I think I am losing taste in my cures. Need Help!

[WickedMichelle]

I have been following the general practices for mason jars. Amber glass, store in a dark dry place, i put in thermometers and moisture packs. I burp as recommended. For some reason I am getting better flavor right from the plant at harvest and not after curing.

Well, I take that back, some of the cured buds do have good flavor, others taste like they came from a well diggers ass.

So, as I am harvesting my 3rd grow. I went another direction for curing. I have been reading some good things on grove bags. I picked up a pack of 1 .oz bags and started filling them with the harvest. I do not have moisture packs for this harvest but I do have thermometers. All reading around 55%. The moisture of the buds are ranging from 10.5 to 11.7. I did not test every bud but did a good number of random tests and nothing under 10 and nothing over 12. That is on the flowers. The stems were varied based on the thickness. Some reading 25.5 or more.

I am using a Vivosun moisture meter, setting 1 for the softest wood. I could have sworn there was a flower setting in the ad I purchased this thing from. UG!

So.... I sampled a bud during harvest. I was very impressed with the taste. One of the best tasting plants I have grown to date. Watermelon would be another really good taste but again, some of that was good, others not so good and some downright horrible.

When I am trimming, I remove the stems and leaves leaving only buds. All buds under the size of a nickle (if bigger than a nickle and sparse and fluffy) will get put into the pile I will use for cooking.

So this sample bud was really good. Had a really nice fruity flavor. I grabbed another sample out of one of the grove bags from the same strain and it did not taste as good. Around 24 hours later. I could still taste the fruity flavors but it now has a bit of an after taste or side taste along with the fruit.

I saw something about flushing and using molasses to get a sweeter flavor. I did do this. Maybe I need to flush longer? I figure when I start getting dark or yellowing leaves all the nutrients are draining. Maybe I need to wait until I have more of those.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[carlosescobar]

Im going to aim this time to deplete as much chlorophyl as i can as i think its that which made me cough so much with my first one.
wouldnt rice be good for drawing moisture out of curing plants? im just thinking out loud here.

 

[Ninjadogma]

Folks swear by those grove bags... My wife bought me some for Christmas so I tried them out on my winter harvest. I was very impressed with how it held proper moisture and kept a whole lot of the smell. But it didn't seem to dial in the taste as good as the old tried and true jar burping. And while jar burping lends a killer taste if you keep up with it a solid 3 months, it loses a lot of that dank smell. Everybody likes their pot their own way. While it would be awesome to have killer taste with dank smell, I'm okay with killer taste and pleasant mild aroma.

But I'm not ready to accept that this is the way things are. I pulled the grove cured stash out of the bags and put them in jars and started burping to see if I can improve taste with some burping, or I might find it's too far along in the cure to make a difference now. We play, we learn.

 

[WickedMichelle]

Folks swear by those grove bags... My wife bought me some for Christmas so I tried them out on my winter harvest. I was very impressed with how it held proper moisture and kept a whole lot of the smell. But it didn't seem to dial in the taste as good as the old tried and true jar burping. And while jar burping lends a killer taste if you keep up with it a solid 3 months, it loses a lot of that dank smell. Everybody likes their pot their own way. While it would be awesome to have killer taste with dank smell, I'm okay with killer taste and pleasant mild aroma.

But I'm not ready to accept that this is the way things are. I pulled the grove cured stash out of the bags and put them in jars and started burping to see if I can improve taste with some burping, or I might find it's too far along in the cure to make a difference now. We play, we learn.

UG, that is depressing. I wanted to avoid jars this time as I lose a lot of the crystals to the sides and bottom when the buds rub against each other.

They stick to the sides and bottom. I never seem to get kief from my grinds. Well, I get a little, too little from so much that I grind.

I hope that it well get better. Maybe it's gassing or what ever it does to cure and I need to be patient. Of course, I am out of my last harvest and dipping into this one as needed.

 

[Ninjadogma]

UG, that is depressing. I wanted to avoid jars this time as I lose a lot of the crystals to the sides and bottom when the buds rub against each other.

They stick to the sides and bottom. I never seem to get kief from my grinds. Well, I get a little, too little from so much that I grind.

I hope that it well get better. Maybe it's gassing or what ever it does to cure and I need to be patient. Of course, I am out of my last harvest and dipping into this one as needed.

One of the interesting things I took away from playing with curing thus far has been the the time cycle for good curing is a helluva lot longer than I ever thought. It doesn't really begin to taste good until around 3 months, and tops out somewhere around 6 months. So the real challenge is growing enough weed that you can burp a jar for 6 months without needing to keep pulling from it, lol. There's a distinct note of vanilla in Ice Cream Cake and I don't really begin to taste it until it's cured for about four months. Until then it's more of a 'spice cake" flavor. But when that vanilla opens iup it's like holy crap where you been hiding?

 

[Halloweed]

I love ice cream cake. I want to get some seeds. I have not seen any in auto form but might just get photos.

As for the grove bags, I just tried them out on my last harvest and they do a decent job I think. You don't even need the humidity packs. I do throw a thermometer in there but I was shocked to see they work.

I'm not sure if they stay in them though. Got some oreoz bday cake curing for 3 months now. It does seem to taste better with time.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

@WickedMichelle -

Can I assume you're smoking the buds and not vaping them? We tend to prefer vaped weed to be drier.

I'm also wondering if you put the buds in Grove bags without drying them beforehand. If you're putting them directly into the bags, then I think you might be getting some fungi growth. That'll taste awful. We use Grove bags, and we dry for a week to 10 days, depending on the weather. Sometimes we trim the buds before they go into the dryer and other times we don't. We experiment with that.

 

[shooter64738]

Last year I put some bud in cheese cloth and left it in my cigar humidor (which I wipe out with Pendleton bourbon every few months) everyone says that's the best tasting stuff they've ever had. Could try a cigar humidor made out of spanish cedar to do your cure in. It might help bring some flavors out, or maybe add some to it. It'll def hold at a specific humidity for months at a time!

I've always done dry trim, and I try to get the bud down to 60% humidity. Below 55% gets a little harsh, but I don't know how well 60% would be for long term storage. It doesn't last that long here. 6 months maybe...

 

[Captspaulding]

Exactly what moisture packs are you talking about??
Just desiccant packs
Or the 62% packs


Because people use those 62% packs thinking that they’re gonna magically balance their jar to 62%. That’s not what they’re for the 62% deals are for if you have stuff that is dried out too much you put them in the jar with the overdried herb in order to bring those numbers back up closer to 62% just in case you didn’t know.

A lot of people use those things wrong. I’m not saying it’s you. I’m just saying this stuff just in case.

 

[WickedMichelle]

@WickedMichelle -

Can I assume you're smoking the buds and not vaping them? We tend to prefer vaped weed to be drier.

I'm also wondering if you put the buds in Grove bags without drying them beforehand. If you're putting them directly into the bags, then I think you might be getting some fungi growth. That'll taste awful. We use Grove bags, and we dry for a week to 10 days, depending on the weather. Sometimes we trim the buds before they go into the dryer and other times we don't. We experiment with that.

No, they have been drying. As mentioned above, I purchased a moisture meter and buds are between 10 and 12. I think the highest on one bud was 11.7, lowest 10.2.

 

[WickedMichelle]

@WickedMichelle -

Can I assume you're smoking the buds and not vaping them? We tend to prefer vaped weed to be drier.

I'm also wondering if you put the buds in Grove bags without drying them beforehand. If you're putting them directly into the bags, then I think you might be getting some fungi growth. That'll taste awful. We use Grove bags, and we dry for a week to 10 days, depending on the weather. Sometimes we trim the buds before they go into the dryer and other times we don't. We experiment with that.

Yes, smoking. I bought a dry vape but all the strains taste the same. I do not like it. Waste of 70.00

 

[WickedMichelle]

Exactly what moisture packs are you talking about??
Just desiccant packs
Or the 62% packs


Because people use those 62% packs thinking that they’re gonna magically balance their jar to 62%. That’s not what they’re for the 62% deals are for if you have stuff that is dried out too much you put them in the jar with the overdried herb in order to bring those numbers back up closer to 62% just in case you didn’t know.

A lot of people use those things wrong. I’m not saying it’s you. I’m just saying this stuff just in case.

Last harvest was too dry. I have the 62% packs. They did not raise the moisture at all. I had to cut some fan leaves and add them to the jars to get the moisture up. They did level off at around 59%.

 

[Galgrows]

One of the interesting things I took away from playing with curing thus far has been the the time cycle for good curing is a helluva lot longer than I ever thought. It doesn't really begin to taste good until around 3 months, and tops out somewhere around 6 months. So the real challenge is growing enough weed that you can burp a jar for 6 months without needing to keep pulling from it, lol. There's a distinct note of vanilla in Ice Cream Cake and I don't really begin to taste it until it's cured for about four months. Until then it's more of a 'spice cake" flavor. But when that vanilla opens iup it's like holy crap where you been hiding?

Amen brother. It's holding onto to it for more than 3 months is the hard part.

 

[Galgrows]

Hey how come your buds don't get bigger than a nickel?

 

[WickedMichelle]

Hey how come your buds don't get bigger than a nickel?

lower buds. I am still learning to lollipop. Hell.... even after the trims I still had bottom bud that kept popping back up. I was constantly pinching tow of the 4 plants. The other two were in the back and were much bushier LOL.

 

[Oldchucky]

I think maybe your bags are too small! And your stuffing too much in! In my opinion, you can’t put Jack inside of a 1 ounce Grove bag! I’ve got a few quarter pound bags that I don’t even bother to use anymore! I think the weed needs a little room to breathe! And a three week cure is pretty weak! Six months to a year minimum! In my opinion! I’ve still got Grove bags from the harvest of 2022 that is in pretty good shape! Good luck with it! Just two cents!

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

As mentioned above, I purchased a moisture meter and buds are between 10 and 12. I think the highest on one bud was 11.7, lowest 10.2.

I am not familiar with those units. I usually use percent relative humidity. Do you know the RH?

I don't do the after-trimming processing. My wife likes doing that part. She puts a few buds in a plastic bag (or a jar with a lid) with a hygrometer to decide when to remove the whole lot of them from the drying tent.

I bought a dry vape but all the strains taste the same. I do not like it. Waste of 70.00

We only vape now because it's so much better for the lungs. I'm not sure why yours tasted the same. It could've been the temperature. Maybe?

I have the 62% packs. They did not raise the moisture at all.

I've never understood how the packs could raise the RH higher than the ambient RH. Using leaves to raise the humidity is a good idea. We usually use small pieces of carrots.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I think maybe your bags are too small! And your stuffing too much in! In my opinion, you can’t put Jack inside of a 1 ounce Grove bag! I’ve got a few quarter pound bags that I don’t even bother to use anymore! I think the weed needs a little room to breathe! And a three week cure is pretty weak! Six months to a year minimum! In my opinion! I’ve still got Grove bags from the harvest of 2022 that is in pretty good shape! Good luck with it! Just two cents!

We use 1-ounce Grove bags, but we don't fill them full. We just use multiple bags. We usually fill about a quarter of the bag. For us, the bags are only used for a month or two before the buds go into Mason jars, so we reuse them.

 

[Ninjadogma]

Exactly what moisture packs are you talking about??
Just desiccant packs
Or the 62% packs


Because people use those 62% packs thinking that they’re gonna magically balance their jar to 62%. That’s not what they’re for the 62% deals are for if you have stuff that is dried out too much you put them in the jar with the overdried herb in order to bring those numbers back up closer to 62% just in case you didn’t know.

A lot of people use those things wrong. I’m not saying it’s you. I’m just saying this stuff just in case.

Oh I definitely use them in ways they weren't designed to be used, including reusing them by resetting them.

The Bovedas are for sure two way but they are designed to maintain a set humidity value... Adding a little moisture or taking a little out to keep the value. You can't use a Bovedas to move the needle from a different RH value to the listed value. Well you can but you're not gonna move the needle much.

Reuse: I reset my old boveda packs by putting a little bit of water in the bottom of a jar and throwing an unsealed zip lock of boveda in the jar with the lid sealed and put out in the warm air during the day. the zip locks make sure they get only vapor and not water. The proper consistency is gel feel with a few beads inside. If it's all gel it will only release needed moisture and not remove excess, and if it's mostly beads it will only absorb moisture, not release it.

Anyway, this is what I've picked up from playing with them for a while. You don't want to use dessicants to dry your weed... but they can work pretty good at keeping your basement tent from becoming a swamp.

 

[Captspaulding]

Last harvest was too dry. I have the 62% packs. They did not raise the moisture at all. I had to cut some fan leaves and add them to the jars to get the moisture up. They did level off at around 59%.

It fully depends on what size you use they come in multiple sizes