The Bud Washing and Fridge Drying Experiment

[BlackShirt]

Welp… here we go.

I recently came across a method of drying that intrigued me. (maybe someone on this forum mentioned it, but I couldn’t find it again when I searched…)

Billed as “low and slow” drying - basically, within four hours of harvest, wet buds are placed in a paper bag in a frost-free refrigerator (35-40*F / 40-50% RH) and left for 2 weeks except for a once daily stirring. At this point, the dry (?) buds are placed into jars and cured as “normal”.

The reported benefits are hard to believe. Supposedly, volatile mono-terpenes begin to evaporate from cannabis within 4 hours of harvest, and among these are molecules that speed passage of THC through the Blood-Brain barrier. (READ AS: higher faster) In addition, preserving these terpenes allegedly improves and enhances flavor and odor.

These purported benefits were too enticing for me to pass up, so I currently have buds of Strawberry Cough separated into an 8 trial-group experiment.

Why 8 groups? So glad you asked.

Because these same wackos are also sold on a bud washing program - to the point where many won’t smoke unwashed bud. (hoy-hoy)

And there are claims that dry trimming (I most often choose to wet-trim) - thereby leaving the sugar leaves on to “protect the buds” through the cold drying process makes a difference.

With that said… I have the following variables and groups created for every combination:
Washed/Unwashed : Wet trimmed/Dry trimmed : Fridge dried/Rack dried

The washing process used was as follows: Hot water rinse → Cold water rinse → Dilute H2O2 rinse → Cold water rinse

(The hot water - cold water process reminded me of blanching. Kinda made me uncomfortable to do it to my buds. Oh well…it’s all for science.)

These buds were then hung to drip dry for 4 hours, then placed either into the fridge in a paper bag or onto the drying rack.

I will upload some pics of the process shortly. And i will give you the results after the smoke-a-thon to determine which methods (if any) stand out from the rest.

If y’all have any questions or comments- fire away. I’m still reading and researching this one… Tag in anybody i missed

@Mrcrabs @Budbrother @Jbum @Blu1 @Amjk @Covertgrower

[Mrcrabs]

Kool im strapped in, this is gona be good @Skydiver @OldSchoolGrower @AAA @garrigan62 @Big123 @GreenJewels @Cyle1 ive tagged a few people because this is such a controversial subject , because of our diffrent climates but this changes everthing because most of us have a working fridge. Cant wait for the results!!

[Cyle1]

Hell ya sounds intresting

[GreenJewels]

Oh ya, I definitely want to watch this and I’m excited to hear your results. Thanks for doing this experiment. I just might have to try the refrigerator on some of my cheese buds when I chop her Friday.
Thanks for the tag @Mrcrabs

[Chasworks]

I am lock in to follow. Interesting

[Jbum]

Thanks for the tag! Very cool definitely watching!

[Mrcrabs]

@GreenJewels NP tag a couple of your friends, , i didn’t want to be a tag hog, haha

[GreenJewels]

I bet @missiles @Amjk @Amazon66 @PurpNGold74 @Bubblehead @elheffe702 @Bubbles1 may want to watch.

[elheffe702]

Fo science. I like it. @DoobieNoobie @dbrn32 @Myfriendis410

[Bubbles1]

for sure. cheers @GreenJewels

[DoobieNoobie]

I ran across something similar. Called a harvest right freeze dryer. Used for food but lots of people been using it to dry bubble hash and even some bud. There’s also a dehydrator called MyHerbsNow that dries faster without terpene loss supposedly. I’m curious to see how this works. Not sure I’ll try it but I’m sure it might help in a emergency “I’m out of bud” kind of scenario.

I’m all about trying new things but the problem with testing new methods is the hard part of proving if they really work. And the only way to do that is lab testing.

Didn’t @Familyman try a water cure? I know totally different but figured he might be curious about the results as well.

And as per usual I’m out of likes lol.

[Familyman]

That wasn’t me but I do like to watch some scientific shizz!

[DoobieNoobie]

Dang I thought that was you. Now I gotta figure out who it was lol.

[Bubblehead]

I’m here this Gould be interesting

[Missiles]

I’m here and watching thank you @GreenJewels

[PharmerBob]

Herbsnow dryer is garbage, turned dense hard buds to light larf and on top of that it only fits 2 oz’s per unit when they claim a qp per.

[GreenJewels]

Thanks for the info
Your welcome @Missiles. We don’t want you bored on your break

[sparker]

Please tag me on this.

[BlackShirt]

Here’s the picture journey…

A few of the Strawberry cough lower branches sacrificed for the cause.

The eight experimental groups. Separated by :
bud washing / trimming method / drying method

The temperature and humidity inside the fridge. It’s not a frost-free fridge, so I deviate from the recommended here. People have reported success this way if they keep the door opening to a minimum.

The washing station. Hottest tap water I could make on the left, cold water in the middle, 3 gallons of room temperature water with 1 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide on the right. Makeshift drying rack with drip catcher on the far left. Left the washed buds to drip dry for four hours before moving them to their drying locations.

Here’s the contents of the buckets after washing a few buds. Not sure if I was surprised by any of this.

Various paper bags in the fridge. I’ve been giving them a shake once a day.

And finally, the drying rack.

@sparker

[Kcdaniels]

Cool ! Set to watching…