Grind herb before storing?

Hi folks. I've looked around and can't quite come up with an answer to my question. Until now I have always stored my herb in bud form, in a mason jar in the dark at room temperature. I don't have vast quantities, the most I'll have at a time is enough to get me through a month of moderate usage. The jar gets opened every day when I take some out. I'm wondering if there is any benefit to grinding up my entire stash and storing it in the mason jar already ground and ready for use? I imagine it would be easier to dry out (if necessary) than big buds would be. Or maybe that's the stupidest idea you ever heard? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Personally, I like to keep my bud whole while its in 'storage' and either grind it up before each use (with the 2 piece) or make a 'grinder full' with my 4 piece. My preference is the 4 piece as I dont grind it ALL (just enough to have it ready when I open it up) and any trichs (kief) that comes off of the buds due to grinding goes into the kief catcher and not the storage jar.

Losing a small amount of kief over the long haul in your storage jar would be the only drawback of grinding it all at once.

I'll grind up about a 3 to 4 days supply in advance and use that which keeps me from opening the bud storage containers every day. Instead, I only open them up about once a week.

I don't like my bud super dry before vaping.

lwien said:

I'll grind up about a 3 to 4 days supply in advance and use that which keeps me from opening the bud storage containers every day. Instead, I only open them up about once a week.

I don't like my bud super dry before vaping.

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That sounds reasonable. My only concern with bud not being dry is that moisture could lead to mold growth. Or something. I don't know too much about it.

Thanks for the replies so far!

I store my bud that is well cured, but not moist. It doesn't have to be bone dry in order to inhibit mold.

I've read that it can't grow below 16% moisture content. No idea how to measure that though without dessication.

I never grind too far in advance (couple days max) because I'm under the impression that as the grinding breaks up some trichomes in the process, and more is exposed to the air and the oxygen, speeding up the oxygen related degradation of the THC.

I've no idea what time scales this actually occurs over, and it could be weeks/months rather than days, but nevertheless I took it as an indication that it was probably best stored whole and as undamaged and handled as possible.

lwein, didn't you have some info from your dispensary on how quickly the THC on bud degrades in air? I sure can't remember

WatTyler said:

lwein, didn't you have some info from your dispensary on how quickly the THC on bud degrades in air? I sure can't remember

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Post #123, this thread >> http://www.fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=1495&p=5

Ahh yes, thanks, I think that was it - the 7% a month had almost stuck in my head , except I had misunderstood that it was related to oxidation, rather than evaporation of oils.

I must confess, I didn't pick up on that at the time and have never really considered the potential for evaporative loss of 'goodies'. Only their degradation. Good info.

Any idea if the evaporation happens in the trichomes, or just from the plant cells?

7% a month is fairly insignificant, and if that's accounting for good evaporative conditions it would be maybe less in a sealed jar. Even then though the bud can get pretty dry if it's been ground up once the jar's been opened a few times.

Despite what I wrote in my duplicitous post above, I've realised I do sometimes do a pre-grind- just for MFLB 'portable kit', and then I sometimes do it in a little more bulk than I otherwise would because I'm using a coffee grinder and it's a PITA to recover tiny loads out of it. Sometimes I grind over a months worth of mobile LB fodder at a time. Although I like it pretty dry for the LB, in light of this I might try to keep ready ground stash small, or start using the freezer for any extra.

lwien said:

I'll grind up about a 3 to 4 days supply in advance and use that which keeps me from opening the bud storage containers every day. Instead, I only open them up about once a week.

I don't like my bud super dry before vaping.

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this ^^

if i were you i'd get a 2nd smaller stash jar/case, and put your today/tomorrow's bud in there and bust that up. then keep your main stash in bud form

lwien said:

I'll grind up about a 3 to 4 days supply in advance and use that which keeps me from opening the bud storage containers every day. Instead, I only open them up about once a week.

I don't like my bud super dry before vaping.

Click to expand...

+1 on that! I store in glass and space case containers

if i were to grind 3-4 days at a time, it would be so tiny! i rarely have much on hand so its all ground up and then i pack it pretty tight in very small jars. lids kept sealed and is inside yet another sealed container, orings and locking.

i have never had a moisture problem doing this but when if i leave it in bud form i have noticed issues then (not major, but some have picked up moisture). i think the grinding and packing it down into a container has helped the most, its almost a block when i do it and i have to scrape with a tiny spoon to fill my bowl.

i would store straight buds and cure them in glass airtight jars. i wouldn't grind them up

i have airtight aluminum canisters that i use. 2 i keep full of whole buds, one i fill with a few grams at a time from these buds ground up, and one for abv. every time i fill the abv one i make iso goo and use it to supercharge the ground herb with a little booger of it smeared on each load. its lke getting scoring a combo bonus, filling the abv one.

nobodys_girl said:

lwien said:

I'll grind up about a 3 to 4 days supply in advance and use that which keeps me from opening the bud storage containers every day. Instead, I only open them up about once a week.

I don't like my bud super dry before vaping.

Click to expand...

That sounds reasonable. My only concern with bud not being dry is that moisture could lead to mold growth. Or something. I don't know too much about it.

Thanks for the replies so far!

Click to expand...

The least amount of disturbance, the better. As long as it is dry going into the airtight jar (Mason), there should be no problem. Especially if you open it, "burp" it, every few days. If you are worried about moisture though, you can throw in a desillicant pack or two. They are re-usuable. The herb you are getting though, should be dry. If someone is giving you wet product, they are ripping you off. It should be sticky, but dry to the touch on the outside, not crumbly dry though. The stems should snap, not bend.

Sorry for ramble. Started early today. Conclusion, don't grind too far in advance for fear of degradation, and as long as you open the jar every day or two you should be fine.

I keep my storage herb in a tightvac, my "next to use" herb in a smaller tightvac and my ground herb that I'm currently using in a Billy Bowl.
Like Lwien, I grind up about a week's worth at a time.
For drying, I'll put some buds on a small plate - like an expresso saucer - and I'll rest the plate on a free heat source like a cable box, stereo receiver, etc., either overnight or for a few hours. I grind before putting into the Billy Bowl - I use a small two piece Space Case and that requires a few loads but that's not much of a big deal, certainly not enough to warrant buying a larger grinder. The Billy Bowl is not air tight obviously so the herb will dry out more through the week.

Originally I was too aggressive with the drying - I put bud in a shotglass and put the shotglass on top of my PD overnight but that was too much heat too fast I think.

I always dry before grinding.

**EDIT**
more like addendum - I put my not yet eaten brownies in a large tightvac - I had bought a complete kit - the brownies are pretty much individually wrapped in aluminum foil then put into the tightvac. I keep this in the freezer. Keeps fresh and super potent for months and I think this is the optimum preservation approach.

Some don't care for the tightvac because it's plastic but I don't see any problem here at all.

Buy baby food.

3 different sizes of small mason jars all under $1.
glass, air tight, cheap, see-through.

Got some for storing whole buds, others where i dump a few buds grinded up for the next few days.