Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[Tangwena]

Well, without a lab the easiest way to test would be to eat a bit of cured cob and in the next experiment eat the same ammount of cured cob but this time heat it in the oven to make absolutely sure it is decarboxylated. If the first sample has the same or higher potency than the second sample it would prove my theory. As I have no cobs I need a guineapig https://www.icmag.com/ic/images/smilies/biggrin.gif ZD

I have decarbed bud before it only works on fresh dried buds in mature cured buds say 3 months old I found it destroyed the high and i didnt like it at all,
I now only use it to sample freshly dried buds and prefer to let my buds and cobs age naturaly. Unless you can get an oven that keeps the exact temp its too hit and miss
Cobbing is mainly for the smooth smoking and different taste it produces it does change the high too, not always stronger but definatly different, in a way that i prefer. it will not make weak weed good you need good weed to begin with.
Tabgwena

 

[Sforza]

So if the fermentation would push the optimum decarboxylation rate up (maybe even near 100%?) this would mean more potent bud, in theory up to 30% stronger and maybe also reduced CBN levels.

Interesting theory, Z. At least is a plausible scientific theory for the phenomenon. If cobbing works, and we have plenty of anecdotal evidence that it does, then there must be something like you have proposed going on.

 

[ZanzibarDawa]

Interesting theory, Z. At least is a plausible scientific theory for the phenomenon. If cobbing works, and we have plenty of anecdotal evidence that it does, then there must be something like you have proposed going one.

I would really like to test that, but have no cob. Do you have any evidence if cobbing has an influence on the potency if eaten raw (no heat like with cookies or smoking), if my theory is correct it should be fully potent in its unheated form. If that is the case, it would also suggest that further heating has no positive effect, and probably a negative one as it would only degrade THC to CBN, which would be in line with what Tangwena mentioned. This would be much easier to test than an A/B separation of THC and THCA or external lab analysis....

 

[Tangwena]

Hi Zanzibar I have no access to testing in Australia so I cant help you, but anyone in the US who has a good cob result could do it. But that would be dependant on the cob being cured properly in the first place.
For now I will rely on my own testing, years of getting high as a bench mark, to know if it works.
But if you need to have lab results to put your mind at rest, first source your correctly cured and aged cob.
In the mean time I will rely on taste and effect to judge for myself. Good luck my friend.
tangwena

 

[Sforza]

I was just about to try doing a cob and then I read this post by Sam Skunkman and the article at the link he provided and it kind of took away my enthusiasm.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=6973122&postcount=97

Kind of a shame too, since I had just purchased a seal-a-meal for the project and had two and half ounces of ganja at just the right stage of dryness.

 

[Dave Coulier]

I dont see why your enthusiasm should be dampened. Sam's reply is to someone who suggested burying it in the ground. Maybe Sam has tried the vac-seal method before, maybe he hasn't, but why dont you try for yourself and be the final judge?

Ive tried it myself, and found it to be worth the effort and money spent on the supplies. My close friends have really favored the cob over regular jar-curred buds.

Its worth the effort, but it may take a few tries to get it right, but even a poorly done cob is still an improvement.

I was just about to try doing a cob and then I read this post by Sam Skunkman and the article at the link he provided and it kind of took away my enthusiasm.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=6973122&postcount=97

Kind of a shame too, since I had just purchased a seal-a-meal for the project and had two and half ounces of ganja at just the right stage of dryness.

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[Tangwena]

Hi dave i agree with you try it you have nothing to loose i am not selling anything, the only reason i posted this method was for others to experiment with the heads they so lovingly produce.
The results are very tasty treats that I have never had anyone refuse when I offer them.
For me the high becomes deep and magical when done right. To quote another member.
"when i start talking to myself i know i am high" quote Donald Mallard I think.
Well when I get the good sativa buds from a good grow, well cured in a nice cob, i dont just talk to myself i have friends to talk with as well, ha ha.
I never ever get the clarity and insight from dry buds.
And with all due respect to Sam i doubt that he has ever had a good malawi cob, if he has I apollagise in advance, but i have seen very worldly travelers reduced to babies after a couple of drags of the best real deal chapter five Malawi and I will stand by that statement.
Tangwena

 

[ZanzibarDawa]

I was just about to try doing a cob and then I read this post by Sam Skunkman and the article at the link he provided and it kind of took away my enthusiasm.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=6973122&postcount=97

Kind of a shame too, since I had just purchased a seal-a-meal for the project and had two and half ounces of ganja at just the right stage of dryness.

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I wouldn't worry too much either. Tobacco is fermented too, no mold or bacteria problems there if done correctly. And all over the world people make silage, sauerkraut, wine, beer and other fermented products. When you control the environment you should well be able to control the process. As to resin quality, who knows without lab tests...but many experiences in this thread suggest an enhancement of quality and I have found some theories that this might well be scientifically explainable. I'd just go for the cobs! ZD

 

[Sforza]

Well, you guys have talked me back into it. I was going to dry the buds out, but they are now slightly moist and tacky after being jarred for 24 hours to get them evenly moist between the buds and between the center of the bud and the outside of the buds. I think that they are just moist enough to sweat when sealed up. I will put them in some loose plastic in a warm place for 24 hours to get the process started before I put them in a vacuum bag.

Once the cob is in the vacuum bag, since it is winter and quite cool where I am located, I can put the cob in a cool dark place for a week before checking on it or I can put the cob in a warm place, given the fact that I have lights and drivers going that put out a bit of heat. Which is preferable? It seems putting it in a cool place would simulate burying the cob while putting it in a warm place would simulate putting the cob in the thatch of a hut. Have you tried both and found one being better than the other? Is the cool dark spot better for a longer slower cure, which makes for a better cob?

 

[Tangwena]

Hi Sforza good on you for giving it a go, seeing as it is winter I would keep it in a warm place as a cool place in my part of the world is still warm compared to winter.
You have nothing to worry about and plenty to gain.
Tangwena

 

[Sforza]

The die is cast. The deed is done. 2.4 oz in a banana bark wrapper.

I have it in a loose plastic bag in a warm place where it will remain for the next 24 hours, after which I will put it into a seal-a-meal vacuum sealed bag for seven days in a warm dark spot.

I hope it doesn't all go to mold. After sitting in the jar for 24 hours and then sitting in an open plastic bowl for 18 hours, the buds are still a bit moist and spongy. Too moist to roll up into a joint and have it smoke. Too moist to jar up and burp once a day or so. But I see where you mention that the cob has to sweat and get wet to get the full benefit from the system, so the moisture to get it wet has to come from within the buds themselves.

Reading the thread, it seems like those who have tried it so far have not have their cobs get really wet to the point where it has to sit in a dry dark place for a few days to dry out after being removed from the cob.

I sure hope that it does not mold up on me.

What should I be looking for when I remove the cob from the loose plastic bag before I put it in the vacuum sealed bag?

Thanks for the answers and coaching on this interesting process, Tangwena.

 

[Tangwena]

Hi buddy fear not, mould takes a while to get established 24hrs is not enough time, once vac sealed it cant grow. I f the buds are a bit moist it is not ideal but the dry wrapper will help there.
After 24hrs it should be moist to the touch including the wrapper, this is the part that needs faith as everything you know until now is screaming at you to stop.
After 7 days when you open the vac bag it should still be alarmingly moist, but smell a sweet sickly smell that you will grow to love, as it means the deed is done.
Keep the wrapper on and let it dry over a day or so in a dry place, being dark does not matter as the wrapper will keep the buds dark. Once the wrapper feels dry the inside will be ok to open and see your frankenstein cob.
This is the critical part, dry it until its smoke able then either jar it or just keep it in a cool place it will dry slowly.
Depending on how tight you wrapped it, it could be like a shorizo sausage or a looser packed but dense buds. Both ways produce excelent results. I do both methods tight and looser packed.
If you want it tight, after 5 days open the vac pack and re bind the cob tighter then re vac it for another 5 to 7 days. You will have to carve pieces of like hash.
both methods are at their absolute best 3 to 6 months after drying.
But can be smoked as soon as are they dry enough, but try and jar a big piece for aging you will not be disapointed.
You have used the right amount of buds. I like a cob to be 2oz wet, when cured they end up about 1oz when dried and aged. I wish you every success i am sure all will turn out well if you stick to the recipe.
Tangwena

 

[Sforza]

Thanks for the guidance Tangwena. I will follow your directions to the best of my abilities. The details really help.

In order to get all the ganja into the amount of banana bark I had, I had to pack it in really tight and I also wrapped it with twine really tight, so this is hopefully going to turn into the hash-like type of cob that has to be carved.

Hopefully, the buds were not too moist going in. They had been hung up and felt dry when I trimmed them up, but jarring them for 24 hours brought out the moisture that was still deep in the buds and the stems. It would be smokable in a pipe, but not in a joint.

I will update you on the process as I go through all the steps.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[Tangwena]

Sounds great look forward to a nice cob soon.
Tangwena

 

[Sforza]

Sealed up in a quart vacuum bag now.

Before I put it in I checked the cob and it did not seem moist or wet. It smelled good, but the bud smelled good before I put in the cob.

 

[Dave Coulier]

Sforza, sounds like you may have missed the ideal spot for cobbing. I did the same thing the first time I tried it. The second time I tried it, It was an improvement, and the third time I backtracked. Hopefully the 4th time I try it, Ill nail it perfectly. Tang couldn't stress the sweat possibly enough. Thats where the magic begins. If its not sweaty going into the seal, you wont get the best cob possible. Im still trying to get that right myself. It takes practice. I hope you have more bud coming down to try again, but either way it will turn out to be something you really enjoy.

Here are my 2nd and third attempts. Itll give you something to look forward to in 2-3 weeks. This is about a week post breaking the seal for one, and 11 days or so for the other. I let them air dry in the cob, and only now just opened them, except for a couple of tokes off of the smaller one. Im about to dig in right now. I just wanted to make this post before doing so. Im not sure Ill have the ability to after smoking some of these yummy cobs.

The bottom cob has GN thai Stick on one side, and Afropips Durban Poison on the other. How cool is it to have a cob with two different halves! Who doesn't want to try this shit yet?

 

[Tangwena]

Looking good Dave i just got home after a 9 hr drive from my fishing camp, to find the bulk of my harvest has outdone itself curing while I was away. They all smell sickly sweet after nearly 3 weeks in a sealed jar post drying quickly before I left.
I will post pics on Monday or maybe before if I can get it together, they all sweated to an amazing mix of yellows,orange and a silvery gray.
The smell once dried will be really good they all stink the house up at the moment but will calm down after drying.
These look like the best cobs I have made real dingkum Malawi cobs like I could have just scored from the local goat herder. All i have to do now is document the procedure i used before i forget.
I cant wait to see the resin under the micro scope. I have sample dried and jar cured buds to compare.
The fishing camp was a mess when I left everyone was so wasted you couldn't get any sense out of any of them ha ha.
Hopefully by the time I return at the end of April with some more matured buds they will all be straight enough to appreciate them ha ha.
Tangwena

 

[Tangwena]

Sealed up in a quart vacuum bag now.

Before I put it in I checked the cob and it did not seem moist or wet. It smelled good, but the bud smelled good before I put in the cob.

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Hi Sforza no problem it will not rot, it seems that getting the cobs to sweat is hard, it must be because its your winter, maybe try taking it out of the vac bag and putting it in a zip lock plastic bag in a warm place for another 24hrs the sweating is critical.
Our summers are hot all the time and a little humid, which makes them sweat fast my last lot only took half a day.
You could leave it as is but it will not be its best.
Just try another day in a sealed zip lock bag, it should sweat quickly.
Tangwena

 

[zachrockbadenof]

tang.. 1st time we tried cobbing, we tied some golden tiger inside a corn husk, and left it in the vacuum bag for 2weeks.. when we opened the bag, it looked exactly like dave's pictures above... ie looked like thai stick we got in the late 60's/early 70's.. u had to break it up n smoke in a pipe... no way to roll a joint

our next try about 2+months ago, we had no corn husks, so threw some drying golden tiger into vacuum bags, sealed em, put em in the closet.. and 4got we had done it.. they sat in the vacuum bags for about 2months .. when we open em they were flat and compressed, but u were able to break em up if u wanted to roll one... they color was also very much greener.. didn't have the color change u get when put in corn husk..

the smoke was 'def' improved in both cases... imo its def the way to go... we will cob our next harvest of GT, but unfort that's 3+months away... gotta love these long flowering sativa's...

 

[Tangwena]

This is some good information. Turkey bags are good for sweating, then I hit them with sun light for ten minutes and press into a brick. With a brick Mexican style the weed on the outside is like your corn husk. The bigger the brick the better the cure. I think the middle might be the best. Also found that drying and sweating at warmer temperatures gives it a better smell. How long have you been doing this for? You make great observations and hope these superior cure methods catches on fast with the new farmers.

Hi my friend, I have been doing cobs for over 30 years but only recently stumbled on the sweating prior to vac sealing. This has led to me producing the kind of effect that I had been trying to reproduce all along.
In the past i used to find some cobs turned out better than others from the same batch and have been trying to find out why.
Even the cobs I used to buy in Malawi were very variable some outstanding even from the same supplier.
I now believe the sweating is the key and how long you sweat them along with the vac sealing and then slow drying and finaly aging is what produces the strong intense highs that I like.
My last batch are the best i have made so far and look identicle to the cobs I used to buy.
I have had rave reports from everyone i have given samples to but will wait for 3 months minimum before I sample them as this is the prime time between 3 to 6 months is the real deal power.
Tangwena