@shark sandwich thanks! I'll definitely play around with them for the next couple weeks and hopefully my dnail press is in by then so I can really starting experimenting with all this! I've been so envious following this thread for the past few months. I am still a rosin virgin. Never pressed and never tasted
Speaking of curing, since moisture/humidity seem relevant to rosin, and to anyone with access to fresh or shortly cured still moist material, here is the process I follow. It has worked well for my needs:
http://www.rollitup.org/t/humidity-in-curing-jars.444609/
Hygrometer is needed.
Phase one. 70% RH: (just talks about hang drying harvested plants...)
Phase two. 65%+ to 70%RH: This is where the numbers game begins to kick in. Once you have reached the crispy bud/flexible stem stage, it is time to jar it up. Now there are a few options here.. Really you can jar it up just like always. Only, fill your jar 3/4 to 4/5 full so you have room to use your hygrometer. You can leave it on the stem, stem free, whatever. I personally prefer it in it's finished state, no stems. You can leave just a few stems intact for the sake of testing stem flexibility. Also, with more stems comes more moisture. This may fit well with your style, but it also may play havoc if mold is present. Once your bud is in the jar drop in the hygrometer and cap it. Keep an eye on your meter for the next hour or so. What we are shooting for in this phase is 70% RH maximum. If you hit 71% or greater, you will have to take the bud out to dry more. If this seems a little tricky here, it is. The cure, even though we are still in the dry phase, has been happening to a small degree since the moment the bud was cut. Basically now we are juggling time with mold prevention. We want to avoid any instance of mold, but we want to get every second of cure time in that we can. The goal in this phase is to start at a 70% maximum RH and, in a timely and mold free manner, bring the RH down to about 65%. The reason I say "about" is that if there is an issue with mold (i.e. the crop was exposed to heavy mold before and/or during harvest) we may chose to take the RH even lower, like 62%. This won't leave a huge window for curing, but it will keep the bud safe. Ideally, however, 65% will do. Generally you can tell pretty quickly if the bud is still too wet as the hygrometer % will climb pretty quickly (rate: 1% per hour or faster). You will also notice, at this point, that the bud will feel "wetter". That's ok. The reason for this is that while the exposed part of the bud began to dry quicker than the inside during phase one, the inside of the bud and stems retained a good deal of their moisture. Once in the jars (phase two) that moisture can no longer be efficiently evaperated off and moved to a different area, being replaced by dryer air. Once you have determined the RH, which may take up to 24 hours, you can begin burping the jars. This can be done at a rate of one to two hours once or twice a day, depending on initial RH reading. Your room RH, temp, strain, exposure to mold and hygro readings will dictate this for you and wether to go faster or slower. Slower is always better, but precipitating factors, as stated, may trump this.. Also, at the end of this stage is where most commercial bud will hit the open market, if you are lucky. The bud at this stage should have that super sticky icky velvety feel and the 'bag appeal' will be at it's very highest.
Phase three, 60% to 65% RH: Your buds are in the jar and RH is 65% or less. Perfect. The object of the game, as stated before, is to slowly release the moisture from the jar over time. Your buds are now in the cure zone. At this point we are looking for a much slower release than phase two and will shift to a short burp once a week. Your buds will deliver a nice smoke at around 60%, so the speed at which this is done (which translates directly to duration of burpage) is entirely up to you. It is at this stage that small stems should snap in two. It is also in this stage that you will meet true stability, or equalization, in RH. What that means is that the amount of moisture in the stems is no longer disproportionate to the buds, and moisture transfer or persperation (sweat) slows dramatically. This also means it will take much longer to get a true reading from your Hygrometer. A true reading at this point might take up to 36 hours, but that's ok.
So, do you know what your idea of a perfect smoking bud is? If you have followed the phases as you have read them, then this is the stage where you can find out. It may be as specific as a stationary RH value, or even a "window" between different values. Everyone one should know there ideal smoking range. I prefer mine on a slightly dryer cure, say between 55 to 57%.
Phase four - 55%+ to 60%RH: Even though a true cure is far from over, your buds are truly ready to smoke if you wish. They are also ready to face long term storage. As stated before, the cure dies at -55%. It's ok for the cure to be dead if you have reached your desired cure level as later remoisturing can easily bring that bud back into your prefered smoking range. But, you can also continue the cure for long time periods and the trick to this is to stay above the 55% level. Unfortunately even claimed 'air tight' jars will allow bud to continue losing moisture over time. The trick here is to guarantee air tightness. Simon has suggested that he jars in air tight jars and double vacuum bags it as a way to ensure cure integrity. I am less picky. It is a good idea, though not neccessary, to leave a hygro in the jar and check it from time to time. I would start with once a week for the first month then, if everything is stable, once every month after that should suffice.
at 220°F in case you wondered.
Thanks for the info though!
