Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[Tangwena]

Hi brother those look nicely done and ready for aging you have some nice cures there my friend.
The next lot with a bit more drying should be very interesting it will be cool to hear your thoughts on the comparisons after they too are finished.
Hats off brother you are doing a magic job.

 

[Betterhaff]

Forget about what the bud looks like by the time the cure is done it will look like a piece of wood or beef jerky.

Good description…thanks.

 

[Tangwena]

Sweet Sues and Pyros cobs

Sweet Sues and Pyros cobs

Heres some great cures from Sweet Sue and Pyro both from 420

 

[Tangwena]

cross sections on Pyros cobs

cross sections on Pyros cobs

Lovely cures here you can see from the cross sections

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Attempt #2.
1st batch burnt like peanut butter cookies.

Osti calisse de tabarnak. Fucking slow cooker motherfucker rat bitch slut.

 

[Tangwena]

I feel for you man invest in a cheap dehydrator they work just fine.

 

[Betterhaff]

I was thinking about this earlier today. Since the buds in the cob are already compressed, via the vacuum, after the curing process is complete, vacuum sealing the end results could help with long term storage.

I’ve found meat (that got lost) in the freezer that was old, old, but vac sealed. When opened, it was almost like I bought it yesterday.

 

[Tangwena]

I was thinking about this earlier today. Since the buds in the cob are already compressed, via the vacuum, after the curing process is complete, vacuum sealing the end results could help with long term storage.

I’ve found meat (that got lost) in the freezer that was old, old, but vac sealed. When opened, it was almost like I bought it yesterday.

Yes you are right my friend once dried after curing if you vacuum seal the cob as I do it stays fresh for years.
I only cut off what I need for one month and seal the rest.
So far 5 years is a long as I have recorded storing a cob but that cob or half of it now, is still sealed up so who knows when I will get back to it.
I have dozens all labeled and dated in storage and they just seem to get better with age.

 

[Betterhaff]

I’ve tried numerous ways to vacuum seal buds with little success. The thinking is less air, less oxidation. The buds either get crushed or can’t get a good vacuum. Also noticed that one’s I’m able to seal seem to lose the vacuum after a while, probably due to residual moisture still there and the buds are still “working”.

Cobs may be the way to go, a new collection of things, lol.

 

[Sertaiz]

I have been experimenting without vacuum seal techs, because the first try was a success and i have tropical weather and i feel if people can do it in malawi and put them in the thatched roof as tang described, it should be doable. The corncob seems to keep all air out very well if it is tied well and all corn is overlapping, and tied very tight, i will try a very long cure with the vaccuum sometime but i feel that the vacuum is more condusive to opening the cobs and resealing, but with the process down i wouldnt need to open the bags or have a canary bud. just judge the wrapped cob by smell, weight, etc, because once opened its harder to get it airtight again.
But this is my mission until i mess a cob up, is to try to make cobs without vacuum. since sweating/curing for a week on the dashboard by day and a wrapped ziplock by night, i am leaving them open to dry slowly on the dash with skins on, it seems they dry very slowly so i am trying to use that for curing time.
definitely want to look at them more, its a blind experiment with my best! pics later when i read a tutorial on posting inline

 

[Tangwena]

I have been experimenting without vacuum seal techs, because the first try was a success and i have tropical weather and i feel if people can do it in malawi and put them in the thatched roof as tang described, it should be doable. The corncob seems to keep all air out very well if it is tied well and all corn is overlapping, and tied very tight, i will try a very long cure with the vaccuum sometime but i feel that the vacuum is more condusive to opening the cobs and resealing, but with the process down i wouldnt need to open the bags or have a canary bud. just judge the wrapped cob by smell, weight, etc, because once opened its harder to get it airtight again.
But this is my mission until i mess a cob up, is to try to make cobs without vacuum. since sweating/curing for a week on the dashboard by day and a wrapped ziplock by night, i am leaving them open to dry slowly on the dash with skins on, it seems they dry very slowly so i am trying to use that for curing time.
definitely want to look at them more, its a blind experiment with my best! pics later when i read a tutorial on posting inline

All the best my friend very cool if you can pull it off it will be very authentic and traditional way to cure.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Attempt #2 - This time with a Food Dehydrator.

Attempt #2 - This time with a Food Dehydrator.

The first attempt with a slow cooker ended in a quick and total disaster.

No corn husks to be found so I used small stainless steel pans and parchment to form the bricks. I know it's not traditional, but hey... let's see what happens.

30 nice little bricks have been unwrapped and dried once. They're sitting at 35c. Now comes the hard part - waiting a few months.

I have 24 Swazi, and 6 highly resinous GG#4. Both dried to 74%RH.

 

[Tangwena]

The first attempt with a slow cooker ended in a quick and total disaster.

No corn husks to be found so I used small stainless steel pans and parchment to form the bricks. I know it's not traditional, but hey... let's see what happens.

View Image

View Image

View Image

View Image

30 nice little bricks have been unwrapped and dried once. They're sitting at 35c. Now comes the hard part - waiting a few months.

I have 24 Swazi, and 6 highly resinous GG#4. Both dried to 74%RH.

Sweet man thats bloody awesome cant wait to see what you can produce.
They should be fantastic in bricks like that.

 

[bilko]

The first attempt with a slow cooker ended in a quick and total disaster.

No corn husks to be found so I used small stainless steel pans and parchment to form the bricks. I know it's not traditional, but hey... let's see what happens.

View Image

View Image

View Image

View Image

30 nice little bricks have been unwrapped and dried once. They're sitting at 35c. Now comes the hard part - waiting a few months.

I have 24 Swazi, and 6 highly resinous GG#4. Both dried to 74%RH.

good job them bricks

 

[HaHaHashish]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but anyway....if you want to cob tops of colas without them ending up being compacted, place the bud in a jar (with no lid) and into a bag then vac seal it.

 

[HaHaHashish]

How would you describe the difference between the high from bud that was cured in the standard way (dried then bottled) and the high from cobbed buds from the same tree?

I've just smoked both recently and I find the high from cobs to be way more enjoyable, calmer, happier, deeper, focused etc with a longer duration. The high from the standard cured bud was less focused, jittery, scatter brained, I got buzzed but it was not as good a feeling.

edit : but don't get me wrong, I like smoking bud whether it was cobbed or not and the differences in the highs between the two are noticeable but not as vast as the adjectives above might make them seem.
I also sometimes mix about 2 parts cob with 1 part standard cured bud in a joint

 

[Tangwena]

How would you describe the difference between the high from bud that was cured in the standard way (dried then bottled) and the high from cobbed buds from the same tree?

I've just smoked both recently and I find the high from cobs to be way more enjoyable, calmer, happier, deeper, focused etc with a longer duration. The high from the standard cured bud was less focused, jittery, scatter brained, I got buzzed but it was not as good a feeling.

edit : but don't get me wrong, I like smoking bud whether it was cobbed or not and the differences in the highs between the two are noticeable but not as vast as the adjectives above might make them seem.
I also sometimes mix about 2 parts cob with 1 part standard cured bud in a joint

Thats quite true my friend its just a question of which you prefer.
When I used to smoke I liked both especially buds that were freshly cured say one month old. I liked the taste but that faded quickly to me after the first couple of drags.
I always found well cured cob way smoother on the lungs and throat and the spacey high seemed more to my taste every time.

 

[Betterhaff]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but anyway....if you want to cob tops of colas without them ending up being compacted, place the bud in a jar (with no lid) and into a bag then vac seal it.

I have a older food saver and I’m not able to get a vac/seal on buds that are placed in a jar. The machine doesn’t get a good enough vacuum, for some reason, so the heating element doesn’t kick in to seal. I’ve tried various configurations.

Maybe a configuration like the pans TychoMonolyth uses for bricks might work if you vac/sealed but you may get some crushed buds (??)

 

[Tangwena]

Some machines have a jar port. You can get an attachment that lets you vacuum seal mason jars if you want the buds un crushed.
It works just fine you can sweat them inside the jar.

 

[Big Nasty]

hi guys,my nose says it's enough so i'm not going to follow the original plan:12 hours sweat for 4 days hanging buds after 4 days of fermentation leaves me with a wonderful smell,like grapefruit juice poured onto a pineapple slice.

here is a color comparison from left to right:
-1 days hanging,24 hours sweat and 17 days of fermentation
-4 days hanging,12 hours sweat and 4 days of fermentation
-7 days hanging,12 hours sweat and 7 days of fermentation,aging for 5 months
i've found out that the shorter sweat and cure of less humid buds is what i like the most,it saves and actually improves the original aromas.
The dark cure changes the smell into a more spicy and herbal one and the high is more hash-like,narcotic and relaxing;i probably overfermented the black one because it was too wet,the smoke is smooth but overall is not what i'm looking for,still was worth trying

5 months aging,a relic