Harvest & Curing Vacuum sealing mason jars with Boveda packs

[lunarman]

I wonder if vacuum sealing mason jars with bud and boveda packs makes any difference to anything. Like curing. Or like how long your packs last before they dry out.

 

[Heliman]

I have some Northern Lights bud that has been curing in a 1 litre mason jar with a 62 % Boveda pack for close to 2 years. The internal humidity thermometer still shows 62% @ 21 degrees C and the bud gets better and better !!! Most of my stash has been curing for about 1 year...under the same conditions....I have had no problems at all.

 

[lunarman]

I have some Northern Lights bud that has been curing in a 1 litre mason jar with a 62 % Boveda pack for close to 2 years. The internal humidity thermometer still shows 62% @ 21 degrees C and the bud gets better and better !!! Most of my stash has been curing for about 1 year...under the same conditions....I have had no problems at all.

Are you vacuum sealing?

 

[BII]

Are you vacuum sealing?

What might vacuum sealing do in terms of curing? Curing involves allowing microbial, enzymatic and other breakdown of all the unwanted organic gunk left in the plant cells/tissues. How does vacuum sealing help that?

Real vacuum sealing will involve total drying, going to 0% relative humidity, and loss of all volatile materials (including diverse terpenes)! Or are your referring to just removing excess air from a plastic bag before you seal it?

 

[Heliman]

Like Bill said....
I air dry to a "nearly crispy" feel (not very scientific I know) and into the Mason Jar (usually about 12 to 15 % humidity to begin, then the Boveda's get the humidity up to 62% over a couple of days. I over- dry them a bit so as to minimise chances of fungus etc...works for me !!! I dont know if I compromise the resin content or potency by this method, but I grow for medical purposes (high CBD) and it all seems to work OK.

 

[lunarman]

What might vacuum sealing do in terms of curing? Curing involves allowing microbial, enzymatic and other breakdown of all the unwanted organic gunk left in the plant cells/tissues. How does vacuum sealing help that?

Real vacuum sealing will involve total drying, going to 0% relative humidity, and loss of all volatile materials (including diverse terpenes)! Or are your referring to just removing excess air from a plastic bag before you seal it?

It sounds like this should not be done then. That's basically what you're saying, right?

And no bag involved. This dried bud going in to 1 qt wide mouth mason jars with a boveda pack. I have a mason jar adapter for my vacuum sealer where you put the lid on the jar but no screw on ring yet. The vacuum sealer adapter fits around the lid and lifts it a bit and then you engage the pump for vacuum and that sucks all the air out and then the skinny lid is stuck on the jar nice and tight. Then you put screw ring on and tighten. So no plastic bags involved at all.

 

[BII]

But why consider vacuum sealing, what benefit ('curing') might you get from this? Are you really looking to promote curing or is this for long-term preservation/storage?

It sounds like you are only just lowering the air pressure enough to have lower pressure in vs. outside the jar (enough to push/snap the metal top in). You don't have anything close to real vacuum.

There are surely good reasons that most curing approaches involve 'burping' or regularly exchanging air in the container - maintaining a highly aerobic environment. You want fresh air; to vent the vapors/gases from plant material breakdown; and fresh (re)inoculation of the material with fungi and bacteria in the air.

 

[lunarman]

But why consider vacuum sealing, what benefit ('curing') might you get from this? Are you really looking to promote curing or is this for long-term preservation/storage?

It sounds like you are only just lowering the air pressure enough to have lower pressure in vs. outside the jar (enough to push/snap the metal top in). You don't have anything close to real vacuum.

There are surely good reasons that most curing approaches involve 'burping' or regularly exchanging air in the container - maintaining a highly aerobic environment. You want fresh air; to vent the vapors/gases from plant material breakdown; and fresh (re)inoculation of the material with fungi and bacteria in the air.

There is another thread on this board about burping and Boveda. Boveda says you dont need to burp when using their product. For an entire cure you don't have to. @HemiSync is going to do a Boveda test comparing burping and no burping during his current cure.

I was just wondering if there would be any value by using a partial vacuum in the jars. Maybe somehow it would help. I have no idea how it would. I'm just curious. And I love vacuum sealing things.

Maybe I'll not vacuum for the cure and MAYBE try it after for longer term storage. But after what I learned in this thread, I don't think I'll do it.

 

[BII]

Maybe I'll not vacuum for the cure and MAYBE try it after for longer term storage. But after what I learned in this thread, I don't think I'll do it.

I think with the removal of just a small portion of air, which is all you'd be doing, no real 'vacuum' involved, it's irrelevant whether you do it or not. But since it seems nobody can even think of a theoretical reason why it might be beneficial, I say just avoid it, a needless complication with no upsides.

I suspect Boveda is thinking mostly in terms of product and quality preservation, its market, what it makes claims about, not cannabis curing. This is too complex a topic. For example, can anyone tell me/us what curing actually is, what causes what changes, etc.?.

 

[HemiSync]

I think with the removal of just a small portion of air, which is all you'd be doing, no real 'vacuum' involved,

I’m curious as to why you do not consider something sealed with a vacuum sealer as being truly vacuumed sealed. I seal foods and perishables in mason jars and plastic bags with an electric vacuum sealer and they would not stay as fresh if there was still air in the container.