Some history for y'all
The Malawi cob is an interesting rendition of Cannabis, Malawi style. We take a dive into the story behind it and how it is made today.
fieldsofgreenforall.org.za
This I found interesting ... pressure ... pressure ... pressure ...
I wrapped 2 cobs this past week ...
1 smaller/skinnier one of Lemon Haze ...
... plant had been hanging for 2 days after harvest
1 phatter one from Blue Dream ...
... harvested that morning, and bud trimmed and cobbled 6 hours later
... this was my experiment based on "the plant should almost be alive" anecdotal quote
I don't have a vacuum sealer, and figured that the original rural Malawians probably didn't have one either. So I improvised.
- wrapped and rolled and unwrapped and re-rolled my trimmed bud heads in the mielie (corn) husk as tightly as I could
- wrapped the cob in cling film again as tightly as I could
( I know that's not as "air removed" to the extent of a vacuum, but hey ... see my original/traditional Malawian comment above )
- I then added my outer binding over the cling film
- I made my best effort at getting the binding as tight as I could. I wrapped in a spiral from top to bottom, then back again, then top to bottom, then back again, making sure to cover all the gaps between the binding spirals as close as possible
By the time I was done, the bud and cob were super compressed, and I figure that pretty much most of the air was squeezed out ... there's simply no space for any but the smallest amount to hide.
Next step was to wrap the cobs in a kitchen towel, and then loosely bundled in a sheet, and into our slow cooker/ceramic crock pot. Heat on low for 30 mins, then off for an hour, then back on low ... repeat as often as possible for a day.
The idea behind the sheet bundle was to prevent any part of the cob from direct contact with the hot ceramic. I wanted a general surrounding low slow bake, not an edge fry.
- - -
When I did a binding unwrap, cling film unwrap inspection yesterday, I saw that the skinny tail end of the phat Blue Dream cob husk had split slightly, and man oh man! The exposed bud was dark dark green to black, and already 'melting' or 'fusing' into a homogeneous lump after only one day.
That's where I'm convinced the pressure comes in. Not only expelling any air hiding in the pocket spaces, but also helping the fuse process.
I re-wrapped tightly again in a couple of fresh cling film layers, and rebound several times and tightly again with my wool. I got this so tight, that when I finished, I could squeeze quite a few drops of water out of the end.
They are now tight and hard and rigidly inflexible from the compression and binding.
- - -
These will now sit cling film sealed for a week on my sunny African windowsill between the glass and a blind where it gets and stays pretty warm.
Next weekend, the wool will come off, and the cling film ... and then I'll rebind as tight as I can manage with some natural raffia 'twine' for the 3 month air natural cure.
{edits: spelling & autocorrect }