Storing many small amounts

MonsterWithoutBorders

MonsterWithoutBorders

Philosophim
Right now i use small jars but after a few dried out i started wrapping them in plastic wrap and do not see degradation after 8 months. These small amounts typically 1 1/2 grms are many maybe 40 to 50 types. Any idea how to keep my wonderful collection alive.
 
MonsterWithoutBorders,
Squiby

Squiby

Well-Known Member
I use mason jars. The small ones, 125ml, will hold up to an eighth along with a small Boveda pack and an oxygen pack. I use a mason jar foodsaver to vacuum seal the jar. The jars are stored in a cool dark place.

This approach has allowed me to keep small amounts of many different strains fresh for years.

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=Food+saver

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00005TN7H/ref=twister_B00EUZEG56?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.ca/FoodSaver-Fre...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NDK0B11EXTGJB6Q83D27

https://www.amazon.ca/Boveda-Humidi...ie=UTF8&qid=1480305943&sr=1-1&keywords=Bodeva

https://www.amazon.ca/Oxy-Sorb-100-...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=NDK0B11EXTGJB6Q83D27
 
Ozyzj

Ozyzj

Well-Known Member
Squiby said:
I use mason jars. The small ones, 125ml, will hold up to an eighth along with a small Boveda pack and an oxygen pack. I use a mason jar foodsaver to vacuum seal the jar. The jars are stored in a cool dark place.
Click to expand...

I've heard that vacuum sealing causes volatile terpenes to evaporate more readily due to the shift in atmospheric pressure. Has this been true in your experience? Also, how well do the oxygen absorbers work? Could they be considered a substitute for vacuum sealing? Lastly, I believe Boveda Inc has stated that we shouldn't vacuum seal a container if it has a boveda pack in it?

In general I'm curious about what effect this procedure has on buds stored over the long term (2+ years).

MonsterWithoutBorders said:
Right now i use small jars but after a few dried out i started wrapping them in plastic wrap and do not see degradation after 8 months.
Click to expand...
I can attest that over time, mason jars allow small amounts of air to exchange if they haven't been vacuum sealed. I have cracked open storage containers with mason jars inside, only to be smacked in the face with an odor that is unquestionably of cannabis. Btw this was with brand new jar lids, so it wasn't a problem of worn-out gaskets on the jar lids.
 
Squiby

Squiby

Well-Known Member
Ozyzj said:
I've heard that vacuum sealing causes volatile terpenes to evaporate more readily due to the shift in atmospheric pressure. Has this been true in your experience?
Click to expand...

I've read that as well, but it has not been my experience with weed or any other dried herb or vegetable I have preserved in this way.

Nor has this been my experience with traditional canning processes that naturally create a vacuum seal.

Vacuum sealing completely seals the the jar airtight. No odor escapes the jar but the contents are fresh and fragrant upon opening. You can test this yourself with any jarred food from the grocery or home canned food.

Ozyzj said:
how well do the oxygen absorbers work? Could they be considered a substitute for vacuum sealing?
Click to expand...

The oxygen absorbers work pretty well. They do remove the oxygen and when you open the jar you need to pop the seal to open it. It would seem to be a redundancy to add an oxygen pack and then vacuum seal, but it works great. I picked this tip up from prepper techniques to keep dehydrated food fresh long term, like 10 - 30 years.

You can use just an oxy pack but they can only absorb so much oxygen. Because a volume of air is involved in a jar as opposed to a Mylar bag for example, the oxy pack wears out quite quickly. If you remove most of the air by vacuum sealing,the Oct pack can take it the rest of the way and will last a lot longer. You will notice that the oxy pack is still good when you later pop open the jar.

Ozyzj said:
I believe Boveda Inc has stated that we shouldn't vacuum seal a container if it has a boveda pack in it?
Click to expand...

I think they are concerned with them bursting but the jars are not vacuum sealed to that extreme. It may be a concern with aggressive bag vacuum sealing though.
 
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t-dub

t-dub

Vapor Sloth
Right now I use half gallon Mason jars with the large 60 gram Boveda packs. I used to vacuum seal without Boveda packs however after time there was a distinct pharmaceutical odor, very concentrated, when I opened the jar. Boveda addresses why this happens in their study summary below. Just using the Mason jars and Boveda packs, without vacuum sealing, is giving me the best results for flavors and odors IME. Boveda does warn that vacuum sealing may burst some packs.

Boveda's herbal medicine page claims that by using the packs you will retain 15% more Terpenes:

http://www.bovedainc.com/store/herbal/#c

The full text of the cannabis study can be found here, but here’s a summary:

Two identical jars of cannabis, one with Boveda, one without. After 6 weeks they tested the terpenes. The cannabis with Boveda had 15% more terpene retention than the jar without Boveda. That’s a very big deal. That means that even in great packaging/containers which hold in moisture, the indispensable therapeutic terpenes are micro-evaporating into the container’s head space (the air inside) faster if Boveda isn’t in there providing precision, active humidity control and slowing their loss.

http://www.bovedainc.com/cannabis-stored-with-boveda-retains-15-more-terpenes/

 
BabyFacedFinster

BabyFacedFinster

Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing.
I use vacuum sealed lids on mason jars with a Boveda pack in each. I find this combination does a great job of keeping my herb in good condition for long periods of time. When I break a seal, I get a rush of wonderful cannabis smell both from the jar and the buds alone. The buds also retain their properly-cured condition for over a year. I store the jars in a cool, dark place (which is my basement)

I have fun maintaining my little stashes-o-plenty. Someday I can see me storing them in jars that you flush with nitrogen (or some shit like that) :rockon:
 
Baron23

Baron23

Well-Known Member
Hans Hurensohn said:
i don't know if you can get them in the US, but in Germany there are small jam jars from a company called "Bonne Maman". I reckon they'd be perfect for your purpose. Maybe you can find something similar.
https://www.google.de/search?q=marm..._AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=bonne+maman+kleine+gläser
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I live in the Washington, DC so we have a good selection of specialty food stuffs to buy and I do have that jam in my fridge. Great stuff!

I like Bormioli Rocco Fido Canning Jar and use them in all sizes with Bovedas stored in an wood armoire out of sight of light. Plain old Ball canning jars work well also.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fid...canning+jars&tbm=shop&spd=2297659637217799763
 
duckTape

duckTape

Well-Known Member
I feel kind of stupid for asking this question, but here we go;

Is it possible to dry a fresh bud in a jar with a boveda pack? I know that one would want to dry it for a couple of weeks before putting it in a jar, but if the drying room isn't available just yet, could this work?
 
Squiby

Squiby

Well-Known Member
duckTape said:
Is it possible to dry a fresh bud in a jar with a boveda pack? I know that one would want to dry it for a couple of weeks before putting it in a jar, but if the drying room isn't available just yet, could this work?
Click to expand...

Do you mean bud just fresh picked from a harvested plant?

I have no idea.

If I had some bud that could not be dried in an open area, I would probably start with initially drying the bud in a closed cardboard box first. Opening it and fluffing up the bud a couple times a day with some paper in there to help pull out the moisture.

But if even that wasn't available....

I would maybe try your idea, but the jar would have be large in relation the amount of bud. Give it lots of space and before using a bodega pack, I would throw in a handful of dessicant packs to actively pull out the moisture. I would burp several times a day and change out the dessicant packs for fresh ones until the humidity came down to around 75% rh. Then I would pop in a bodeva pack and carry on from there.

I think that a hygrometer in the jar would be essential to monitor that there was a steady decrease in humidity.
 
duckTape

duckTape

Well-Known Member
Great reply @Squiby :tup:

Yes, fresh from the jungle :)

I quickly built a wooden box with a hatch + a hole on top in which I mounted a PC fan with some activated coal. I also put one of those dehumidifier bags with a bucket which is made for dehumidifying rooms inside the box.

All I need now is a hygrometer and I have myself a new and portable dry room :cool: IF the mini scrubber manages to keep the scents inside the box that is, but so far so good. ;)

But it definitely would be interesting to test and see how moist material the boveda's would manage in a relatively small jar. The one I'm planning on testing with is about 1 liters I think.
 
duckTape,
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Squiby

Squiby

Well-Known Member
I have rejuvenated dried out bodeva packs and they pull moisture and plump up again in a day or so. I'm not sure if they could suck out that much moisture if they are plumped up and fresh to begin with using wet material.

Let us know how it works for you.
 
Squiby,
MinnBobber

MinnBobber

Well-Known Member
duckTape said:
I feel kind of stupid for asking this question, but here we go;

Is it possible to dry a fresh bud in a jar with a boveda pack? I know that one would want to dry it for a couple of weeks before putting it in a jar, but if the drying room isn't available just yet, could this work?
Click to expand...
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Boveda packs can add moisture to buds that are too dry or remove moisture from buds that are too moist BUT they have a natural limit as to how much each pack can add or subtract. So the best is harvest buds and do an initial air dry of the branches and then put in airtight jars with regular burping (opening the jars) to let out excess moisture.
After an initial hanging dry, a rough guide is for the first few days in a jar, open once every 24 hours to release for 30 minutes. For another week, air out once every 48 hours. Then once a week.

The closer you get to the target RH (relative humidity of about 62%), the better it is for the Bovedas. If you are way over the target RH and add Bovedas, they could be beyond their capacity. This could be mitigated by using more Bovedas than you need for a "nearly at target RH" load.
 
DDave

DDave

Vape Wizard
Accessory Maker
Choices?

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Or a classic?

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