Malawi Style Cob Curing.

[Taima-da]

@Sweatloaf that is beautiful. Love the colour.
Seal it up... The hard bit is done... Now just got to let it age. Love to hear your thoughts and comparison of this and regular jar cured as time goes on. After a year differences are fairly apparent, but even now you'll benefit from a smoother result.

@alvin88 give it a go. I've done my fair share of hybrids this way. Some of them have been excellent. Once you do it a few times it seems way less crazy.

 

[Sweatloaf]

@Sweatloaf that is beautiful. Love the colour.
Seal it up... The hard bit is done... Now just got to let it age. Love to hear your thoughts and comparison of this and regular jar cured as time goes on. After a year differences are fairly apparent, but even now you'll benefit from a smoother result.

@alvin88 give it a go. I've done my fair share of hybrids this way. Some of them have been excellent. Once you do it a few times it seems way less crazy.

Thank you @Taima-da. They're sealed back up. I'll give them time to cure now and report back. I appreciate everyone's help.

Also, to assist in any way I can in hope that others might benefit: The corn husks I'm using are husks from sweet corn that I grew in my garden...last year. Back then I selected each husk (rejecting any that had dark mildew spots on them) and dried them in my dehydrator. Then I vacuum sealed the bags of bone dry husks.

I didn't have any intention of using the husks this way at the time. I saved and dried the husks to make homemade tamales in the future. To use them for this cobbing project I steamed the husks using plain water until they were nice and pliable. Soaking them in water also works but I opted for steaming them because I was worried about mold spores. Unless commercially available tamale husks have some sort of preservative that would inhibit the cobbing process (ie fermenting/beneficial microbial action) they would work the same way. I do wonder if fresh green corn husks would be best to use for cobbing and whether they would add something to the process that dried and reconstituted husks wouldn't? Experimenting is a joyful endeavor.

 

[Tangwena]

I do wonder if fresh green corn husks would be best to use for cobbing and whether they would add something to the process that dried and reconstituted husks wouldn't? Experimenting is a joyful endeavor.

I use fresh green and also partially dry corn husks whichever I happen to have available at the time.
Fresh husks do impart a sweet flavor from the corn which I like.
But apart from that there is little difference.

As Taima-Da has said thats a beautiful start you have going there perfect color changes bode well for a good cure.
The next stages are where the aromas start to change and you will notice this over the coming weeks.
This cure works for any pot it changes the effects somewhat especially after the first 6 months onwards sealed up.
The reason many of us use sativas is purely for the high. The effects change and most people if they get a good result like the difference.
But if you like the high of any plant it will only improve it curing this way.
Our job as cob lovers is to pass on this love of cob cured ganja to all people who love MaryJane.

 

[Tangwena]

Man you guys have got me really interested in trying this method. I'm gonna try it on some of my outdoor coming down this week.

Can someone point me to a post # or be willing to give a quick breakdown on what the latest agreed on best method is??

Also I've noticed most of yall are doing this with sativas. That'll be another month before harvest, but it is it worth trying with modern hybrids as well??

Thanks guys can't wait to start playing around with this. Seems crazy but the way yall praise it here has me itching to give it a shot!

This thread is full of beautiful caring people just follow this diagram posted by fellow member Repuk its easy as pie.

The only thing I would change is the sweating time 6 to 24 hrs sometimes you dont need 24hrs so keep an eye out for the color change.

 

[Sweatloaf]

This thread is full of beautiful caring people just follow this diagram posted by fellow member Repuk its easy as pie.

View attachment 18902294
The only thing I would change is the sweating time 6 to 24 hrs sometimes you dont need 24hrs so keep an eye out for the color change.

Thank you for posting this! I never would have thought to go through a warm extended fermentation process as my next step. I was prepared just to store the sealed cobs at room temp for months as is.

Thankfully the top of a water heater is between 77 and 80 degrees consistently and in a dark room. There they will sit for the next week to ferment.

 

[CDNINCA]

Thank you for your suggestion. Here are some photos. They've been drying out of the vacuum bags with the other non-cobbed buds since this morning. When I peeled back the corn husk, the husk is definitely already dry and crackled a bit rather than being as pliable as it was when I vacuum sealed it and heated it for 24 hours in the dehydrator:

Should I re-vacuum pack them right now and start the long term aging process? If the husks are dried out like that already, are they going to be too dry to properly cure/ferment over time?

I should mention the buds were harvested four days ago and have been drying since then. Stems were still fairly pliable and definitely didn't snap when I tested them.

Hey @Sweatloaf , welcome to the fun and adventure that is cobbing! I'm mostly new to this also and can tell you that so far so good for my efforts, thanks to all the kind folks here. You can't go wrong!
I would say that you can take them out of the corn husks now and continue the process without them. They have served their purpose at this point I think.
I would re-vacuum them, and leave them for maybe a week, then open them to check and maybe air dry them a little more if needed. I would be worried about sealing them and leaving them for long-term curing this early in the process, but that's just me. I've opened the ones' that I have every week for the first three weeks, then opened them each month for a couple of more to be sure that they are okay. They have been sealed now for probably 6 months or so and looking incredible.
I'm sure that others will chime in here with better/more correct info if needed, such a helpful group! Good luck, Cheers!
Edit: Tangwena, you are FAST on the response brother, thanks!

 

[alvin88]

Awesome thanks for posting that!! Remembered seeing that somewhere.

And if I remember correctly what I need to achieve proper moisture, from fresh plant I would want to let it dry a day or two first before cobbing? Also, could I get away with a warm water bath for sweating, like a makeshift sous vide? I could chamge the water every hour or two

And lastly what are the thoughts on using a cob or wrap of some type vs putting in bare in the vac back??

Thanks again everyone

 

[Sweatloaf]

Hey @Sweatloaf , welcome to the fun and adventure that is cobbing! I'm mostly new to this also and can tell you that so far so good for my efforts, thanks to all the kind folks here. You can't go wrong!

Thank you. I'm very excited about this process. My younger years included frequently enjoying "brick weed" that was often quite good and was smooth smoking. I can see now that the process growers used back then to store and transport their product inadvertently resulted in a benefit of a fermentation and proper curing process; a cobbing of sorts. I've seen some people on some other forums talk negatively about the brick weed from days of old in relation to dried and cured green buds of today. Back in the day I hydro grew plants from brick weed seeds and the quality of the weed was top notch. They clearly came from different parts of the world as well because the seeds yielded pure sativa and pure indica plants.

 

[Taima-da]

Any heat source is ok.

Bare naked in the bag works just fine.

A secondary ferment isn't totally required, it will happen anyway assuming your ambient temps are not freezing.

Just don't start with wet material as it can all happen too fast, depending on your strain, ambient temps, humidity etc.
You might want to dry more than two days... Hombre del monte put it well... start cobbing at the point you'd normally jar.

Plenty of folks here will steer you right if you need.

 

[alvin88]

Thanks taima-da

By secondary ferment are you referring to the week after the sweat? Suggesting that sweating, making sure its dry, then sealing for 1+ month?

I can tell everyone here is super enthusiastic about this process and very willing to share info. I appreciate it!!

One more thing for the night. What is the theorized scientific reason behind what's happening here? I understand it is undergoing a fermentation but are new compounds being created? Or are the cannabinoids simply going through a process similar to decarboxylation? (to put it simply)

Gonna try to put down 50 pages or so at a time and absorb all this info. Going in...night yall.

 

[CDNINCA]

Thanks taima-da

By secondary ferment are you referring to the week after the sweat? Suggesting that sweating, making sure its dry, then sealing for 1+ month?

I can tell everyone here is super enthusiastic about this process and very willing to share info. I appreciate it!!

One more thing for the night. What is the theorized scientific reason behind what's happening here? I understand it is undergoing a fermentation but are new compounds being created? Or are the cannabinoids simply going through a process similar to decarboxylation? (to put it simply)

Gonna try to put down 50 pages or so at a time and absorb all this info. Going in...night yall.

@alvin88, "put down 50 pages or so...", right on, that's how I started! There's a ton of good info in there if you go look for it. Sounds like you are "in"!! Cheers!

 

[Hombre del mont]

Colour change and smell are the best things to go by.

Only"80%" dry if you are close to your desired cure. 80% is just a way of saying dry it out to stop ferment when it's near the place you want. You can always check again later if you're unsure about it's stability, and dry it a bit more.
Otherwise, if its going at a nice slow pace, just dry it so it feels dry to touch and reseal. Some moisture will still be held within and the process will continue, with less chance of spoilage due to excess moisture or introducing airborne spores on inspection.

They dry slow when squashed up in a cob. I think that's the nub of it. Best dry cure is a slow process and cobbing is just like a regular dry /cure but stretched out real slow, without air exposure to spoil it.
In a low oxygen environment the ferment starts breaking stuff down (like chlorophyll) and you get the cob X factor. I'm fairly certain the THC remains intact for quite some time, at least for the very most part. There are some analysis further back in the thread.

Wow! What an excellent explanation brother!

I read the o.p. Late last night and thought "I'm too high to reply".

A point I would add though is...put your hygrometers away!, you don't need them!
The process really is an art and, in my ihumble opinion, it should be intuitive rather than instructive.

Somehow I can't see our good brothers over in Africa using meters.

Providing you follow the instructions given, then it will work.

There is a learning process, but if you follow your instincts and your nose, then you won't go far wrong. To the best of my knowledge, you can't fuck it up if you follow the instructions (and your "gut feeling").

Perhaps many of us are too far removed from our own intuition?...but there is a solution. Eat more cob!

 

[Tangwena]

One more thing for the night. What is the theorized scientific reason behind what's happening here? I understand it is undergoing a fermentation but are new compounds being created? Or are the cannabinoids simply going through a process similar to decarboxylation? (to put it simply)

 

[Calle Minogue]

Looks really nice. How's the smell?

It’s was like fruit leather. Little rotten.

This one is the UEL x Nepali it looks really really nice to me. I dried it for few hours and resealed it today. Can’t describe the smell so far.. But Mindblowing

Few buds left to cob.

UEL X Komuani Landrace

Hope it will give me a nice sativa ride..

Keep on cobbing

 

[Hombre del mont]

@Calle Minogue Wow! Beautiful colours!

"Mind blowing", that sounds like a good description of the smell

 

[Buzzzzd]

Well, the CobbOdyssey continues..... These guys have just been sweated at 40C for a bit over 24 hrs.

The four in the molds were sweated that way, the three on top in vacpac.
Then I decided to try a couple in the traditional husks, three colas per cob, rolled in a silcone mat to compress then compressed in the husks.

Then I did a few in a pipe mold and vacpacked and a few more in the cherry wood molds. I will be anxiously waiting to see if there is any difference in the three methods. The cobs in the pipe were compressed by hand but the ones in the wood mold are compressed using my drill press as an arbour. They will spend the night ad tomorrow in the Sweat lodge.

 

[ProfessorLefty]

I can see that working nicely; providing one closes off the holes

Turns out, all you need is the die with the smallest holes and a disc of parchment paper

 

[ProfessorLefty]

Yesterday I took half my usual dose of my Mulanje 2021 cob and got waaaay higher than on twice as much!
Either I'm getting really weak in the head or taking larger doses is killing the effects.
I took less because I had a lot of things to do ha ha.

At one stage I was tripped out couch locked listening to music, each track tripped me out inside my head.
After each track I tried to get up but once the next track started I slipped back into trip mode and I mean really tripped out it was amazing.
It lasted about an hour then I broke free and was full of go and refreshed mentally.

I cant figure it out the only thing I can think off is. On larger doses other effects overpower those effects and they dont happen ha ha.
I will try it again in a few days and see if I can reproduce those effects.
AND I'm growing seeds from the plant that made that cob yeeha!

This is my experience too—something about chewing cobs… 2.5g of chewed cob is subjectively as strong as smoking the equivalent amount of hash and it lasts all day instead of a couple hours

 

[Tangwena]

Now thats a nice color my friend mind blowing smells make mind blowing highs.
Keep that up and we may loose you ha ha.

 

[ProfessorLefty]

I’ve been reading this thread for around three months now excitedly waiting for my next harvest to be done (2ish weeks). The allure of a smoother smoke has led me to attempt cobbing the marjority of my harvest, and so I’m gathering equipment currently for the big day.

Anyways, I’ve read this thread through a few times but haven’t really seen any consensus on hygrometers. I’m guessing the little puck ones would be the most useful so does anybody have any favoured brands? Or types?

I’ve tried the cheap digital hygrometers and they can vary by +- 5%

Right now I’m using the Bluetooth Govee ones calibrated with a 62% Boveda pack—much more accurate, but best imho is to weigh the whole plant at harvest and cob when the plant is about 30% of harvest weight