Advanced jar curing

Hi all,

I know storage has been discussed here in length. Especially with boveda packs. However, these packs make me sceptical and I rarely have herb around for over 6months so a standard jar store and cure is really enough I feel.

My question to fellow mason jar users. Is how often and for how long do you open your jars for?

I have been going with every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday for an hour and a half each time.

I feel this is working but is far from perfect

Interested to pick the minds of more intelligent beings than myself

Namaste

Depends where you live and what your average relative humidity is at during a portion of the year.

Drying is essentially getting buds down to just below 70% stable RH when in mason jars, so that the curing process can fully take place.

Curing is just slowly getting that RH to go down to 55-58% stabilized RH in a mason jar, over as long a period as possible. You likely only burp 5-10 mins. per day at 70% RH and as that goes down, you burp for less and less time, maybe 2 mins. by the time you hit 65% RH, and 30 seconds by 61%. Once you are below 60%, there is really no need to open the jars at all, aside from grabbing buds.

Hope that makes sense.

Reason I personally am liking the boveda packs, is because my average environmental RH is low, 10-30% quite often. Packs are for after you have cured till below 60% RH, at which point, they are good for maintaining about 60% RH, which I find is a touch too high, but works great for what our options are.

I have no idea what my relative humidity is here in Scotland. It's cold. I know that lol

Sounds like I have been keeping them open way too long...especially as all my buds are pre dried and cured for at least a month prior to my hand even touching them. Never mind consumption.

Having left them open too long for the last few months, I reckon that is why I may be losing some flavours?

Thoughts?

And thanks for such a detailed answer. A hygrometer may be a necessary purchase

Namaste

The reason we jar flowers, and occasionally let the jars breathe, is to establish and maintain a humidity throughout the material so that it will degrade uniformly, and in just the right way.

We want the chlorophyll to degrade. There are also very volatile and harsh terpenes that can evaporate during a cure, allowing more pleasant and nuanced scents to emerge. These changes must occur under certain conditions to avoid mold and mildew, as well as other potential problems. Humidity is one of the most important factors in a cure, but few understand or attempt to control it.

If you don't use Boveda packs, a digital hygrometer is absolutely necessary, and affordable:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Cure-Cap--Wide-Mouth/dp/B00LOSQT9I


When curing, it's important to know the humidity level inside the jars, and that of the room where you'll be letting them breathe. Otherwise you might unknowingly increase the humidity by opening your jars on a humid day, resulting in a mold bloom. Or you may accidentally over dry very early in the cure, halting the process and leaving you with flowers that won't look, smell, or taste great.

The Boveda packs are nice because they allow you to be lazy and not worry about all that. Just throw a pack or two in the jar and you're set- you'll be able to open your storage whenever you like, and won't even have to worry about the weather when you do it. Also, they're very safe- it's just salt water sealed inside a waterproof, gas permeable packet.

Even with the Boveda packs, you don't want to leave jars open for too long. Increased exposure to oxygen and reduced vapor pressure density will cause the loss of aromatic chemicals, and your flowers will lose their taste or smell. Oxidation and vapor pressure density are two reasons it's best to store your flowers in containers as full as is possible without causing damage.

I also use the Boveda packs to keep the RH constant, but I still open my jars every few days to allow the air inside to escape, especially if it's only been a short time since harvesting / drying. I figure if I have chlorophyll / harsh terpenes that are degrading / evaporating, I want to get those contaminates out of my jars. So I "burp" my jars long enough for a decent air exchange to occur and then I close 'em back up.

Think I may go boveda. I have been doin this very wrong. As all my flowers have lost a lot of smell. I thought this was normal.

Research once home from work is needed

Thanks guys

The aromatic fraction (taste and smell) is responsible for modulating the effects and potency of the Cannabinoid fraction (THC, CBD, etc). This gives each cannabis variety its own character, and the content of these two groups of chemicals will determine the type and quality of the experience.

Both the aromatic and Cannabinoid fractions can be improved (to your personal taste, of course) and preserved long term with the good practices.

Thank you all for such detailed responses. Upon looking into it briefly I think I'm just going to go boveda asap. If anyone can point me to the best area of this forum to read up on, it would be appreciated. Don't have access to laptop and having trouble finding much on here with my phone.

From what I understand though the 62% ones are the ones I want. How long do they last roughly?

Thanks in advance

Namaste

harmless healing said:

From what I understand though the 62% ones are the ones I want. How long do they last roughly?

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IMO, from current Boveda choices, the 62% are the best.

Mine are going strong after one year. When "good", they are mushy/squishy feeling. When "bad", they get hard.
FYI, some have said that you can bring bad ones back by placing in a ziplock plastic bag with a damp cloth in there to (in but not touching). I haven't tried this yet.

By minimizing opening, they last longer. I'll open a jar holding 1/8 oz and take out a couple nuggets for a smaller daily use jar. The more you open, the more quickly they get used up.

MinnBobber said:

By minimizing opening, they last longer. I'll open a jar holding 1/8 oz and take out a couple nuggets for a smaller daily use jar. The more you open, the more quickly they get used up.

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This was what I was worried about. I dip into my jars at least every couple of days. I like variety and don't stay with the same strain too long but don't have massive selection some do here. Usually end up switching between 2 or 3 strains, and doing do every couple days, hence the regular pop of the jar...could this be treated as a burp? How often should I burp?

I feel silly asking these questions, going to dig further and see if I can find a relevant thread.

Could be worse. Could have no access to Internet when away, shouldn't curse phone navigation. Better than no navigation

I'm stoned, sorry for the ramble, it's GG#4 induced, I'm sure you understand. It's been a hard day

Namaste

harmless healing said:

Usually end up switching between 2 or 3 strains, and doing do every couple days, hence the regular pop of the jar...could this be treated as a burp? How often should I burp?

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Burping is step that is only done UNTIL the mother load reaches the desired humidity. For example, if you start at 80% and are aiming for 62%, you burp hourly/daily at first to let the excess humidity. As you get closer to 62%, you might change to every other day. Once you hit 62%, there is no point to burping so would minimize openings/ keep it stable at 62%.

Burping's purpose is to let out the "too humid air" so you can continue your controlled humidity descent to 62%.

Ok, so basically. What I want to do. Is stick it in jars with boveda 62 packs and open as little as possible?

What I'm thinking is, put deep storage into jars with boveda packs and keep a smaller amount seperate, also with pack but just open as I please for daily use. This will properly store and cure my long term stash by not opening, but will still have access to my daily medicine.

Can't believe I have been doing this so wrong for so long. I just assumed the massive loss in smell to be normal. But I was preserving all the actives

Every day is a school day indeed

Namaste

That sounds like a great plan! Be sure to keep your long term storage in a cool, dark place, and it will remain potent for a long time.

@MinnBobber and everyone else!

Boveda packs can be brought back to life many, many times!
What i do is place the dry ones in a small plastic container that houses another small plastic container.
Lay the packs in the larger container and place some distilled water in the smaller container.
Place lid on and ensure you get a perfect seal.
Leave for a week and check and your dry packs should be squishy and good to go again!

I still have the original packs i bought almost 2 years ago!

lazylathe said:

@MinnBobber and everyone else!

Boveda packs can be brought back to life many, many times!

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Hey @lazylathe thanks for confirming.
I had heard that worked on Bovedas but have never done so myself.
Thanks

Thanks for all your assistance. Biophotonic jars will ensure no degradation due to light occurs. So am I right in saying placing these packs in my jars could also rehydrate potentially over dried herb due to previous bad practice. I don't expect all smell or flavour back. But some kind of improvement is always welcome!

Namaste

Anyone know where to get the 54% bovedas? I would prefer amazon, but I'll buy elsewhere. On their own site they don't really clearly list the % of each.

harmless healing said:

Thanks for all your assistance. ......
. So am I right in saying placing these packs in my jars could also rehydrate potentially over dried herb due to previous bad practice. I don't expect all smell or flavour back. But some kind of improvement is always welcome!

Namaste

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Yes, Bovedas will work either direction ( adding humidity/moisture or removing moisture) .

If herb has been stored "too dry", it does help to add Bovedas but it won't be the same as having been at 62% the whole time. But, at least the herb will not continue the slow degradation due to it being too dry.
It's worth it to "stop the bleeding" IMO

Ugh bummer. I want to start using these but don't know which ones to get on amazon. I want to try these bad. My biggest fear is that it will somehow cause mold though.

darkrom said:

Ugh bummer. I want to start using these but don't know which ones to get on amazon. I want to try these bad. My biggest fear is that it will somehow cause mold though.

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Boveda 62% work great for me, NEVER any mold.
Just broke out some 18 month old CO dispensary preeeemo bud to test.

Great taste, not at all harsh, and great vapor production = successful longterm cure with 62s.

Just my opinion but I worry more about over-dry herb that gets harsh and dry and deteriorates and loses the "sponge-like resiliency". That was always more of a problem---where you try to cut off some herbage and it turns to dust...

I wouldn't worry about using 62's

steama said:

I use 62s too and have had mold occur. Must check for mold! It is better safe than sorry. Just sayin'

Herb degrades with moisture as well as dryness over time. Once you harvest it is only a matter of time after a certain point quality declines.

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I just want to avoid "too dry" more, as that dries out the trichs and really degrades the quality of vapor and potency.
The general target is 55-65%. Most experts recommend 65% as the max rH to avoid mold. For me, 62% offers best final quality and mold protection combo. Others like a different mix---lower rH being difficult since Boveda dropped the 54's

If bud at 62% had mold, I'd surmise it likely had mold when put up ???
Was that bud tested with blacklight for mold, before being jarred?

steama said:

steama said: ↑
I just want to avoid "too dry" more, as that dries out the trichs and really degrades the quality of vapor and potency.
The general target is 55-65%. Most experts recommend 65% as the max rH to avoid mold. For me, 62% offers best final quality and mold protection combo. Others like a different mix---lower rH being difficult since Boveda dropped the 54's

If bud at 62% had mold, I'd surmise it likely had mold when put up ???
Was that bud tested with blacklight for mold, before being jarred?

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I agree with you 100%. You can completely manipulate the cure and moisture content in herb. It is amazing what people can do with a cure once the figure things out. All hail Boveda!

I would say I have seen the early beginnings of mold in 1 out of 5 jars using 62s. It is just nature when you introduce moisture for the possibility of mold to increase.

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For a second there, I thought you just were stoned and agreed with an earlier post of yours.

Just wanted to say, I've been fine with just one boveda for the larger 800ml mason jars packed fairly full, not sure if three is necessary unless you are using maybe, a gallon sized jar or something.

steama said:

I've stopped using Boveda packs even though I still recommend them. I found I can keep the moisture the way I want without using moisture packs. Boveda packs helped me learn the art of curing better than anything else. Ultimately they are not a necessity though.

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Interested to hear your current technique. I liked the sound of the boveda packs when told 'put it in n leave it' but this checking for mould, but also not opening the jars too often is messing with my melon

Keep it simple I reckon

Namaste

steama said:

I used 62s too and have had mold occur. Must check for mold! It is better safe than sorry. Just sayin'

Herb degrades with moisture as well as dryness over time. Once you harvest it is only a matter of time after a certain point quality declines.

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If it has to be opened frequently or checked on even weekly its not for me at this time unfortunately. I'd rather dry bud than the risk of mold, and I don't have time most days to check all 5+ strains.