Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[G.O. Joe]

Something maybe worth mentioning it fits here from when I had a king size and damn warm waterbed, and grew outdoors. After a day or three in a tree, defanning and destemming, the buds were arranged in a single layer on cling wrap that was folded over to seal it up. Like a sheet of buds but not solidly packed. Under the mattress for a month or six but not directly over the heater. Came out compressed and sweet, light green to yellow green.

 

[Tangwena]

Something maybe worth mentioning it fits here from when I had a king size and damn warm waterbed, and grew outdoors. After a day or three in a tree, defanning and destemming, the buds were arranged in a single layer on cling wrap that was folded over to seal it up. Like a sheet of buds but not solidly packed. Under the mattress for a month or six but not directly over the heater. Came out compressed and sweet, light green to yellow green.

They were on the way alright. Play with that method and you can get a good sweet cure if you can beat the mold.
Its the sweet smell and taste that really boosts its appeal and being able to lock it in will make it gold.

 

[Gr33nSanta]

Hi Sue,

I used a heating pad in a box with a couple towels between the heat and the cobs and was able to hit 100F pretty easily. I just used a simple thermometer on the towel layer with the cobs. I just added towel layers until it was not too hot.

-lazyfish

same, I wrapped the box in a yoga mat for insulation and a garbage bag too so the heat mat didnt have to work so hard. hit 40-45 celcius for 24 hours. I like this way I could stuff a lot in there.

 

[SweetSue]

Ok..... I like the idea of the heating pad, and I'll pick one up tomorrow. I just gave away two of them because we never, ever used them in over a decade. Lol! Isn't that always the way.

Thank you for the ideas and the encouragement. I got my husks today. Made my heart beat faster and I did a dance of joy.

 

[Tangwena]

Ok..... I like the idea of the heating pad, and I'll pick one up tomorrow. I just gave away two of them because we never, ever used them in over a decade. Lol! Isn't that always the way.

Thank you for the ideas and the encouragement. I got my husks today. Made my heart beat faster and I did a dance of joy.

Thats the spirit with karma like that floating around you cant fail. Talk sweetly to the plant before you cob it and you never know what response you will get.
I am always sending mine good vibes and when I hold them I can feel when they are ready.
With a bit of experience the cobs will talk to you via your nose and eyes.
I still freak out when I first smell that fermented smell on a new strain. The Malawi x Ethiopia had my mind doing star jumps at the first whiff of the cob it was so sublime I have never had that smell before like a perfume from an Egyptian tomb from long ago.
Thats the Panama talking I had some at 8.30am this morning and I still cant stop falling in love with everything I am sucker for good vibes.

 

[repuk]

Thanks McKush. I’ve seen the trick of weighting it down by sealing a stainless utensil in the bag. I can see I need to review my yogurt function on the Instant Pot.

I wouldn't do that...

My rationale: stainless steel may produce an unexpected reaction on sweated gases/liquids imparting an odd (metallic) taste.

 

[repuk]

For those planning to process lots of cobs (growing sativa trees outdoors?), two ways of scaling and controlling the sweat:

1.- Ready made Terrarium/Aquarium/Beer maker programmable controller (around $40) like the InkBird 308:

Just use an electric water/oil heater, either scavenged from any suitable recycled household appliance (frier, boiler, cofee maker, dishwasher, washing machine) or new, like

(amazon)

Plug the heater on the Controller heater socket, set the temperature, and the device will switch on and off the heater to track that temp. If the heater is properly sized / undersized for the bath container, you won't need to plug anything (Household fan, chiller..) on the cooler socket. Plug the controller onto a timer and you have everything controlled if you cannot be there during the process. You can use a tub, or make your own sweating chamber for this with a drum...

I use this device connected to heating wire and the fans controlling intraction/extraction to control my vegging tent environment, being inside a coke can thin garden shed, I have to fight outdoor temps. Comes with submersible heat probe, and so far has worked like a charm.

2.- For those mad scientists into electronics like me: Raspberry Pi + Kyle Gabriel's impressive Open Source Mycodo Project can be also used for a much more complete control (including remote), and monitorization. In fact this system was conceived for growing mushrooms, control fermentation (tobacco, kimchi...) incubate snake eggs... could be used to keep under controlled/recorded environment not only a sweating chamber but a fermentation or curing chambers too.

No need to be an electronic engineer, thanks to the wide use of raspberry for education and hobyists, almost all sensors and components required can be purchased easily from amazon at ridiculous prices (e.g. temp and RH sensor assembled and ready for $5). Feel free to ask

 

[TychoMonolyth]

...
No need to be an electronic engineer, thanks to the wide use of raspberry for education and hobyists, almost all sensors and components required can be purchased easily from amazon at ridiculous prices (e.g. temp and RH sensor assembled and ready for $5). Feel free to ask

I wrote a system to detect and locate stolen and cloned mobile devices, but from an electronics perspective the most I can do is use a toaster. And I burn the toast more often than not.

 

[SweetSue]

repuk, I could reach right through the screen and hug you. The stainless pot missed my radar.

Most of that went right over my head, I'll be honest. My husband was the technical wizard. I was the vision and passion that drove our dreams. When he passed I had to reinvent myself, and the blond part of my brain sometimes cries when confronted with technology.

How detailed are you willing to be in your explaination? More than anything I want to present this technique to my home community in as complete a manner as possible, to ensure the highest levels of success. I'm an educator by training, so I catch on quickly.

I can put this harvest off a couple days while I await a prime delivery from Amazon. At 64 and lacking any means of transport that isn't public ordering online is easier in many ways. I'm kinda jumping the gun on the Malawi as it is because the girl behind her is starting to get antsy. Lol! A few more days while I prepare simply means a few more amber trichomes. I can live with that. I tend to take them at the first sign of change to amber anyway.

Tangwena, if there's one thing I'm known for at 420 mag its joy. Lol!

 

[SweetSue]

Hahaha! TychoMonolyth, that sounds like my speed. Lol!

 

[repuk]

How detailed are you willing to be in your explaination? More than anything I want to present this technique to my home community in as complete a manner as possible, to ensure the highest levels of success. I'm an educator by training, so I catch on quickly.

Just wanted others thinking at other scales to offer other affordable, scalable alternatives (post pics!)

I think a Yoghurt maker, as Tangwena originally advised, is the most common, cheap, reachable device best suited for the safest, and error-free experience.

There are some more flat, pan-like, designed to hold directly individual jugs for the yoghourt, that I ditched. Instead I went one close to those:

$20 Yoghurt Maker at Amazon

The point when picking it, is having in mind it will hold water + the cob vag on it, so look on its internal shape.

Mine had a 1L cylindrical vase shape as the one in the pic, I had to re-do the cob size a couple times, so that it was just as short as the vase height, so that I would be able to submerge it once vacced into the vac bag.

I find those can be very mild on the temp, so as it should be tightly capped, look out for water condensation that shows enough temperature has "build up".

I had a canary bud (because it tell-tales you what happens), a bare bud or cola that is placed in the same bag, that you can use just for that: to see how much it has "cooked" by eye.

I left the vacced cob bag in the yoghurt maker alone (this is like making yoghourt, so leave it alone!) but checked after 24 hours. I thought they weren't cooked enough, so I left it 12hours more. If I had more cobs instead of just one, I could have saved one to have references at 24hour sweating.

You can post "making of" pictures, and here/after pictures at all the stages, there are wise eyes around here that will help.

In the end, this is like cooking. A Labour of Love and attention to detail. And patience... it usually helps to go the "slow" (lower temps, more time) route.

If you happen to already have a programmable crockpot, that can go lower temps, just use it... but look after 6hours, and 12 hours if temp is around 60C as it will cook faster.

 

[led05]

Just wanted others thinking at other scales to offer other affordable, scalable alternatives (post pics!)

I think a Yoghurt maker, as Tangwena originally advised, is the most common, cheap, reachable device best suited for the safest, and error-free experience.

There are some more flat, pan-like, designed to hold directly individual jugs for the yoghourt, that I ditched. Instead I went one close to those:

View Image

$20 Yoghurt Maker at Amazon

The point when picking it, is having in mind it will hold water + the cob vag on it, so look on its internal shape.

Mine had a 1L cylindrical vase shape as the one in the pic, I had to re-do the cob size a couple times, so that it was just as short as the vase height, so that I would be able to submerge it once vacced into the vac bag.

I find those can be very mild on the temp, so as it should be tightly capped, look out for water condensation that shows enough temperature has "build up".

I had a canary bud (because it tell-tales you what happens), a bare bud or cola that is placed in the same bag, that you can use just for that: to see how much it has "cooked" by eye.

I left the vacced cob bag in the yoghurt maker alone (this is like making yoghourt, so leave it alone!) but checked after 24 hours. I thought they weren't cooked enough, so I left it 12hours more. If I had more cobs instead of just one, I could have saved one to have references at 24hour sweating.

You can post "making of" pictures, and here/after pictures at all the stages, there are wise eyes around here that will help.

In the end, this is like cooking. A Labour of Love and attention to detail. And patience... it usually helps to go the "slow" (lower temps, more time) route.

If you happen to already have a programmable crockpot, that can go lower temps, just use it... but look after 6hours, and 12 hours if temp is around 60C as it will cook faster.

A seed heat mat, a rubbermaid type container inverted as top and something to put cobs on so it's not directly on the seed heat mat and you can hold within a degree anywhere from 90-108 F with this setup alone. Blankets are used as a covering to the rubbermaid to determine temp.

It's very easy to dial in exactly where you want based on how much you cover and thickness of blanket. The size of it is limited only to your seed mat and container top and can fit 100's of cobs if you wanted with a large heat mat, i.e. the 48" long one.

it's super accurate, (I've held at 105 for 24, 36, 48... hours straight with zero effort) - there's nothing to break or set etc, just need a therm to monitor temps...

Most anyone here likely has all these items already. I'm pretty certain you won't find a yogurt maker that holds temp anywhere near that accurate for that long, their size limiting too. Clear rubbermaid makes for easy viewing without changing temp at all.

Great flow chart a few weeks back btw, very handy !

 

[Dr. Grinspoon]

I finally.... gasp....read....gasp..... the whole thread...gasp.


Definitely enlightening! Here is to you all! Cheers!

 

[SweetSue]

Dr. Grinspoon... respect. I’m still working on it myself. It gives me an appreciation for someone making their way through my almost 400-page cannabis oil study hall.

I’ll share both of this ideas - and thank you for your input guys. I personally like the idea led05 puts forth. That sounds like it would work best for my environment and personality. I’ll go looking for the mats today and get an order in. I have many containers already in possession.

You can bet I’ll be back with progress photos. Thanks repuk, for sharing details about the canary bud. Does this one need to be equal in size to the cobbed one, or can it be much smaller? This Malawi may give me over two ounces dry, it’s a hempy grow and smaller than my soil plants, so I should have plenty to play with.

 

[led05]

Pic of Setup I mentioned

Pic of Setup I mentioned

very simple. This particular example is with the Hydrofarm 20"x20" 45w heat mat and a simple potting tray inverted inside rubbermaid type container. This is more than enough of a heat source.

I can easily fit half gallon Mason Jars (if you like pretty fermented nugs) upright, more cobs in plastic than I could ever need etc....

Depending on how much I cover and how thick blanket is it will stay within 1 degree anywhere from 90-108F+ range, crack open or vent and you can easily maintain temp below 90 as well; It will stay this way indefinitely within 1 degree once to temp and stabilized. A remote Temp sensor inside and you don't even have to go and look at it until it's getting close to ready. Sweat stage, second stage can be done here. You can use to dry outside of wet cobs very fast (it'll be very dry air inside there) when up to temp etc.... Just make sure you're always vacuumed up and there's nothing literally that can go wrong




Ambient room temp is very normal - 67-69F range or thereabouts

 

[Tangwena]

very simple. This particular example is with the Hydrofarm 20"x20" 45w heat mat and a simple potting tray inverted inside rubbermaid type container. This is more than enough of a heat source.

I can easily fit half gallon Mason Jars (if you like pretty fermented nugs) upright, more cobs in plastic than I could ever need etc....

Depending on how much I cover and how thick blanket is it will stay within 1 degree anywhere from 90-108F+ range, crack open or vent and you can easily maintain temp below 90 as well; It will stay this way indefinitely within 1 degree once to temp and stabilized. A remote Temp sensor inside and you don't even have to go and look at it until it's getting close to ready. Sweat stage, second stage can be done here. You can use to dry outside of wet cobs very fast (it'll be very dry air inside there) when up to temp etc.... Just make sure you're always vacuumed up and there's nothing literally that can go wrong

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=76046&pictureid=1831176View Image


Ambient room temp is very normal - 67-69F range or thereabouts

Nice my friend that is a great alternative and easy to use as well.

 

[SweetSue]

Very nice led05. I love the simplicity of it and how it uses things we already have laying around. I have a thermometer with a remote sensor, by gosh! On Monday when the mat comes I'll have time to play with stabilizing the temps. I harvest in the morning.

In about two weeks I'll have my first taste Tangwena. That sir, is exciting. I started my new thread tonight as we prepare for my first run, and the crowd is already gathering. I've entitled it "Tangwena's Malawi-style Cob Curing: Fermented Cannabis" if anyone is interested in checking in on our party. I'll continue to bring it here on a regular basis anyway.

Does the canary cob have to be as large as the wrapped one?

 

[jonhova]

Can you put a cob in a pint mason jar and then put that in a crock pot for the initial sweat?

 

[Gr33nSanta]

Can you put a cob in a pint mason jar and then put that in a crock pot for the initial sweat?

a future experimentation for me, obviously, it would not be a ''cob'' I am debating whether simply compacting the buds so hard in the jar as to remove oxygen or get some sort of mason jar vacuum.

It would really work best with a wide mouth mason jar or something you can slide out in one block. I really want to figure out a way to do it with glass but the vacuum sealed bags are a good place to learn, not that worried about plastic for now. it is bpa free anyway!

 

[SweetSue]

a future experimentation for me, obviously, it would not be a ''cob'' I am debating whether simply compacting the buds so hard in the jar as to remove oxygen or get some sort of mason jar vacuum.

It would really work best with a wide mouth mason jar or something you can slide out in one block. I really want to figure out a way to do it with glass but the vacuum sealed bags are a good place to learn, not that worried about plastic for now. it is bpa free anyway!

I just had a member ask about this very thing. Lol! Someone sells lids for mason jars with the nipple, I'm almost positive. It's on my list for tomorrow's searches.