Wash, Dry and Cure for Edibles

[MightyBeard]

Hey all. Heading towards the finish line of my first grow. Growing outdoors in northern NY, have four different strains. Personally, I'm not much of a smoker and most of my circle uses edibles, which I make at home. I'm curious how the harvest, dry, and cure process differs for edibles vs smoke. I'm guessing the harvest stays the same (waiting for pistils to brown and curl, for 'chomes to rust a bit, etc), but is it necessary to do a full dry and cure for edibles? Is it best to use methods like low-and-slow to preserve the 'chomes for infusions? Is washing integral or only if there's evidence of infection/infestation?

Love any advice or discussion on this- and thanks in advance!

 

[Roy Growin]

I always use at least dry, ideally cured bud to avoid a bad taste
Not sure it matters how it's dried and I only wash bud if I've had mites

 

[BigBudsBunny]

edibles made with dried and cured weed/kief always tasted bad to me. I can only imagine how uncured partially dried would be. I guess if you can get past the taste - why not!

 

[Melville Hobbes]

It depends on how you're making the edibles.
If you're infusing oil or butter most of the terps will be cooked off during decarb. In that case the slow dry/cure isn't really important, since it's mostly about preserving terps.
If you're infusing using a method with the weed already immersed in the oil during the decarb, like the instant pot method, the terps will infuse into the oil. So if you want the effects of the terps, or any entourage effect, a slow dry/cure is useful.
I've tried oil made from both quick dried, non-cured weed, and slow dried, cured weed in edibles and I didn't notice any difference except a slightly stronger weedy flavour in the edibles made from quick dried weed. The effects were identical as far as I could tell.
The flavour of the edible is really the deciding factor in whether or not you notice a difference in the taste.

 

[MightyBeard]

It depends on how you're making the edibles.
If you're infusing oil or butter most of the terps will be cooked off during decarb. In that case the slow dry/cure isn't really important, since it's mostly about preserving terps.
If you're infusing using a method with the weed already immersed in the oil during the decarb, like the instant pot method, the terps will infuse into the oil. So if you want the effects of the terps, or any entourage effect, a slow dry/cure is useful.
I've tried oil made from both quick dried, non-cured weed, and slow dried, cured weed in edibles and I didn't notice any difference except a slightly stronger weedy flavour in the edibles made from quick dried weed. The effects were identical as far as I could tell.
The flavour of the edible is really the deciding factor in whether or not you notice a difference in the taste.

That's very interesting. I would think the added terps might be an added benefit. I'm honestly leaning towards slow dry just because it's a little easier for me. I don't have a great space for drying that isn't in a garage, and we're pretty chilly at night by October (think ~40F) which might help the dry, might not.

At this point, I've only done decarbed flower to make the edibles, though I had thought about trying a low-n-slow alcohol infusion.

 

[Melville Hobbes]

At this point, I've only done decarbed flower to make the edibles, though I had thought about trying a low-n-slow alcohol infusion.

Same here, though most instructions I've seen for that still say to use decarbed bud to make it.

 

[MightyBeard]

Same here, though most instructions I've seen for that still say to use decarbed bud to make it.

Same - I haven't seen much at all regarding infusing with uncarbed flower. The consensus seems to be that it has to be decarbed first to activate it. I haven't had the time or energy to test it.