck my nose in to sniff and turn the buds over in position make sure they had room to breath in the bags, Check for general dryness. Then back until done. My guess is with a bigger harvest it might take longer?:hmmmm:
Click to expand...

I’ve done this with a couple ounces at once, split evenly between the bags. I don’t let mine come out of the fridge any longer than it takes me to bounce them apart in all the bags. You let them warm up? Interesting. In the end it’s all about gently removing the moisture with the least disturbance, isn’t it?

I go two weeks and finish with rice balls. It’s my standard now keltic. I’m every bit as lazy. :rofl: Denser buds can take longer, but I’ve learned to trim them off to a consistent size, so now they come in at two weeks, no trouble.
 
SweetSue said:
You let them warm up? Interesting. In the end it’s all about gently removing the moisture with the least disturbance, isn’t it?
Click to expand...

Usually about~15 min. {{not sure if i did a photo journal?}} I feel letting them in room temp gives me a better feel for the dryness, if that is a thing? gently-slowly-easy and peacful---> respect!
I will take the bigger buds out sometimes to gets a look but the little stuff usually sits in the bag.

Super tankful for the the Dr Z for pointing the way to this, I will never forget the feeling of having a whole top cola go to mold. This method has sold me, i will get to the fermented cob, event-ually!

I am always amazed at the freshness and color of the dried but with method!

I have to go thru my old journal to see what all i did last year.


Edits: trim to consistent size, i dunno why goes against my nature, but i Like it very much makes soooo much sense. Almost Einstein-ian logical! The rice ball are cool, If I ever needed them I keep the idea in my back pocket for an emergency.
 
Ok here's my curing with turkey roasting bags.

If you product is dry then just put it in the bags with a hygrometer to keep an eye on your moisture and start out burping twice a day for a few days then once a day for a few and so on. I like my product too be just a bit moist (in the upper 60's) after drying and I burp in my ac house at around 50% rh. This will bring in fresh air that is not as moist as the product and will bring the rh down slowly in the bags. If in the first day it's 70% or above I'll put it back in ther frig to dry a day or 2 more then start the cure again. If it's low on moisture I'll take it outside in the middle of the night to burp them as the humidity is usually about 85-90% then and will rehydrate them slowly.
The great thing about the bags is it's quick and easier to keep the moisture where you want it. Example if I'm reading 68% I will take the bag and just flap the opening 2-3 times to expel the air and replenish it with fresh air. I also will leave more air in the bag at this point to help lower my rh. Once it get to like 64% then I'll only leave enough air to cover the product because I'm not needing my rh to come down much further. Same on the other end. If I have my rh drop into the 50's I'll leave more of my humid air in there to help rehydrate.
If you have cured in jars you know you have to leave them open for 5-10 min. To breath but with the bags it takes 5-10 seconds. Just lift the opening up and down like bellows. And if your product is sticking to the jar you need to bump it around and fluff things up so it's not sticking or things can get moldy. With the bag you just roll it back and forth a few times and things just fall apart.
Hope I explained that ok if not just do a shout out or come by my journal and ask. I feel with the bags i have the most control and I had some big plants come in and didn't want to be burping 30 1/2 gal jars twice a day.
It's almost like training your cure.
I've also had a person use there car ac to bring RH down.
 
Thanks Blue. I'm not a person with a whole lot of spare time and thought if the bags are air tight enough to decarb in the oven with no smell they should do fine with curing. And they do. I use those spring paperclips to seal them instead of the crummy ties that come with the bags. I think it helps the smell be more homogeneous throughout the whole product as well as the rh.
 
Derbybud said:
Sue, have you tried curing in the roasting bags? Works great
Click to expand...
I don't think you can do low and slow in the plastic though just because breathability is key to the process.
 
Derbybud said:
Ok here's my curing with turkey roasting bags.

If you product is dry then just put it in the bags with a hygrometer to keep an eye on your moisture and start out burping twice a day for a few days then once a day for a few and so on. I like my product too be just a bit moist (in the upper 60's) after drying and I burp in my ac house at around 50% rh. This will bring in fresh air that is not as moist as the product and will bring the rh down slowly in the bags. If in the first day it's 70% or above I'll put it back in ther frig to dry a day or 2 more then start the cure again. If it's low on moisture I'll take it outside in the middle of the night to burp them as the humidity is usually about 85-90% then and will rehydrate them slowly.
The great thing about the bags is it's quick and easier to keep the moisture where you want it. Example if I'm reading 68% I will take the bag and just flap the opening 2-3 times to expel the air and replenish it with fresh air. I also will leave more air in the bag at this point to help lower my rh. Once it get to like 64% then I'll only leave enough air to cover the product because I'm not needing my rh to come down much further. Same on the other end. If I have my rh drop into the 50's I'll leave more of my humid air in there to help rehydrate.
If you have cured in jars you know you have to leave them open for 5-10 min. To breath but with the bags it takes 5-10 seconds. Just lift the opening up and down like bellows. And if your product is sticking to the jar you need to bump it around and fluff things up so it's not sticking or things can get moldy. With the bag you just roll it back and forth a few times and things just fall apart.
Hope I explained that ok if not just do a shout out or come by my journal and ask. I feel with the bags i have the most control and I had some big plants come in and didn't want to be burping 30 1/2 gal jars twice a day.
It's almost like training your cure.
I've also had a person use there car ac to bring RH down.
Click to expand...

I just took a Devil’s Carnival harvest out of the fridge. I’m gonna try this for the cure. I have a couple plants coming down tomorrow too.

Thanks Derbybud. :hugs:
 
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