Curing is essential to the process of producing high quality cannabis heads. It's quite a simple concept however it may take a bit of care and practice to perfect it. If cannabis heads aren't properly cured then they're quality could become degraded from over drying or even worse ruined from mould.

After the cannabis heads have been hung to dry for a week or so (see also "Drying Cannabis 101") and trimmed they need to be put into air-tight containers and placed in a dry, cool, dark environment with an ambient temperature of around 20°C (68°F) as THC can be degraded from heat and light reducing the quality of the cannabis heads.

Although the cannabis heads may be fairly dry after a week or so of drying they may still contain moisture within the stems and begin to sweat. The process of "Burping" is now begun and simply means to open the air tight container where the cannabis heads are being stored for short periods of time allowing any extra moisture to escape, that may be caused from any sweating of the cannabis heads during the curing process as this can attract mould.

Burping curing cannabis heads is a very simple process, and is done by opening the lid of the air-tight container containing the cannabis heads and allowing them to air out for about 30 minutes once every 24 hours for the first few days, and then once every 48 hours for the following week or so. After this burping can safely be done once a week or so until the cannabis curing process has completed. If the container is not burped at all or often enough then the cannabis heads may become over moist, mouldy and ruined. A tell tale sign that curing cannabis heads are too moist and/or beginning to degrade in quality is a smell similar to that of fresh grass clippings or compost.

Once the burping process has been completed and no more condensation is present. The cannabis heads should be less green in colour and have developed a slightly more refined pungent aroma depending on the strain. They can now safely be sealed in air-tight containers and again kept in a dry, cool, dark environment with an ambient temperature of around 20°C (68°F). THC can degrade rapidly when exposed to temperatures above 30°C (86°F) and may be kept in a fridge to help avoid the loss of quality, and also lengthen the shelf life of stored cannabis heads.

The curing process is complete after the cannabis heads have been kept in the above mentioned state for several weeks or months. Once the cannabis heads have cured properly they will have developed a very pungent refined aroma depending on the strain. Again depending on the particular cannabis strain they will also develop a cleaner, smoother taste and high as most of the chlorophyll and other impurities have also been removed from the cannabis heads by this stage.

Cannabis may be kept in storage within air-tight containers in a dry, cool, dark environment with an ambient temperature of around 20°C (68°F) for years without loosing too much THC through degradation. If the cannabis has been vacuum sealed there should be no further THC degradation as no oxygen is present to assist with the breakdown of THC. Light will still affect the quality so the cannabis heads must be stored within a dark environment.

written by Oz and Pure
editor: Oz