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Malawi Style Cob Curing.
- Thread starter Tangwena
- Start date
Agronom
Member
Hi Tangwena, may I come in your thread and share my experience learning from your instructions. First, many thanks to you for bringing all this golden information about the cob fermenting and cure for all to see. You are being very respectful and supportive to all who respond to your postings, so my first post will be in your thread.
I like to ferment foods, like making sauerkraut, pickles and always have something fermenting on the kitchen counter. So I was searching on how to ferment weed and stumbled on your thread just about a week before I harvested my Haze13. And am I glad I did..
So I harvested the plant and hung it to dry in a closet.
Then I made a "Warm box" from a cardboard box by putting a heating element from a food dehydrator on the bottom. The temperature rises to 50C, 122F when closed. To adjust it lower, I open the top flaps a little to bring it down to 45C, 113F.
Then I went to the store and got a few fresh corncobs with the husks on. On the 2nd day after harvest, I picked the colas from the drying plant and stuffed the buds in the corn husks:
2oz buds in one cob
Also some loose buds in plastic ziplocs not vacuumed yet, together with the cobs also in ziploc bags not vacuumed yet, all go into the Warm box:
Also a small "control" bud (as you named it) together with the big cobs:
I also have 2 Panamas to be harvested in a few weeks, so I'm very excited about doing the Cob Cure from now on.
Wish me luck!
I like to ferment foods, like making sauerkraut, pickles and always have something fermenting on the kitchen counter. So I was searching on how to ferment weed and stumbled on your thread just about a week before I harvested my Haze13. And am I glad I did..
So I harvested the plant and hung it to dry in a closet.
Then I made a "Warm box" from a cardboard box by putting a heating element from a food dehydrator on the bottom. The temperature rises to 50C, 122F when closed. To adjust it lower, I open the top flaps a little to bring it down to 45C, 113F.
Then I went to the store and got a few fresh corncobs with the husks on. On the 2nd day after harvest, I picked the colas from the drying plant and stuffed the buds in the corn husks:
2oz buds in one cob
Also some loose buds in plastic ziplocs not vacuumed yet, together with the cobs also in ziploc bags not vacuumed yet, all go into the Warm box:
Also a small "control" bud (as you named it) together with the big cobs:
I also have 2 Panamas to be harvested in a few weeks, so I'm very excited about doing the Cob Cure from now on.
Wish me luck!
Hi Agronom,
Glad your going to try cobs, i think you will like those strains cured this way. Make plenty in case you really like the result. Most of my plants get cobbed. My plants are big and it stores better this way also.
Recomend you vacseal at all stages... mold is a big risk otherwise.
Your temps sound great, dont worry about 122F. I bathe at 135F and my internal cob temps are 125-129F.
Kudos making this thread your first post since joining 7 years ago!
Peace
McK
Glad your going to try cobs, i think you will like those strains cured this way. Make plenty in case you really like the result. Most of my plants get cobbed. My plants are big and it stores better this way also.
Recomend you vacseal at all stages... mold is a big risk otherwise.
Your temps sound great, dont worry about 122F. I bathe at 135F and my internal cob temps are 125-129F.
Kudos making this thread your first post since joining 7 years ago!
Peace
McK
Hi Agronom I cant add much to what my good friend McKush has said above please vacuum seal those buds and cobs the conditions are ideal for mold to grow if you dont.
The Haze will impress you I am sure cured this way, it seems to really benefit sativas and sativa dominate hybrids.
It does take a bit of practice to get perfection but the recipe we have developed over the last year or so is pretty much fool proof. Although varying the amount of time drying and curing after the sweating stage will give you differing types of results. All good some outstanding.
Welcome to the club we share all our results and together we discover better methods and fine tune the basic recipe. It does work and the tastes and highs you can get as a result will keep you coming back for more your whole life.
Please post your results with pictures to add to the data base of knowledge, we are all here to learn from each other and get higher as a result.
Tangwena
The Haze will impress you I am sure cured this way, it seems to really benefit sativas and sativa dominate hybrids.
It does take a bit of practice to get perfection but the recipe we have developed over the last year or so is pretty much fool proof. Although varying the amount of time drying and curing after the sweating stage will give you differing types of results. All good some outstanding.
Welcome to the club we share all our results and together we discover better methods and fine tune the basic recipe. It does work and the tastes and highs you can get as a result will keep you coming back for more your whole life.
Please post your results with pictures to add to the data base of knowledge, we are all here to learn from each other and get higher as a result.
Tangwena
Hi my friend yes the results are similar.
I personally like the traditional cobbing method but I like McKush do both loose and cobbed buds.
The loose buds I feel benefit from being slightly drier, but it works fine with even 1 day drying, my own preference is for 3 days drying then put an ounce or two in a vacuum bag and vacuum seal them up then sweat them for between 12 and 24hrs at 40 to 60c.
In the bag you will be able to see the buds change color over 24hrs.
When you get a color you want remove the bag from the heat source.
Open the bag and pat dry the buds with a paper towel as they will be wet from sweating, reseal the bag under vacuum and stash it at room temp or in a warm place (not hot) for 3 to 4 weeks to cold cure.
Once you open the bag after 3 weeks you should be greeted
by a sweet smell you will grow to love.
Dry the bud slowly to the same level you would normally dry them for long term storage. I then vac seal them again to age a further month or two at room temps or warm.
You can dry and taste a bud at any of the above stages for quality control but I find those time frames suite my tastes.
You can vary any of the time frames above and you will get differing results and quality.
Generally speaking the hotter the temps at all stages the more deeper and narcotic the results.
It will take a bit of practice to get the exact power you want out of this method, but after a few times you will be able to get the cure you personally prefer and it will become your signature cure
I have friends who cure a specific way to suite their own personal tastes and you can recognise their work by the results they produce.
Patience will be well rewarded.
Tangwena
Zitz
Member
Excellent thread Tangwena,
I have some questions (and I may have missed this) but is it possible to sweat cure buds that have already been dried and jar cured?
What is the optimal stage after harvest to begin the sweat cure?
Could a paper bag substitute the corn husk?
In the past I have used cured tobacco leaves instead of the corn husk with good results,
I also have a feeling the tobacco may inhibit mold to some degree.
Will be interesting to sweat cure some chunky indica buds, as this type of cure was developed with sativas in mind (Malawi etc)...
I have some questions (and I may have missed this) but is it possible to sweat cure buds that have already been dried and jar cured?
What is the optimal stage after harvest to begin the sweat cure?
Could a paper bag substitute the corn husk?
In the past I have used cured tobacco leaves instead of the corn husk with good results,
I also have a feeling the tobacco may inhibit mold to some degree.
Will be interesting to sweat cure some chunky indica buds, as this type of cure was developed with sativas in mind (Malawi etc)...
Hi Zitz I personally have never tried it with dried and jar cure but from memory there was a member here who did and reported a good result but I cant swear to that.
You can wrap the buds in most anything really but again I have not tried it. I used strong brown paper a couple of time years ago but dont anymore.
I think the only thing that I can from experience recommend to inhibit the growth of mold is the vacuum seal.
If I dont have corn husks available I just cure them loose in a vacuum bag. I have some outstanding buds cured this way I only use the corn husks to keep a traditional looking cob cure, it is not strictly needed.
I think the cobs are stronger but only from the compression of the buds it seems to effect how the buds cure but I dont know why.
I have some friends in "the club" who cure Indica types like Gorilla Glue ect and report an increase in strength and a change to the high its still way to narcotic for me, but they seem to like it.
Tangwena
The Haze will impress you I am sure cured this way, it seems to really benefit sativas and sativa dominate hybrids.
As this thread has shown, time improves the strength and quality of the high of thin leaved, landrace equatorial "sativa" strains that have been cobbed (fermented) and it also improves the strength and quality of the high from thin leaved strains which are dried and cured, not by cobbing but with the usual way of hang dry then bottle (not fermented or vac-ed) storage.
It's highly probable the reason why there is this improvement is due to the mix of terpenes in those equatorial strains and modern thin leaved hydrids that benefit greater from both the cobbing and the standard method of crying and curing than with wide leaved hybrid strains that must contain terpenes that do not improve greatly with time to the same extent (by a county mile).
I grew some GN Reunion Zamal (pronounced Zah-Mal) and the high went from 3 out 10 just after drying to 9 out of 10 after 3 or 4 months of storage, I've experienced the same with Thais and other equatorial strains I've grown too. I've never seen such a huge improvement with any of the many modern hybrids with wide leaves I've grown.
and on another subject....I like the high from cobbing, but the result I ended up with was as hard and dense as hard hash and not suited to vaping or rolling jays as it's just too dense and compacted, there's no way this could be smoked in a jay and vaping doesn't seem to have the same "ooomph" as using a bong..maybe I should try cobbing this time without compacting them? I don't want to lose trichomes to the inside of the bag so maybe I'll put a frame of some type inside the bag with the bud so it can be vac-sealed and not be squashed? Is that the way to go Tangwena?
As this thread has shown, time improves the strength and quality of the high of thin leaved, landrace equatorial "sativa" strains that have been cobbed (fermented) and it also improves the strength and quality of the high from thin leaved strains which are dried and cured, not by cobbing but with the usual way of hang dry then bottle (not fermented or vac-ed) storage.
It's highly probable the reason why there is this improvement is due to the mix of terpenes in those equatorial strains and modern thin leaved hydrids that benefit greater from both the cobbing and the standard method of crying and curing than with wide leaved hybrid strains that must contain terpenes that do not improve greatly with time to the same extent (by a county mile).
I grew some GN Reunion Zamal (pronounced Zah-Mal) and the high went from 3 out 10 just after drying to 9 out of 10 after 3 or 4 months of storage, I've experienced the same with Thais and other equatorial strains I've grown too. I've never seen such a huge improvement with any of the many modern hybrids with wide leaves I've grown.
and on another subject....I like the high from cobbing, but the result I ended up with was as hard and dense as hard hash and not suited to vaping or rolling jays as it's just too dense and compacted, there's no way this could be smoked in a jay and vaping doesn't seem to have the same "ooomph" as using a bong..maybe I should try cobbing this time without compacting them? I don't want to lose trichomes to the inside of the bag so maybe I'll put a frame of some type inside the bag with the bud so it can be vac-sealed and not be squashed? Is that the way to go Tangwena?
seeded
Active member
I tried it on already dried and cured buds and it did nothing to them until I added water. They didn't change colour or effect me in any way at all until I sprayed them with water and then a day later when I pulled them out of the yogurt maker I ate a bud and it smashed me.
I don't know the exact moisture percentage needed for the cure to work but I do know the more water there is the faster it works but the same goes for heat and everything else really. It's a balancing act to get it just right but once you get close it'll become an obsession and like tangwena said before long you'll come up with your own style based on the plants you're growing and perfect it based on your tastes. There's no shortcuts though, only trial and error so just assume you're going to ruin a batch here, consume too much there, etc. now to get it out of the way and you'' have your own signature strain and method down pat in now time
Hi my friend some vacuum machines have an appliance port. Its just a hole into which a tube can be inserted.
I have a "food saver brand by sunbeam" they also sell a kit that adapts mason jars so they can vacuum the contents inside.
Once the buds in the jar are a vacuum you can sweat them by warming the jar I use a yogurt maker but others use a crock pot set to low.
Any heat source like heat mat or blanket will do. You can see the buds shrivel and change color as the water leaves them as they sweat.
The buds remain whole and you will not loose any trichs.
The buds will need to be dried properly after this sweat because they will be too wet for long term storage.
Then just age them as normal.
I dont worry about loosing a few trichs if the pot is so weak you have to be worrying about that you need to get some better pot.
I dont worry about handling the buds with kid gloves and trying to keep them looking pristine but thats just me I can understand if you do.
Just dont get obsessive about it. The results when done properly are strong enough for this to not be an issue.
The hard like a piece of wood cobs are best smoked ground up like a piece of hash. I have never had a problem rolling joints from them.
Usually they are only pin size joints and 2 or 3 drags are more than enough to get you high. If its taking more than that again you must have a weak strain or it was picked too early.
I only grow strong sativas and try and pick them fully matured.
Its not a magic cure it cant make weak pot strong. You need good quality going in to get good quality coming out.
Please post some pictures if you can that way we can see what you have been doing.
Tangwena
Agronom
Member
Results from the Haze13 sweat period. (Loose buds)
Results from the Haze13 sweat period. (Loose buds)
The loose buds stayed in the Warm box at 45C for 3 days in a ziploc bag, vacuumed, as per the advice of Tangwena and McKush.
On the 3rd day I pulled them out on the open air to dry and inspect.
The buds have absolutely no mold, looked at them with a magnifier very thoroughly.
The smell was of some sweet ferment, not rotting, not like compost, I do make compost in the back yard so it's nothing like that, a very familiar smell, but couldn't compare it to anything. I felt, it was almost in my genes and as old as the world. Very organic, some sweet and some sour, and the more I smell it, the more I like it.
The color is light brown copper-ish bronze, rich, no green, I guess the chlorophyll was all eaten up, or converted to something else.
Loose buds, before:
Loose buds after 3 days in Warm box at 45C:
The buds were left to partially dry on the open air, then placed in a jar and vacuum sealed for the next stage of the cure, 3-4 weeks at room temp. The RH inside the jar is 85%.
Cobs report in the next post.
Results from the Haze13 sweat period. (Loose buds)
The loose buds stayed in the Warm box at 45C for 3 days in a ziploc bag, vacuumed, as per the advice of Tangwena and McKush.
On the 3rd day I pulled them out on the open air to dry and inspect.
The buds have absolutely no mold, looked at them with a magnifier very thoroughly.
The smell was of some sweet ferment, not rotting, not like compost, I do make compost in the back yard so it's nothing like that, a very familiar smell, but couldn't compare it to anything. I felt, it was almost in my genes and as old as the world. Very organic, some sweet and some sour, and the more I smell it, the more I like it.
The color is light brown copper-ish bronze, rich, no green, I guess the chlorophyll was all eaten up, or converted to something else.
Loose buds, before:
Loose buds after 3 days in Warm box at 45C:
The buds were left to partially dry on the open air, then placed in a jar and vacuum sealed for the next stage of the cure, 3-4 weeks at room temp. The RH inside the jar is 85%.
Cobs report in the next post.
Agronom
Member
Results from the Haze13 sweat period (Cobs)
Results from the Haze13 sweat period (Cobs)
The cobs stayed in the Warm box for 2 days at 45C. The color is similar to the loose buds and the smell is the same too with a little bit of the corn husk mixed, not bad at all. No mold whatsoever.
The cobs were very wet when came out of the bag, and their size got a bit smaller. And there were no trichomes stuck to the inner side of the corn husk.
Trichomes compare in the next post.
Results from the Haze13 sweat period (Cobs)
The cobs stayed in the Warm box for 2 days at 45C. The color is similar to the loose buds and the smell is the same too with a little bit of the corn husk mixed, not bad at all. No mold whatsoever.
The cobs were very wet when came out of the bag, and their size got a bit smaller. And there were no trichomes stuck to the inner side of the corn husk.
Trichomes compare in the next post.
Hi Agronom I cant see the pictures but I like your description of the smells and colors.
You are on the way to a new experience my friend.
Respect to you for giving it a go. Dry the cobs about 50% from what they are now, until the skin is dry to the touch. Then vacuum them to age this is the critical stage.
Tangwena
You are on the way to a new experience my friend.
Respect to you for giving it a go. Dry the cobs about 50% from what they are now, until the skin is dry to the touch. Then vacuum them to age this is the critical stage.
Tangwena
I think you need to check your settings make sure you have the pictures set to view by anyone. Can you see the pics? Have you got an album on here I can look at them there.
It might be me I am having a great day at the carnaval I have going on inside my head courtesy of 0.35g of Mulanji buds I loose sweated in a bag 3 months ago ha ha
Much to be recommended about the high from this baby.
Tangwena
It might be me I am having a great day at the carnaval I have going on inside my head courtesy of 0.35g of Mulanji buds I loose sweated in a bag 3 months ago ha ha
Much to be recommended about the high from this baby.
Tangwena
Agronom
Member
Hi Tangwena, yes, the album is public here is the link:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=72956
https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=72956
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