Yes, I do use the HerbsNow Dryer. To me, I found a huge difference in initial drying tastes and times with it as well as final cure taste... I do know you have to be very observant with the HerbsNow dryer when it gets near the end of its drying cycle or it can get too dry and the terpines can end up coming off, so I usually run for about 50-60 hours in the 30% RH winters and it comes out nice. I never have run the full 96 hours. Longest I went was 80 hours during a 70% humidity period, but now that its reaching summer, i expect to have to take 96+ hours with over 90% humidity.
I would honestly say it really depends on what you like if you end up using the HerbsNow right away or not. BUT, if i had the ability to be on my first harvest all over again at this point in the cannabis world development, and I was growing on the scale I am (and was then), these are perfect. Not too small, but not ginormous that half your room is taken up with a rack that maybe 1-3 shelves are being taken up in.
Since its your first harvest, id suggest trying a mixture of methods. (A few buds hang dried, a few in a paper bag, a few in the herbs now dryer). Remember, the suggestion for HerbsNow dryer to work the best is to wet trim, so take that in mind. I always wet trim so that's nothing off my back (I enjoy rewarding myself with a nice huge helping of all the scissor hash from my plant )
I always use a shot glass in my HerbsNow dryer. If you need a shot glass, you can find the Libbey brand Shooter shot glass 1.4 oz dishwasher safe (SKU 0 31009 42438 2) for a few bucks for 6 of them. They are chip resistant and i have dropped 2 on to hardwood flooring, and one of them 3 times onto tile without them breaking. They fit perfectly into the dryers and I find 1.4 oz does better because i end up checking it more and i notice when the chlorophyll smell ends gassing off and the terpines come through, and when the dry is complete.
I actually had an ounce of White Crack mould out last summer/fall and I was so disappointed, that is actually what precipitated me into purchasing the HerbsNow dryer. It has been well worth it as the buds dry better and more evenly to me than I can dry otherwise in my environment.
You are able to smoke the bud as soon as it comes out of the dryer, and it tastes not too bad. I usually smoke my weed freshly dried/uncured when I don't have mine cured... Happens to me about once every 6 months. BUT I had some Tropical Wizard from Night Owl that I had left over I finished drying in the HerbsNow Dryer on Febuary 3rd and the taste was better than the dispensaries and on par with the best of them.
The terpines get locked in nicely, there's none of the "brown paper bag" taste.
Popcorn buds and smaller/fluffier buds will dry faster, but not much. You can be decieved into thinking a bud is dry when its still wet as can be.
You gotta watch the stems on the buds as the "brittle looking" outside of the bud will become perfectly balanced out by the moisture from the inside of the bud and become balanced during the cure but it grinds and smokes well as is precure. The nice side effect of the popcorn buds drying faster is that you can sample your bud sooner.
Make sure you stack the big buds on bottom and the little buds on the top, and do one layer only. If you feel you're going to have your buds "smooshed" just remove a tray's removable bottomand just have it double high on those big buds.
As far as smooshed buds, here's some pics and a video from my recent harvest of canna-cheese 1:1 from mephisto, and the buds were dried in an HerbsNow dryer
I think you should see they are no different than any other bud really
