I’m currently trying to figure out the best way to convert my extra medium sized deep freezerinto a drying cabinet. I’m having issues figuring out the proper air flow & balance of that air flow! (Where to take in air? How many holes? One big hole or a few small ones? Air exhaust… How fast should I be changing the air in the chamber? Positive pressure or negative pressure? Which is best? Should I lay cardboard along the inside walls or wood? What are your thoughts and ideas? Id love to hear them
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Hey Potent,
I have never converted a freezer but here are some of my thoughts.
Think dehydrator. You definitely don’t want anything that can absorb water in a drying space so cardboard and wood are out. The freezer should be lined with plastic/metal already making it easier to clean and non porous for water to get trapped and start growing mold. You will have you work cut out for you to get rid of the freezer smell, if you can’t wash this out likely all your weed will smell/taste like old freezer.
As for airflow/pressure, I would still go the dehydrator route with positive pressure. You will have to calculate your inside dimensions to figure out an appropriate CFM, but likely a simple floor fan with its flow vertical through the space will dry pot but again you will need trays/screens that don’t the bud roll around in the wind, shelving to support them and ideally a temperature and humidity controlled fan.
On the most basic level, having a single filtered inlet and some free-flowing venting at the top will dry weed. Will this dry it well, I can’t say. Cool idea but it will be trial and error for sure.
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Here is a negative pressure suck out style, useful for stealth since the positive pressure isnt pushing out smells before the carbon filter.
Used to have fridges as veg/drying rack, they are great since its a light and airtight construction.
Just get a hole drill,100 or 125mm depending on your ventilation gear.
One low down , one on top, extractor fan that has enough grunt to push through a carbon filter.
I used a 45W 125mm UFO duct fan I had laying around.
Like TerpSneeze said, put a slice of fiber cloth on the bottom intake, catch the dust.
If your chosen fan is having trouble getting enough flow, a few more inlet holes will help a little.
I don’t like having the bud wet for long, mold and all that, so first part of the dry ASAP.
My drying method was, max drying power until a little crisp on the surface, turn fan off, wait a while until soft again, repeat until satisfied. Continue in jars when it feels dry, open after a day, check if too moist, leave open for a while and close again, repeat until happy.
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Are you aware of “keezers”? Home brewers will put a controller on a chest freezer to keep proper temps, then store their kegs inside. They remove the freezer’s lid, install a wooden collar for mounting taps, then remount the lid. I’m sure something like this could be adapted for drying cannabis. The collar (doesn’t have to be wood) gives some extra height and a place to mount fans or run cables, plus you’d retain the ability to keep a cool temp.
Just a thought…
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Problem is gonna be the potentiometer will not let it get warm enough, 55-65. I just put a light timer on the fridge and a remote weather station in the fridge.
You don’t want to dry it, you want to bring it down to 60%RU slowly over a two week span. At 60 in sealed jars it will continue curing and not lose potency for up to a year or more. If you like drier bud throw a handful on the tray in the morning and when you get home from work it will be locked in to the humidity of your room hard like Styrafoam, not dry lava rock commercial.
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Pics look real tasty, num num.
My method is to whack it down fast at the start, 1-2 days, then start the slow dry/cure, maybe I’m missing something.
You find there is a benefit to dry over a week or 2, whats the difference?
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This is a huge help… I was actually leaning towards lining the freezer with wood/cardboard… So your a huge help
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I cure with most sugar leaf still on for rosin pressing And because I used to grow GG4 which ruins trim snips. I direct fan at back wall for airflow. It can be dried in a week but if you take it under 50% RO it is done curing where as at 60% it’s like wine and gets better with age. I actually like my cure to smoke at around 2 months, especially with Thai and oily strains.
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That’s an awesome little chest
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cool idea. I agree getting the smell out could be problematic. You want to get this thing operating inside your desired parameters before you put anything in it. Do you intend to run the compressor for temp control? if so probably need to change the thermostat for one with an appropriate temperature range.
Not gonna be able to pull air in the cabinet likely and control temp and humidity with the compressor running.
The moisture would collect on the side of the cabinet in a closed system I suspect.
I think converting an old fridge a better option.
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Ya, but I don’t have an extra fridge… Lol… I only have that deep freezer and it’s pretty much already sitting where I need it! My basement RH is around 50% on any given day. So I’m simply thinking of trying to pull in passive air for intake and venting out my flower room exhaust.
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I think your plan will work good. I dry in a tent but same idea as what you wanna do. I run my exaust fan on low with a carbon filter on it and open a few holes, keep humidy between 50 and 60% and try to keep temps below 70. I cut the big fan leaves off and hang the plants whole for a week or until i can smoke it in a bowl and then trim and jar
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Ya, I think I’m pretty much “sold” on the whole deep freezer drying cabinet. I have the smell gone already. Simply cuz I cleaned inside with some organic mold killer stuff (that stunk like crazy) the freezer smelled like it for afew days but it’s all gone now.
My answer to your question is I wouldn’t, maybe because I’m old school…I’ve had the best results just doing it the old way.
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Recently found a zip of some GG4 and anther of Panama red in the freezer that have been jarred for over a year. Put RU meter in and they are still at 64. Aged smoke is very different from a commercial cure, so many more terps intermixing for a much different flavors, much denser slower burning. Panama has taken on a strawberry lemonade taste and the GG4 is more to the sour berry side.
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Old school is ok, but step it up a bit and quality will follow. My brother in law can consistently get 2 week dries. It makes for a great product. We use this type of fan in our dry room.
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Brother, I would have to say you have great taste. I’m spoiled now, I won’t use other brands. 
The struggle is real. That equipment will be OK for now. 
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