After you have put all your effort in growing and drying your cannabis properly you might think your done. Well you could be, but for the real connoisseurs there is still a way to improve the quality, taste and odor of your cannabis: Curing!
Just like drying, curing your cannabis is a method that could make or break the smell and taste of your product. If done good, it will take out the grassy, sharp taste and leave you with a very sweet, resin-like odor that will taste very good.
Once you start curing you’ll activate 2 processes in your cannabis:
- The last bit of moisture will divide equally over the bud
- Breakdown of natural sugars and Chlorophyll in cannabis
Because most of your cannabis is quite dry already, The most important aspect of curing cannabis is the breakdown of certain sugars and the terpene Chlorophyll. This proces is what causes the great improvement of taste and smell.
The breakdown of sugars wil leave you with a smoother, not too sharp smoke. The breakdown of the terpene Chlorophyll will reduce the raw, grassy sharp taste. So be patient and wait for them to break down to get the best results!
How to cure your cannabis in a proper way?
The first thing you need to do before you’ll start is selecting the right buds you want to cure. Look for buds with small amounts of mold/rot and check if they are dry enough. Then take these apart and don’t add them to your curing jugs. If you don’t know what “dry enough” is, check the tests in this article!
Once you have selected the right buds, it’s time for the curing process. Get yourself a brown, paper bag and put your buds into it. Never use a plastic or white paper bag. These can sause mold and have chemicals that oyu don’t want to consume. Just leave them in for a few days and shake them once in a while. Also don’t fill the bags too much, leave some space for the buds to “breath”.
After a few days your buds will be dry enough and ready for the next curing phase. Make sure to trim them properly and cut off all the unnecessary branches so it leaves you with 100% bud.
Next: get yourself some glass jars with air-tight lids and fill them with your buds untill 2/3 of the jar is filled. The first week or 2 it’s recommended to put the lid on loosely so a small amount of fresh air will reach the buds. This helps the breakdown of sugars.
Now it’s important to keep an eye on your buds and watch them closely when they cure. Take them out once a day and check them for mold or moist. If found, take the particulair buds out and leave them out of the jar.
Also look for mildew and damp on the jar, these are signs your material is still to moist and need to dry a little more.
Now just be patience, Curing might take some weeks but it’s really worth the effort if you ask me. It also depends on the strain and density of the buds. The longer you let them cure, the smoother and better tasting your product will be, just always keep watching for mold/damp!
You could test it every know and then untill you’re content about the taste.
Using a hygrometer when curing cannabis
If you are a perfectionist and want to get the best results, it may be a good idea to get yourself a small hygrometer. This is a device that measures moisture content in a certain area and is also required in your growroom.
Place the hygrometer in the jars to give you the possibility to check it’s moisture content at any moment. This moisture content percentage tells you a lot about the curing process and the moment it’s finished.
Moisture content percentages and what they mean
- 70% +: Your material is still way too moist, let them dry out of the jar.
- 65 – 70%: The material is almost dry enough to start curing. You can leave them in the jar with the lid open until it drops to under 65%
- 60 – 65%: The buds are dry enough and branches are snapping off easily so it’s time to start the curing process. Close the lids good and only open them once a day for a few minutes to let the cannabis “breath”
- 55 – 60%: The nugs have been cured for a while know and are dry enough to be stored for a while without worrying about mold or dew. You don’t have to let it “breath” anymore.
- 55% or lower: The moisture content is getting too low now. The buds won’t cure anymore and feel very dry and fragile. Try to avoid this moisture level if you are still planning to cure them.
To help you control the moisture content levels there is something called: Boveda humidipaks, these are little bags that you can add to your jar. These will stop your moisture content from dropping but remember: once under 55% it won’t be possible to start curing anymore
Curing cannabis takes time but it definitly leaves you with the best tasting product you can get. If it’s worth the effort really depends on yourself and the possibilities you have. Got more tips on how to cure your cannabis in a proper way? Make sure to leave them in the comment section below!
