jar curing help

has anyone noticed a certain scent is released with an excess of stems within the curing jars? i think this helps contribute to the hay smell of the final product. i was lazy last harvest and had lots of stem in curing jars....not much of it ever was rid of hay smell.

stems and leaf will cause a hay smell. you have to trim it down to the good stuff.

fdd2blk said:

stems and leaf will cause a hay smell. you have to trim it down to the good stuff.

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i do trim real close...basically no leaves at all, even the sugar leaves. i got lazy and decided to leave stems long.

living in the PNW where the humidity never gets much below 50%, I hang branches for 10 days...the stems still do NOT snap, they bend.
after 10 days hanging, I trim the buds off the branches and put them in jars. After this I open the jars for about 10 minnits every few days.
When the grind is still kinda sticky(holds together well)they are sealed, of course they do not stay sealed...

good thread. sorry if this has been asked a million times before, but when people say "the stem snaps", do they mean when you pull a bud apart (like taking a little bud off the bigger bud), or do they mean the plain, inter-node stems?

and, if you're waiting for the bud to be crispy but the stem still spongy, same question... what part/kind of the stem?

cause it seems the stems inside the buds are more moist than the internode ones.

anyway, i think i over dried my sour diesel just a bit, so i'm going to try the citrus peel method in the jar... any advice on that? (how much to use, etc)

This guy has good vid's see if this helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3tqnh6a-1g&feature=related

just keep the weed as moist as you can without getting mold. look at the jars a few times a day, find the perfect moisture which will not mold and maintain it... the whole goal of a cure is to keep a consistent and safe moisture content as long as possible. if the weed has dried out the cure process has stopped. also keep the stems to a minimum, this will help the hay smell.

zorr said:

This guy has good vid's see if this helps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3tqnh6a-1g&feature=related

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thanks zorr, just watched the video. good stuff.

aeviaanah said:

just keep the weed as moist as you can without getting mold. look at the jars a few times a day, find the perfect moisture which will not mold and maintain it... the whole goal of a cure is to keep a consistent and safe moisture content as long as possible. if the weed has dried out the cure process has stopped. also keep the stems to a minimum, this will help the hay smell.

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thanks. i added a little moisture in the jar (wet piece of paper towel and citrus peel), it seemed to help with the crispiness/brittleness, although i'm pretty sure i won't get much of a cure because the moisture level has dipped below 55%. but good to know for next time!

thanks for the responses!

No problem, If I have learned anything one really needs to go by what the bud feel's and looks like when drying! I could send you count less vid's of drying saying you have to go 5-7 days hang dry? Well this only applies mainly the size of the bud (of course it will take alittle longer hang dry with a big cola) I have one right now recently harvested that is only 3 days drying, the out side of the bud is crisp so it's time to start the curing proccess.. I do not disagree with 5-7 days hang drying, as the key is the size of the bud and actual feel/look sof it knowing when to begin to cure.

zorr said:

No problem, If I have learned anything one really needs to go by what the bud feel's and looks like when drying! I could send you count less vid's of drying saying you have to go 5-7 days hang dry? Well this only applies mainly the size of the bud (of course it will take alittle longer hang dry with a big cola) I have one right now recently harvested that is only 3 days drying, the out side of the bud is crisp so it's time to start the curing proccess.. I do not disagree with 5-7 days hang drying, as the key is the size of the bud and actual feel/look sof it knowing when to begin to cure.

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Beautifully stated...this is what Ive been trying to say! +rep.

Makes sense that size matters here. My branches were fairly small (1-3 grams each, dry) so they were probably just right after 3 days, and I waited 4... On the other hand, it might have been better in my situation to have less ventilation in the closet, as 3 days seems like it's too fast...

Anyway, I'm learning from all this, and I will keep a close eye on these buds as I fudge with the jar humidity.

fdd2blk said:

i keep the stems spongy. this is moisture. when it gets sealed the moisture in the stem "wicks" thru the bud, curing it. this is how i understand it.

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i do this also. you just have to dump the buds out, mix em around and replace them when burping for the first 2-4 days

shamegame said:

Must be humid where you are, I only hang them for 3days, 4 days tops.

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im in northern cali and i still have 3 small branches that have been hanging for about 2.5 wks. i check em daily to make sure they are not too dry. and when i get some time ill cut em up and keep em separate from the rest to see if there is a major difference in flavor/harshness. the rest of it was trimmed and jarred last week

We waited until the stem snapped, but not clean off. We then packed the bud into jars, leaving room for some movement like FDD said. I burped them twice a day, and once a day whilst burping I just poured them out onto some newspaper, shuffled them around a bit, and put them back in and left the lid off for 1/2 an hour. I think they got a bit over-dry, but the shit's still smooth as silk with a nice, mellow flavor. People talk about seeing moisture in the jars, but I never saw that. Next harvest I'm going to try the "flavor" cures people discuss from time to time. As a culinarian, the prospect of lemon-flavored tweed is thrilling. Happy Friday all!

PS I did this for roughly 1 month. For a first try I'd say I did a nice job.

Wait, some ppl r saying to leave stems in order to wick moisture while others say excessive stems will cause a haylike smell. Can someone clarify?

Tulane41 said:

Wait, some ppl r saying to leave stems in order to wick moisture while others say excessive stems will cause a haylike smell. Can someone clarify?

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i only leave small stems that are attached to nugs. i cut up throwing away as much stem as possible...i guess the more stem the longer you can dry (due to stored moisture) but the more of a hay smell you get. i dry 3 days minimum stem with no hay smell.

aeviaanah said:

i only leave small stems that are attached to nugs. i cut up throwing away as much stem as possible...i guess the more stem the longer you can dry (due to stored moisture) but the more of a hay smell you get. i dry 3 days minimum stem with no hay smell.

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You mean you hang dry 3 days and then to the jars?? right!

I usually dry mine 3 days and then to the jars, while keeping the jars open still for another couple days, checking to see how dry they really are. I have noticed that even thought the buds feel dry but slightly sticky the small stems still have moisture in them... so thats why I still keep the lid open.

Yes shamegame, I was under the impression also that the buds should only be dried for 3-5 days if your intent is curing. Otherwise if you just wish to bag up afterward and forego the curing process, then 10-14 days was standard.
My question is: after a few weeks of burping the jars, the buds will be evenly dried. At this point i've heard that people put everything in a sealed glass jar and store it in the freezer, sometimes up to a full year or more. But i've been told that before the buds go into the freezer, they have to be 100% FULLY dried, otherwise you risk mold. Is this the correct procedure after the bud has been fully and evenly dried through curing?

I already Node said:

You mean you hang dry 3 days and then to the jars?? right!

I usually dry mine 3 days and then to the jars, while keeping the jars open still for another couple days, checking to see how dry they really are. I have noticed that even thought the buds feel dry but slightly sticky the small stems still have moisture in them... so thats why I still keep the lid open.

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Yea 3 days is just about right, you really have to make sure you keep an eye on those buds tho. This is definitely risky but provides a great slow cure.

uninc4life2010 said:

Yes shamegame, I was under the impression also that the buds should only be dried for 3-5 days if your intent is curing. Otherwise if you just wish to bag up afterward and forego the curing process, then 10-14 days was standard.
My question is: after a few weeks of burping the jars, the buds will be evenly dried. At this point i've heard that people put everything in a sealed glass jar and store it in the freezer, sometimes up to a full year or more. But i've been told that before the buds go into the freezer, they have to be 100% FULLY dried, otherwise you risk mold. Is this the correct procedure after the bud has been fully and evenly dried through curing?

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I dont think they have to be 100 percent dry. There may be some mold strains that can tolerate freezing temperatures but i doubt it. If mold spores dont land in your jars or on your buds...they wont mold. Be sure to wash your hands before handling buds. This will greatly decrease mold. I freezed my top nugs not last harvest but the harvest before that. They dried and cured as you stated. Basically they werent dry, but were ready to smoke...and they never had mold on em after pullin em out. It did seem to change the flavor tho....made them a little harsher i think.