Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[Sunshineinabag]

I'm mystified at how you guys can keep the moisture out and no MOLD! Between LONG term jars and Malawi this is connoisseur type material I NEED TO absorb honestly, I'm the first pic u have a wooden mat held together with string....mom used to have these in the kitchen....what are they!? Great pics btw

 

[Dog Star]

Its a best Sushi-cob i sees,i like your inventive thinking to use
sushi roller as a tool for something else than sushi...


Good idea Tangwena..

This is the cob of Panama x Honduras that I harvested 7 days ago the pic was taken at 6 days from harvest.
The cob was dried and resealed for curing a further week.
The smell after sweating was green grass as in lawn.
The smell after 4 days at warm room temps is sweet sativa hashish a lovely fermented smell that stinks up the whole house when opened.
This smell will only get stronger as the cure progresses I will inspect weekly and dry to stop further curing once the aroma has peaked in a week or two.
First pic is fresh 4 days ago after hanging for 2 days.
Second pic is the fermented cob ready for aging after 4 days.


View Image View Image View Image

 

[Fermented]

I'm mystified at how you guys can keep the moisture out and no MOLD! Between LONG term jars and Malawi this is connoisseur type material I NEED TO absorb honestly, I'm the first pic u have a wooden mat held together with string....mom used to have these in the kitchen....what are they!? Great pics btw

There's no mystery, mold won't occur in a vacuum sealed bag. Regarding moisture, for cobbing to happen, you need moisture, snap dry buds won't ferment and so the magical changes will not happen.

The bud is only hung and air dried for 2 ~ 4 days after harvest, then the cob is rolled, sealed and kept at 40 C for 24 hours. The cob is then air dried (but not fully dried out!, just allow the wetness to go but there still should be some spongy-ness when pressed) for 6 ~ 24 hours, resealed for another week or three, air dried again then sealed and stored as it cures longer.

and you can use those sushi rollers to make cobs, but they are not necessary. If you can roll large joints, you can roll up cobs. I find it's best to form the buds into a cylinder then roll them in corn leaves or baking paper several times, each time they are unwrapped and re-rolled, they become more cylindrical and denser. I cut off or push in the ends of the cobs so they are "square cut" and neat, then wrapped tightly with twisted ends.

I just harvested a few little outdoor plants....in two or three days they will be cobbed. I really like how a shoe box full green smelling bud can transformed into compact cobs the size of cigar just a few days after harvest instead of having those same buds hanging around for two weeks to dry.

Happy cobbing,

 

[CannaRed]

I let a buddy try my n.l. cob yesterday. He said he really liked it. It was a different buzz from the jar cured bud.
No matter what I smoke I always feel very little of a buzz. I guess tolerance and how my body processes the cannabinoids.
I smoke the cob and feel nothing out of the ordinary.

Anyone else notice this, but others feel something extra?

 

[Tangwena]

I let a buddy try my n.l. cob yesterday. He said he really liked it. It was a different buzz from the jar cured bud.
No matter what I smoke I always feel very little of a buzz. I guess tolerance and how my body processes the cannabinoids.
I smoke the cob and feel nothing out of the ordinary.

Anyone else notice this, but others feel something extra?

NL is a pretty flat buzz at the best of times, try it on something with zing in its step, a good sativa from Ace will light you up.
I suspect the reason you feel nothing is the strains you are growing more than any tolerance my friend.
Step away from indica based plants and get some good sativas I have friends just like you who smoked hydro buds all day long and complained about getting nothing.
Then I introduced them to cobbed sativas now its all they want.
A friend had had 4 bongs of some hydro grown stinky bud I dont know what it was. Then he hit one bong of Malawi x Ethiopia and said it had wiped the previous stone away and he was high as kite.
He then hit another bong and left for a very long walk along the beach talking to the seagulls ha ha. Enough said my friend.

 

[CannaRed]

NL is a pretty flat buzz at the best of times, try it on something with zing in its step, a good sativa from Ace will light you up.
I suspect the reason you feel nothing is the strains you are growing more than any tolerance my friend.
Step away from indica based plants and get some good sativas I have friends just like you who smoked hydro buds all day long and complained about getting nothing.
Then I introduced them to cobbed sativas now its all they want.
A friend had had 4 bongs of some hydro grown stinky bud I dont know what it was. Then he hit one bong of Malawi x Ethiopia and said it had wiped the previous stone away and he was high as kite.
He then hit another bong and left for a very long walk along the beach talking to the seagulls ha ha. Enough said my friend.

I'm hoping that's the case, but my buddy said it was something very special. Not sure why he would get so high, and not me.

In any case, Ace genetics on the way. Ordered Bangi Haze, Panama, Hashplant s1, and Caribe. Then picked Malawi X Panama and Nepal jam as freebies.

Malawi X Panama should cob quite well.

It will be a few months but I'll again and report back.

 

[Tangwena]

I'm hoping that's the case, but my buddy said it was something very special. Not sure why he would get so high, and not me.

In any case, Ace genetics on the way. Ordered Bangi Haze, Panama, Hashplant s1, and Caribe. Then picked Malawi X Panama and Nepal jam as freebies.

Malawi X Panama should cob quite well.

It will be a few months but I'll again and report back.

Now your talking my friend when you come to make them, hit me up and I will make sure you hit the jackpot.
Although with those strains you cant go wrong you chose well my friend.
But with a little help you will save a lot of trial and error.

 

[Stoner4Life]

.

 

[Sertaiz]

cobbed a( lambsbread x o haze) × unknown indica cross today, or yesterday rather, with ti leaf, which does take a bit of thc away unlike corn husks. my friend made the cross, i wouldnt have gone through the effort for an indica cross but at least it has a similar perfumey incense smell...

today i vacuum sealed it for a first time! i have never vacuum sealed cob before i can see how its easy and fun.....
my unvacced cobs have been unknown things that i do by memory and smell.
harder to reseal as well as that first time when the buds are fluffy, and i would only cure for about a week before starting to dry which takes another week at least. now i might try a long one and vacuum seal it for a few months after a certain dryness....

 

[Tangwena]

cobbed a( lambsbread x o haze) × unknown indica cross today, or yesterday rather, with ti leaf, which does take a bit of thc away unlike corn husks. my friend made the cross, i wouldnt have gone through the effort for an indica cross but at least it has a similar perfumey incense smell...

today i vacuum sealed it for a first time! i have never vacuum sealed cob before i can see how its easy and fun.....
my unvacced cobs have been unknown things that i do by memory and smell.
harder to reseal as well as that first time when the buds are fluffy, and i would only cure for about a week before starting to dry which takes another week at least. now i might try a long one and vacuum seal it for a few months after a certain dryness....

Keep us updated please some pics are always good too.
Best of luck my friend.

 

[CannaRed]

Here's pics of the N.L. cob I did last time.

 

[Tangwena]

Here's pics of the N.L. cob I did last time.

View ImageView Image

Looks right on the money next time with more powerful genetics should give you the result your after.
At least you will be more relaxed having already had a go.
Try drying it a little if its moist and re sealing it to age for a few months you may be pleasantly surprised.
Very often freshly cured buds can feel weak or too stony and after 3 months be totally transformed.
It happens to me regularly thats why I dont rate them until they have aged at least 3 months.

 

[Sunshineinabag]

Keep us updated please some pics are always good too.
Best of luck my friend.

I find it hard to believe no other cultures found ways of "curing like this" shocking the island people didn't have a way of curing ........I mean look at how talented they are with hot stones and leaves in sand!

 

[bugman52]

ive tryed 3 times with parchment papper & plastic wrap.
the first time no real swet or cure but no pm[ probley too dry weed]
secont time it sewted some ,alittle cure but no pm pic of that one [probley too dry weed also]
i just wraped another one ,its alittle more moist than the other 2, im getting there.

 

[Tangwena]

I find it hard to believe no other cultures found ways of "curing like this" shocking the island people didn't have a way of curing ........I mean look at how talented they are with hot stones and leaves in sand!

I have seen reports from India and South America where similar cures were done.
They were either lost or not copied by the western visitors who came across them.
This kind of curing has been around a long time just not promoted or disregarded by those that came across them.
The internet is a wonderful tool for spreading knowledge quickly.

 

[Tangwena]

PuntoRojo x ColJam 3 months aged

PuntoRojo x ColJam 3 months aged

These buds were cured canary bud style that is loose in a vacuumed bag other wise treated the same as cobs. As you can see no green to be seen they will smoke smooth like air no coughing with a clear euphoric effect.
They are now 3 months aged.

 

[big315smooth]

interesting

 

[Fermented]

Bugman - regarding cobbing without using a vacuum.

That's similar to how I do it, but I think you need a few minor adjustments to get it right.

I wrap the cobs really tightly in two pieces of plastic wrap that are at least 10"~14" x 6"~10" (24cm~36cm x 15cm~24cm) so the cobs are rolled around 4 ~ 6 times for each piece of wrap and then place inside 2 or 3 plastic sandwich bags for 24 hours at 40C (as I use a dry heat source).

If the cobs are sealed in only one layer of plastic wrap, they will dry out too much in that 24 hours (this won't happen in a vacuum sealed bag as zero moisture escapes, but one layer of plastic wrap is not a 100% moisture seal). Also note that the moistness of bud before rolling into cobs must be too moist to burn in a pipe with this plastic wrap cobbing method. I harvest, cut the buds into budettes (so they dry evenly to the right moisture content) and dry on wire racks for about 2 days, 3 or 4 for really tight heavy buds, but most of my tropical buds are on the airy side so two days on the racks is enough. I too made the mistake of first trying to cob with bud that was dried for a day or two too long..it just doesn't work, all you get is compressed bud.

After the 24 hrs @ 40C the cob should be darker, feel heavy and spongy with some moistness. Air dry for 4 ~ 12 hours until they are still too wet to smoke, but dry-ish on the exterior, reseal in plastic wrap several times tightly (no need for parchment paper at this stage), place inside several plastic bags and unwrap and check on them every few days, after a week or so, check them weekly. After a month, smoke it, but like Tang recommends, the high that gives you the best feeling/mood/effects happens after several months of storage.

Happy cobbing!

 

[Sunshineinabag]

i can't cob cure anything, I'm too busy making syrup! If I don't try cobs I'm sure Ill be fine!

 

[Fermented]

I cobbed a couple of last week and today I needed to air them out for 6 hours today, they dried to a dry-ish exterior and with about half as much sponginess as this morning. I doubled tightly wrapped them again in plastic wrap and they should be good for a week and then I'll unwrap one to check it.

The difference between vacuum cobbing and non-vac cobbing is with the latter you have a narrower margin of error between being too dry (where little or no fermentation occurs) and too wet (where mold can occur). I don't want keep harping on about mold, but it can happen and it's happened to me, but it only happened two times out of the first dozen or so I made cobs (and it was just a very sparse amount) and has not happened since...but even so I suggest trying this method with only one or two thing cobs about the thickness of your forefinger or thinner at first before cobbing tons and tons!

As mentioned previously, I roll my cob very tightly so they are very dense and heavy. I do this because I like compact, dense cobs and if mold occurs, it only happens on the exterior of the cob, not the inside (and if you catch it early, a wave or two of flame will get rid of it). Now I don't get mold as I have enough experience with the ideal levels of dry and wet that need to occur during the process...it's like every thing we learn. everyone stalls a manual trans when learning and every burns something when learning how to cook.

When checking out your cobs, smell them as you unwrap them. A good sniff, with some experience, will tell you if you are too wet or just right. A wet, damp. almost mildew-ish smell probably means you are too damp, so air for a few hours and check it again. To the touch, the cob at this stage should not be cold/damp, as this means it's too wet. Cobs should change color after the first 24 hours on heat and more so after a week, if you check out a cob after 24 hours on heat and it's almost the same color as it went in then the moisture level was probably too low to begin with and/or the temps were too low. After a week the cob that was a green bud color should be a combination of brown, dark brown
and even a blackish brown (if rolled up tight and densely and more heat for a longer duration was used) and the scent should be a pleasant earthy/cannabis smell and gradually this smell will be hashy-ish.

Happy Cobbing!