Experiment: Vacuum Drying With Desiccant

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Canalchemist

Canalchemist

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Smell is less prevalent, the fresh smell from yesterday has dissipated a lot. I am guessing I lost some volatile oils in the process, but once the cure is on it's way I am sure the smell will improve.
 
Muckman420

Muckman420

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If it ain't an experiment it ain't no fun ;). I'm always questioning everything, tried and true works but there many ways to skin a cat and whose to say the tried and true methods aren't fundamentaly flawed in some minor way or another.

It's how we went from crank engines to modern engines, your like the guy redesigning the damn thing to work better.

Always a great spot to be in regardless of outcome, you may see me doing oddball things as well from time to time.
 
MrBelvedere

MrBelvedere

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Do you think may be vacuum caused the Trichome heads to implode? Also did the buds shrink like crazy because of the vacuum pressure?
 
Muckman420

Muckman420

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Dunge said:
A good friend tells a story about working in a Hawaiian greenhouse in the 80s where curing was done in a closed box with a dehumidifier.
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How was the smoke on that? My mom said also back in the 70's my pop had plants he could cut buds off of all year round.... I wouldn't doubt it didn't dry horrible, especially in Hawaii
 
Canalchemist

Canalchemist

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Actually I don't think they imploded so much as they grew and shrank. When your remove the atmospheric pressure things tend to give the appearance of swelling, at least chicken does when I marinate it in there. There would be no air in the trichome but whatever gases may be in there would expand thus increasing the size of the trichome and possibly rupturing it or tearing it from the stock wear it sits, in the picture I took you can see plenty of stalks but only a few heads, still plenty but the difference is observable.

When the pressure is returned to atmosphere, everything shrinks back to normal, minus the gases that evaporated from the bud IE moisture and whatever gases and volatiles.
 
MrBelvedere

MrBelvedere

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Canalchemist said:
Actually I don't think they imploded so much as they grew and shrank. When your remove the atmospheric pressure things tend to give the appearance of swelling, at least chicken does when I marinate it in there. There would be no air in the trichome but whatever gases may be in there would expand thus increasing the size of the trichome and possibly rupturing it or tearing it from the stock wear it sits, in the picture I took you can see plenty of stalks but only a few heads, still plenty but the difference is observable.

When the pressure is returned to atmosphere, everything shrinks back to normal, minus the gases that evaporated from the bud IE moisture and whatever gases and volatiles.
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I think I understand what you're saying, when you kept opening the jar and then dehumidifying every time you did that cycle it was growing bigger, and then getting smaller and then growing bigger and then getting smaller and the cycles cause it to weaken the bond with trichome head?

So if you just let it sit there for a week or two then they probably would not fall off?
 
Muckman420

Muckman420

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MrBelvedere said:
I think I understand what you're saying, when you kept opening the jar and then dehumidifying every time you did that cycle it was growing bigger, and then getting smaller and then growing bigger and then getting smaller and the cycles cause it to weaken the bond with trichome head?

So if you just let it sit there for a week or two then they probably would not fall off?
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At a constant vacuum they wouldn't need a week or two to dry completely
 
MrBelvedere

MrBelvedere

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I was just curious because if you can get the heads to drop off by cycling, it would be a way to make kief. You could put the jar in a ultrasonic jewelry cleaner to keep it vibrating so they all fell off or something
 
Canalchemist

Canalchemist

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Under a constant vacuum at a specific temperature the moisture in the buds would evaporate but only be allowed to occupy so much of the volume, if I increase the temperature it is possible to allow more moisture to be vapour, This is where the desiccant works to remove the moisture from the air in the vacuum, if I had left it I am not sure how long it would have taken, Next harvest I will do another experiment leaving it in the chamber for a week. Maybe even put it in the freezer, do a freeze vacuum dried bud.
 
Muckman420

Muckman420

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Canalchemist said:
Under a constant vacuum at a specific temperature the moisture in the buds would evaporate but only be allowed to occupy so much of the volume, if I increase the temperature it is possible to allow more moisture to be vapour, This is where the desiccant works to remove the moisture from the air in the vacuum, if I had left it I am not sure how long it would have taken, Next harvest I will do another experiment leaving it in the chamber for a week. Maybe even put it in the freezer, do a freeze vacuum dried bud.
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That would definitely slow down swelling, but what if the moisture was trapped after a certain point. Like sucking on the straw of a fresh milkshake as opposed to one you have been holding for a min..... What temp you thinkin, 35f roughly, then were workin with very delecate trichomes yes?
 
Canalchemist

Canalchemist

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Interesting, Ultrasonic, I need to see if I can mount a transducer to the chamber and build a screen. I could mount a solenoid valve on the relief side, and a pressure switch inseries with the transducer and vacuum pump.

Could be a great live hash machine.
 
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