Anyone? Have been trying the last few harvests and I won’t go back.
9 Likes
I assume bubble hash?
or are you doing something interesting with flower?
Cheers
G
5 Likes
https://harvestright.com/product/home-freeze-dryer/
I tested one years ago, in a friend’s lab with my own weed. mighty is right, you don’t come back to hanging. It’s very different that the cigar vaults branded for canna, a lot faster too. You smoke fresh weed, but dry … it’s really an impressive render to know.
I planned for the next year (some events to do) a little unit + Co² canning ^^
10 Likes
I been wanting one for a while, but the machines are very expensive.
6 Likes
Ordinary harvest of flower. The “live cure” or “cryo cure” is how I have seen it described. The sublimation process used to dry also helps break down chlorophyll etc, so your end result is not truly cured bud but lets say it is pretty well along its way. Also supposed to result in better potency, different terpenes and so on.
At harvest time, cut down flowers and pre freeze. I set freeze dryer to initial freeze of -20f, 2 hours extra time, dry temp of 70f, 4 hours extra time. The extra dry time helps with the live curing process. After the machine is done running its cycle, I open the door a crack and let it defrost with flower inside. Freshly freeze dried flower will be over dry and a bit brittle so leaving it to defrost helps pull back just the right bit of moisture for me, ymmv. However the fresh stuff is better preserved for long term, and old stoners have many tricks to add a little moisture back into it when you’re ready to break it out. That brittle fresh dried stuff is also good for extract making.
Great to have a harvest ready to smoke in 24 hours time but also the ‘live’ aspect does change the experience. Similar to the live rosin type products just with flower.
Freshly squeezed bubble hash can also be pre frozen and run through at the same settings to produce a nice texture in short order
14 Likes
Huh.
Definitely seen them CryoCure machines.
Badass, but not practical for a tent grower.
Actually using a freeze dryer for the flower, that’s new to me. But cool as hell if it works.
I actually think I’ve heard some old heads say they used to just throw fresh harvest buds paper bagged straight in the freezer for a month or so of “drying”.
Huh. The more you know.
Right on! 
6 Likes
I hang dry and then into ziplocks with a bit of air, which i vacuum seal and freeze. Thus keeping correct moisture levels.
9 Likes
Clever, I’ll need to give this a try.
4 Likes
Very interesting.
2 Likes
Comes out loud and proud. Im cheap and i use the sealer for meat, vegetables and herbs.
11 Likes
Yeah, my vacuum sealer also gets put through the paces with meat and the garden.
Guess I’ve been using it wrong. 
3 Likes
Also works great to seal plastie type bags i.e. chips, bagged seasonings, etc
2 Likes
I hang it up until it’s dry enough to burn. THEN I BURN IT ALL !!!
bwaaa haa haaa !!!
12 Likes
I still like my glass.
And I’ll vacuum seal sometimes too.
11 Likes
I’ve been wanting to test this method for years but never had a suitable frost-free/nofrost freezer.
Now I have one and plan to hang dry the hole plants as usual for a couple days till the stems snap and then into paper bags/cartons into the nofrost freezer for a couple weeks and then see what the result is.
The idea is that the nofrost freezer exchanges the air regularly (like burping jars) to keep frost from building up so it should theoretically work quite well. Many swear by it.
I will give it a go.
6 Likes
Benefits of freeze drying wont apply since you Are Not freeze drying.
The Wohle thing about freeze drying is preserving volatile compounds through instantly freeze drying the plant After harvest.
You freeze it and Remove the water in a vaccuum through sublimation.
4 Likes
I think its just hype.
I’d have to go out of my way to buy anything better than what I’m pulling out of my tent & drying using what I have.
Is it better? Probably, but not worth the price of admission for a hobby/home grower… maybe when the tech gets better and prices come down.
2 Likes
Its Not. There is No better way for preserving terpenes, terpenoids, flavonoids and so on.
The flower will also stay the Same size its on the plant, making some Bad Ass bah appeal.
That 100% True
4 Likes
The idea is that with a nofrost freezer the walls of the freezer are periodically warmed and the air sucked out/replaced with fresh air. And that at sub zero temperatures.
It’s not the same idea as freeze drying.
It’s the same idea as fermenting/curing in a wine cooler or cannatrol these days. But at sub zero temps instead of room temps.
It’s nothing new, I just never tried it. Several very experienced growers like Marlo over on ICmag swear by this method.
You chop the plants whole, only removing the big sun leafs. Hang dry it till the stem snaps as usual. Instead of in jars you then put it in the nofrost freezer. Uncovered and spread out in either paper bags or cartboard boxes or the like.
The idea is that the cure is slowed down slightly but more or less the same timeframe as in jars. It’s just all happening in the cold and with “constant burping” so to speak through the automation of the nofrost freezer.
Most people who used that technique claimed the buds came out absolutely perfect.
Some like Marlo then took it a step further and after 20-30 days in the nofrost freezer curing they then vacuum sealed the buds and put them back in the freezer.
Marlo for example vacuum sealed the buds in smaller units and then took out whatever he would smoke over the next couple weeks. After opening the vacuum seal he said he gave it a couple minutes to an hour to get back to room temp and then kept it regularly in jars while smoking.
He claimed with this method the buds always came out perfect, like they had just been perfectly cured and not lost anything after reaching their zenith from the cure.
To me it makes sense and I always wanted to try it. Now I finally have a whole nofrost freezer I can dedicate for this job and will check it out. Will report in my thread Broseidon’s Corner when the time comes.
3 Likes
ive smoked freeze dried weed and did not care for it. freeze dry is awesome for drying bubble.
The only reason i would freeze dry bud would be to use it to make a static dry sift hash from fresh frozen material.
5 Likes