Drying in a fridge

Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
Glassblower4gvn said:
So how’d it come out? I use a wine chiller for my dries and cures. Complete control. I would not use a fridge though, they employ dehydration so it will dry it too fast, wine chillers are different. The taste from keeping the trichs at below 65 for entire process makes for the most incredible tastes.
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My unit is a thermoelectric wine fridge, the peltier module on a wine cooler does also dehumidify but not at the rate I want, so I put a thermoelectric dehumidifier inside the fridge. It came out fantastic. Best results are at 9c 62rh for about a month. So so so much.

I think what you are referring to is a fridge that uses a compressor, yeah those will dry the weed out quick snap if u can’t find a way of partially shielding the buds from the air in the fridge. But you can use jars with screen lids or even just jars or bags that you periodically burp the excess moisture out of and into the fridge
 
kreikrei

kreikrei

Active Member
@Blue brother
Thanks for the insightful discussion.
Hate it when there are people with such closed minds who dismiss an idea just because, EVEN THOUGH you post prof and anecdocital evidence from hundreds/thousands of growers who love this mehod.

I am 3 weeks from my first harvest and will also dry in fridge.(I dont have an A/C or a basement, and during this hot summer fridge is th only option really)

However, I missed some info, that may have been mentioned here and I missed it.

I have a clean frost free fridge with nothing else stored inside. I DO NOT have dehumidifer or fan to put inside the fridge. I DO have small temp/humidity sensors with blutooth, and will be checking the temp/humidity inside the fridge wthout opening the door.

1) Can I just cut the plant, seperate the branches and hang them? No paper bags, no jars, just hanging branches. (Or, if there ARE advantages to jars and paper bag, what are they? I will of course try to use the most efficient method)
2) The dry time is anywhere from 2-4 weeks right?
3) The less you open the doors, the better?
4))How can I test the humidity progress of the buds? Should I take some out in week 3 , separate themfrom branches , jar them and test the humidity?
If it is too high, back in the fridge, but this time in a tupperware, since thy are broken up, cannot hang them? Or is there a better method?

4)Someone mentioned humidity/temp fluctuations due to compressor? Is this a serious issue?Can it harm my buds?

Sorry for the many questions, I would appreciate if you answered evb one of them. Main ones are - can my setup work (no fan and dehumidifier) and second one - how to check the progress of the bud drying.

Thanks for the intresting read, happy growing!
 
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Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
kreikrei said:
@Blue brother
Thanks for the insightful discussion.
Hate it when there are people with such closed minds who dismiss an idea just because, EVEN THOUGH you post prof and anecdocital evidence from hundreds/thousands of growers who love this mehod.

I am 3 weeks from my first harvest and will also dry in fridge.(I dont have an A/C or a basement, and during this hot summer fridge is th only option really)

However, I missed some info, that may have been mentioned here and I missed it.

I have a clean frost free fridge with nothing else stored inside. I DO NOT have dehumidifer or fan to put inside the fridge. I DO have small temp/humidity sensors with blutooth, and will be checking the temp/humidity inside the fridge wthout opening the door.

1) Can I just cut the plant, seperate the branches and hang them? No paper bags, no jars, just hanging branches. (Or, if there ARE advantages to jars and paper bag, what are they? I will of course try to use the most efficient method)
2) The dry time is anywhere from 2-4 weeks right?
3) The less you open the doors, the better?
4))How can I test the humidity progress of the buds? Should I take some out in week 3 , separate themfrom branches , jar them and test the humidity?
If it is too high, back in the fridge, but this time in a tupperware, since thy are broken up, cannot hang them? Or is there a better method?

4)Someone mentioned humidity/temp fluctuations due to compressor? Is this a serious issue?Can it harm my buds?

Sorry for the many questions, I would appreciate if you answered evb one of them. Main ones are - can my setup work (no fan and dehumidifier) and second one - how to check the progress of the bud drying.

Thanks for the intresting read, happy growing!
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Hey man so so sorry it’s took this long I’ve had some health problems and been away from here a while.

ok so
1) you could just cut and hang branches but they will dry too fast, they will dry slower than loose buds but I would imagine it would still be too fast (I haven’t tried it. The idea of having them in a container of sorts is so you can keep temp a constant and burp out the excess moisture periodically.

2) I can’t really comment on the dry time while using a standard frost free fridge as I never went that route in the end, but people document between 2 and 6 weeks, some longer

3) the less you open the doors the better, obviously you’re gonna need to be opening it up to burp whatever container ur using. My advise would be to have sensors in tubs or bags or jars or whatever and have a high point and a low point, then when the high point is reached burp the container til it reaches the low point and close the fridge again.

4) according to the lotus cure thread on thc farmer the best way to check them is to bring them out and let them get to room temperature then check the humidity of the jar they’re in.
This to me though is full of inaccuracy, as is measuring rh to determine water content in general as there’s no standard rule of thumb for the temperature that the rh is measured at, 40% at 6’c is a lot less water than 30% at 20’c as the rh is RELATIVE humidity, meaning it’s a measurement of how much water the air is holding relative to its capacity at that given temperature.

yes the compressor in the fridge will work tirelessly to strip away the moisture from your bud, by constantly allowing the space to warm and cool and draining the condensate each time. This is negated by using containers ( either almost airtight or porous)

if you read the lotus cure thread on thc farmer you’ll have a much better understanding of how it works in a frost free fridge, the link is near the start of this thread, the guys in there have been doing this for a long time with no controllers, just adapting containers and their method to best control the moisture evaporation.

hope this helps mate and once again, sorry for taking ages to reply
 
kreikrei

kreikrei

Active Member
Blue brother said:
Hey man so so sorry it’s took this long I’ve had some health problems and been away from here a while.

ok so
1) you could just cut and hang branches but they will dry too fast, they will dry slower than loose buds but I would imagine it would still be too fast (I haven’t tried it. The idea of having them in a container of sorts is so you can keep temp a constant and burp out the excess moisture periodically.

2) I can’t really comment on the dry time while using a standard frost free fridge as I never went that route in the end, but people document between 2 and 6 weeks, some longer

3) the less you open the doors the better, obviously you’re gonna need to be opening it up to burp whatever container ur using. My advise would be to have sensors in tubs or bags or jars or whatever and have a high point and a low point, then when the high point is reached burp the container til it reaches the low point and close the fridge again.

4) according to the lotus cure thread on thc farmer the best way to check them is to bring them out and let them get to room temperature then check the humidity of the jar they’re in.
This to me though is full of inaccuracy, as is measuring rh to determine water content in general as there’s no standard rule of thumb for the temperature that the rh is measured at, 40% at 6’c is a lot less water than 30% at 20’c as the rh is RELATIVE humidity, meaning it’s a measurement of how much water the air is holding relative to its capacity at that given temperature.

yes the compressor in the fridge will work tirelessly to strip away the moisture from your bud, by constantly allowing the space to warm and cool and draining the condensate each time. This is negated by using containers ( either almost airtight or porous)

if you read the lotus cure thread on thc farmer you’ll have a much better understanding of how it works in a frost free fridge, the link is near the start of this thread, the guys in there have been doing this for a long time with no controllers, just adapting containers and their method to best control the moisture evaporation.

hope this helps mate and once again, sorry for taking ages to reply
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Thank you for such detailed answer.
 
B

bauty67

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
Anyone tried this?

I’m going to try it, been reading about it over the past few months and I feel confident it will work, it’s actually pretty well documented practise over at thc farmer and on 420 mag.

I understand the science behind it and have seen it work, and I also understand why so many less knowledgeable people dismiss it as a recipe for disaster. So I don’t really need convincing either way, I know it should work aslong as I don’t fuck up.

I just wanna know if anyone who’s done it has any pointers or wanna share any problems they ran into while using this technique.

how did you deal with the smell?
What size fridge did you use for how much bud?
what kind of fridge? I’m torn between buying a double wide wine cooler or using a spare frost free fridge I have in storage.
I’m looking to dry what would normally weigh 20oz fry

thanks in advance to anyone willing to share
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How did drying in the fridge go? I am just about ready to harvest my first plant a Bubba Kush and I am going to try the fridge for drying I have looked all over and haven't found a lot on the subject I am looking for more information about the process.
 
Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
bauty67 said:
How did drying in the fridge go? I am just about ready to harvest my first plant a Bubba Kush and I am going to try the fridge for drying I have looked all over and haven't found a lot on the subject I am looking for more information about the process.
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I dry in a wine fridge with a dehumidifier inside of it, are you wanting to try and dry in your household fridge freezer or are you gonna build a unit like mine? They both require a very different approach.

I’m sure whatever you do you’re gonna love the results as low temp drawn out drying makes for some fantastic smoke
 
Lil' Green Thumb

Lil' Green Thumb

New Member
Blue brother said:
Anyone tried this?

I’m going to try it, been reading about it over the past few months and I feel confident it will work, it’s actually pretty well documented practise over at thc farmer and on 420 mag.

I understand the science behind it and have seen it work, and I also understand why so many less knowledgeable people dismiss it as a recipe for disaster. So I don’t really need convincing either way, I know it should work aslong as I don’t fuck up.

I just wanna know if anyone who’s done it has any pointers or wanna share any problems they ran into while using this technique.

how did you deal with the smell?
What size fridge did you use for how much bud?
what kind of fridge? I’m torn between buying a double wide wine cooler or using a spare frost free fridge I have in storage.
I’m looking to dry what would normally weigh 20oz fry

thanks in advance to anyone willing to share
Click to expand...
I know I am late AF to this conversation however; I dry all of my grows in a mini fridge. Two weeks or so @ 45 degrees and the buds turn out lovely. I am currently drying OG. Has been in the fridge for a week now. Humidity at 56, Temp at 45. At the end of two weeks or when the buds are around 55 on my little hydrometer. I pull the bag out and let it sit in bag overnight, outside of the fridge. Then I jar for a month.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

-Peace!
 

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Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
Lil' Green Thumb said:
I know I am late AF to this conversation however; I dry all of my grows in a mini fridge. Two weeks or so @ 45 degrees and the buds turn out lovely. I am currently drying OG. Has been in the fridge for a week now. Humidity at 56, Temp at 45. At the end of two weeks or when the buds are around 55 on my little hydrometer. I pull the bag out and let it sit in bag overnight, outside of the fridge. Then I jar for a month.

Just my 2 cents on the matter.

-Peace!
Click to expand...
Better late than never man! Glad to have you here and thanks for sharing ur experience.
 
P

pahpah-cee

Well-Known Member
@Blue brother stumbled upon the uk420 thread and I’m intrigued. What’s your input on the dehumidifier? I’m not seeing much mini ones with an actual drain. Did you just rig in a drain on yours?
 
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pahpah-cee

Well-Known Member
So setting up my typical dry room of a window AC + Dehum cost me nearly $160 a month to run. This is assuming the ac is on 18hr and the Dehum 9hr a day.

a 28 bottle wine cooler with a lil Dehum in it only will cost $36 a month.

I found a wine fridge for $75 used. Seems like a no brainer at this point.
 
Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
pahpah-cee said:
@Blue brother stumbled upon the uk420 thread and I’m intrigued. What’s your input on the dehumidifier? I’m not seeing much mini ones with an actual drain. Did you just rig in a drain on yours?
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No I eventually found one with a drain, and tbh there’s no need to empty the container that I drain into, unless you’re removing a kg of moisture (1L) then one with a container that you empty yourself will suffice.

I will try to find a link for you give me a couple of hours

Edit:
the one I used is unavailable

it was an Aidodo thermoelectric dehumidifier with a drain hose

I would imagine you could just drill a hole in the tank and fit a hose to it and it would work much the same

Hope this helps
 
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P

pahpah-cee

Well-Known Member
Blue brother said:
No I eventually found one with a drain, and tbh there’s no need to empty the container that I drain into, unless you’re removing a kg of moisture (1L) then one with a container that you empty yourself will suffice.

I will try to find a link for you give me a couple of hours

Edit:
the one I used is unavailable

it was an Aidodo thermoelectric dehumidifier with a drain hose

I would imagine you could just drill a hole in the tank and fit a hose to it and it would work much the same

Hope this helps
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Word, that aidodo looks like a copy cat design that’s been massed produced. I’m finding a decent amount for $10-20 from Amazon pallet flippers. D134946D-C42A-4F66-AA88-712266B8344D.png
for the price I won’t feel too guilty ripping it apart trying to mod it.
 
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Blue brother

Blue brother

Well-Known Member
pahpah-cee said:
So setting up my typical dry room of a window AC + Dehum cost me nearly $160 a month to run. This is assuming the ac is on 18hr and the Dehum 9hr a day.

a 28 bottle wine cooler with a lil Dehum in it only will cost $36 a month.

I found a wine fridge for $75 used. Seems like a no brainer at this point.
Click to expand...
Another thing to consider is, in ur drying room with ac and dehumidifier you have a lot of air. in my experience the higher volume of air surrounding the bud acts like a sponge for terps, sucking the most volatile of compounds away from your hard work and into thin air never to be seen again
 
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