Can You Dry Weed in a Food Dehydrator to Save Time?

mr.kite

Active Member
I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge on drying weed with food dehydrators? I have a REALLY good dehydrator, an excalibur, and it has an option for drying herbs!!! should i try it?
 

Askelluk

Well-Known Member
personally i would dont, the best way to dry weed is the old way and that is to let it dry in its own time! if you want to speed it up, what i do is put in a top and i put it inside my computer table so it heats up and dry it quick open it 3 times a day, to make sure all the moisture can escape! good luck and happy growing
 

honusurf

Member
Yes try it. I use my American Harvest to dry mine in 2 days or less at lowest setting of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The herb takes the additional day in the dehydrator getting rid of all the water which is what makes the pot taste harsh. After the dehydrator transfer into a Jar, or another dry spot for it to cure more and age. You will find the flavor is still in the buds!
 

guerillastyle

Well-Known Member
I liked using the dehydrator last time, and I got good results as well. I first chopped and then put the buds in a dark cool spot for a day, then began drying them out with my dehydrator. I did a test smoke later that day when the buds were semi-dry, and found it tolerable. But I followed up by placing them in brown paper bags for a few days to let any remnant moisture evaporate.
Right now I am trying a straight chop and dry in the dehydrator; I am curious to see if there is any significant difference between my two tried methods.
 

RNmed4200

Member
sorry to pull up a dead one but i see no reason why this would be bad they only get up to 140 degrees but Its not as good as the slower old way. But if you wanna smoke some I have a friend who does it all the time. He dries about an oz and lets the rest dry the old way. But the week long dry always tastes a better but try an 1/4 or 1/2.
 

canadian1969

Well-Known Member
Rebooting an old thread, sorry, I was wondering if this would be the best way to simultaneously decarboxylate/dry the product prior to an oil extraction. Achieving what would normally take a couple weeks in a few hours. Step two would be to put it through the extraction (2x 5 minute methanol washes of the dry crumbled material) and then isomerising in a refluxer (if using for edibles only). Otherwise, just a final distillation to desired consistency.

The alternative is drying it out for a week or so, baking it in the oven at 110, off/on 10-15 minutes at a time and then going to the extraction. I am not sure I would want to try direct to the oven after cutting. So basically just wondering if this would save me all kinds of time or not.
 

darkstar01

Active Member
I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge on drying weed with food dehydrators? I have a REALLY good dehydrator, an excalibur, and it has an option for drying herbs!!! should i try it?
The key to using food dehydrators is to get a thermostat timer, Have it turn the dehydrator on when it goes below 70f and off when it goes above 86f which is 20-30c (Ideal curing temperature) the idea is that it will take 2-3 days (or longer) I have had very good results using this method. I also do a short 30min shock curing with Ozone since it prevents the terpenes from evaporating as quickly as long as you keep the time around 30mins to 1hr.
 

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
The key to using food dehydrators is to get a thermostat timer, Have it turn the dehydrator on when it goes below 70f and off when it goes above 86f which is 20-30c (Ideal curing temperature) the idea is that it will take 2-3 days (or longer) I have had very good results using this method. I also do a short 30min shock curing with Ozone since it prevents the terpenes from evaporating as quickly as long as you keep the time around 30mins to 1hr.
Awesome! I'm sure the OP will rush back to this thread to see if it was answered 12 years later! Great job!!
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
The key to using food dehydrators is to get a thermostat timer, Have it turn the dehydrator on when it goes below 70f and off when it goes above 86f which is 20-30c (Ideal curing temperature) the idea is that it will take 2-3 days (or longer) I have had very good results using this method. I also do a short 30min shock curing with Ozone since it prevents the terpenes from evaporating as quickly as long as you keep the time around 30mins to 1hr.
I would never use a dehydrator for drying cannabis. Nor would I use one of those units designed for drying cannabis. You spend months growing the plants why rush the drying process which can make or break the quality of the weed?
 

darkstar01

Active Member
I would never use a dehydrator for drying cannabis. Nor would I use one of those units designed for drying cannabis. You spend months growing the plants why rush the drying process which can make or break the quality of the weed?
It works fine for me, have you tried using one before but with a thermostat timer? I personally don't have a space to hang up plants in a dark location with a fan blowing over them.(Not a safe sterile location) So I chose the next best thing... temperature controlled dehydrator, keeping the temperature below the boiling point of terpenes, and CBDs. The actual boiling point is MUCH MUCH higher than 20-30c I cure in an environment which is quite humid and when I did try hanging it I would get mold growth and would have to throw out the whole batch because you can't smoke mold it's not exactly healthy for your lungs.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
It works fine for me, have you tried using one before but with a thermostat timer? I personally don't have a space to hang up plants in a dark location with a fan blowing over them.(Not a safe sterile location) So I chose the next best thing... temperature controlled dehydrator, keeping the temperature below the boiling point of terpenes, and CBDs. The actual boiling point is MUCH MUCH higher than 20-30c I cure in an environment which is quite humid and when I did try hanging it I would get mold growth and would have to throw out the whole batch because you can't smoke mold it's not exactly healthy for your lungs.
I guess you have to do what you have to do. I'm fortunate to have a spare room to hang everything.
 

darkstar01

Active Member
I did experience this when I removed the moisture too quickly.. it does make it harsh. The idea is to remove the water around the same rate as regular drying process does but maintain a level of moisture in the bud so it doesn't crumble into oblivion. My first attempt I actually forgot about it LOL (for 2 hours)... thankfully it was only a test run... so it wasn't more than 1oz I was able to revivfy it using a leaf or two from a plant placed into a container to evaporate into the container... it'll go from crusty dry to more fluffy and crumbling will stop, but you will have to watch for mold formation when introducing moisture into weed that is overdry.
 

DarkWeb

Well-Known Member
I did experience this when I removed the moisture too quickly.. it does make it harsh. The idea is to remove the water around the same rate as regular drying process does but maintain a level of moisture in the bud so it doesn't crumble into oblivion. My first attempt I actually forgot about it LOL (for 2 hours)... thankfully it was only a test run... so it wasn't more than 1oz I was able to revivfy it using a leaf or two from a plant placed into a container to evaporate into the container... it'll go from crusty dry to more fluffy and crumbling will stop, but you will have to watch for mold formation when introducing moisture into weed that is overdry.
 
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