Curing in jars: to burp, or not to burp?

[Team Microbe]

well i have learned the hard way...if you don't burp and the buds are not dry...you will get mold on all your nice tops...trust me...you don't want that

So i burp, 100%

peace
Chefboy

bottom line - hygrometers are the way to go.


it's the only way to control your cure and know the actual humidity level in your jars; thus know when it's safe to seal them up for good. 4 are on their way to my house as we speak, should be here soon! I recommend everyone get one.

 

[yesum]

My 2 c3nts. I just put the buds into the jars when they feel dry to the touch.

In a few hours they will be moist and I open the jar till they feel dry or just dump them out if they are really wet. Keep doing this till they do not get moist but not till they are bone dry either.

I have hygrometers and never use them.

The burping thing Kyle is talking about must be after they are dry as they need to be. I have no opinion there.

I have ruined a few jars of pot trying to rehydrate them too much and got mold. I err on the side of dry over moist when curing. For vaping i need the pot real dry anyways and leave it out of the jar for a day to go bone dry.

 

[Team Microbe]

Yeah noddy! They're food grade.

What is your point you wanted to tell me,, that you ruined tobacco because you can't store it properly? Or some bollocks about crisps??

Are you aware of differences in types of plastics? And they're benefits - If not read about them as some plastics are better than Glass.

Glass it a terrible way to store cannabis!!! Glass weed!!! Poor quality glass even worse.

Read up about glass and plastics.

oh and also, I forgot to mention that you were wrong about your plastic > glass claim.

trichomes can't bind to glass like they can plastic.

trichomes can't be absorbed by glass like they can plastic.


mason jars are perfectly fine glass man. basically your entire post was incorrect haha go smoke some real headies bud

 

[SkyHider]

Plastic - lol
Mason jars & yes I burp em for a week & seal

 

[The OrigF/clred]

bottom line - hygrometers are the way to go.


it's the only way to control your cure and know the actual humidity level in your jars; thus know when it's safe to seal them up for good. 4 are on their way to my house as we speak, should be here soon! I recommend everyone get one.

there's a procedure to calibrate them involving table salt - the instructions are included with most hygrometers - if not, pm me - fairly simple but lets you dial in the hygrometer accurately to 75% RH so you know the readings you're getting are good

 

[rives]

It should probably me noted that the salt calibration method shouldn't be used with the Caliber III and IV models, and possibly (?) any of the other electronic models.

 

[Eighths-n-Aces]

It should probably me noted that the salt calibration method shouldn't be used with the Caliber III and IV models, and possibly (?) any of the other electronic models.

i agree! that is why i ordered the calibration pack from Boveda! paid $4 and then i read the thing and found out that they use the salt method in their product. WTF?????


is there a way to do this without salt? and is there a way to adjust the old caliber III's? (writing on them with a sharpie works fine but it aint real high tec)

 

[rives]

I use the Sharpie method!

 

[The OrigF/clred]

is there some issue with the salt causing corrosion on the sensor elements? That may be the reason not all of the digital hygrometer mfgrs don't describe that method

i've used that salt method on 5 hygrometers (4 digital and one mechanical). But only used the salt for the initial calibration - haven't needed to re-calibrate any of them with one exception, when i found one digital was off (I use the mechanical unit as a "control" hygrometer when i'm checking the other 4, as it's the easiest to do a quick calibration - oddly enough in 4-5 years, haven't seen the mechanical unit deviate much or need any adjustment

rives - if the salt method is no-go with the digital units, what about using a small jar with the "DR. RH" humidifying gel balls - they use propylene glycol for the humidiying liquid, and claim it "..maintains a precise 70% humidity level..." http://www.alecbradley.com/humidification.html

if it helps, wikipedia on PG: Propylene glycol, also called 1,2-propanediol or propane-1,2-diol, is an organic compound (a diol or double alcohol) with formula C3H8O2. It is a colorless, nearly odorless, clear, viscous liquid with a faintly sweet taste, hygroscopic and miscible with water, acetone, and chloroform.

by whatever means, they do need to be calibrated before initial use as they're way off or most are, when they first come out of the box.

 

[rives]

I don't know if the salt attacks the sensor elements or if it is simply because of the possibility of the salt air attacking/shorting the printed circuit board, but the Caliber documentation says not to use the salt method. In general, the combination of high electrical conductivity and the corrosiveness of salt is a bad combination with electronics. The other material may work fine, I don't know.

 

[Jhhnn]

i agree! that is why i ordered the calibration pack from Boveda! paid $4 and then i read the thing and found out that they use the salt method in their product. WTF?????


is there a way to do this without salt? and is there a way to adjust the old caliber III's? (writing on them with a sharpie works fine but it aint real high tec)

The III's don't seem to adjust. The sharpie method works, however. As I offered above, I just check them at the desired RH, 62%, using a boveda pack. Seems to work great. If they're somewhat off target at 40% or 80%, I don't really care a lot.

 

[The OrigF/clred]

I don't know if the salt attacks the sensor elements or if it is simply because of the possibility of the salt air attacking/shorting the printed circuit board, but the Caliber documentation says not to use the salt method. In general, the combination of high electrical conductivity and the corrosiveness of salt is a bad combination with electronics. The other material may work fine, I don't know.

I assumed you had some specific info on the particular metals commonly used in the sensor and it being particularly vulnerable to a salt environment.

I don't doubt salt isn't the best element to use but I might just stay using what i have been, basically the digitals, for the most part, haven't needed re-calibration in 4-5 years - plus i guess you can call it a calibration by proxy if i calibrate the mechanical unit and use it to check the digitals

fyi, i've got 4 of the real cheap 2" round hygrometers like this one ( http://www.amazon.com/Quality-Impor...TF8&qid=1386980733&sr=8-2&keywords=hygrometer ) that i've been using in my tobacco tubs - i had a suspicion they'd crap out on me but still went with them as they were $7-8.00 or so back when - it's surprising how much abuse one has endured over at my bud's place. He has it mounted hanging just at plant top level, and at least a half dozen times he's forgotten to take it down before misting his plants. We've had to remove battery and let it dry out to get it working again after the screen went blank (and nope, the circuit board is not epoxy bedded). I've seen it get knocked off the metal strip and falling 4-5 feet to the floor 3-4 times and the damn thing is like those timex watch commercials from the 70s (takes a licking and keeps on ticking).

 

[The OrigF/clred]

I did a little research and the bovedas are salt based.

Then the lights turned on - my Dr RH humidifier jars are, similiar to the bovedas, set to bring the environment down to 70% RH (Dr RH doesn't appear to offer a selection of RH levels, just the 70%)

but as they're propylene glycol based, there shouldn't be any corrosion concerns.

fwiw

 

[Jhhnn]

I did a little research and the bovedas are salt based.

Then the lights turned on - my Dr RH humidifier jars are, similiar to the bovedas, set to bring the environment down to 70% RH (Dr RH doesn't appear to offer a selection of RH levels, just the 70%)

but as they're propylene glycol based, there shouldn't be any corrosion concerns.

fwiw

Semi permeable membrane tech is such that salts stay in the pack. It's the same tech used to create RO water, for example. So long as the packs remain sealed, the only thing passing thru the membrane should be water.

Packs get thinner & crunchier until they're spent, until all the water passes thru the membrane. I found that out by losing one under my workbench for 6 months or so.

 

[White Beard]

I'm certainly no expert, but I very much agree that burping is about walking the humidity (actually moisture content) down in the material, not about the air much at all. We want the life processes that are winding down & changing to continue, and the right moisture content promotes that. As Simon offers, when we over dry, those processes stop & will not restart. Nonetheless, we must bring the moisture content down fast enough & far enough to prevent mold.

Buds are only truly dead once they've dried completely or cured. (maybe frozen, never tried it) Complete drying stops the process, curing lets it finish.

Perfect.

 

[exploziv]

I don't really think salt will evaporate into the air. And even if a small ammount does, I don't think it can cause a problem with the electronic parts of the RH meter in the short time it takes to calibrate it. Just keep the RH meter out of the salty water (or not in contact with the calibration pack) and it should be fine.

 

[baron1]

+1 for glass jars and burping