Freezing your weed

[dusto2k3]

Does anyone do this?

Do you notice any difference after it's been frozen?

[Shovelhandle]

We've frozen our pot for the last 40 years and continue to do so. Never had any problems.

SHov

[doco]

I keep all but what I'm planning on using in the next week in the freezer too - have for years. I think it's cause I heard it will preserve it longer but that could be a wives tale.

But!! I have recently been hearing reports that freezing (or microwaving) food or water in plastic is bad because it releases toxins, specifically dioxin I think, from the plastic. It's one of the reasons the food industry is shifting back to paper products from styrofoam.

So in you are going to freeze, use glass containers. :)

[invision]

i always freeze and have kept herb up to 4 months in there and its as tasty as the day it went in.

[harris7]

Very good doco, you are correct.

I don’t know how much it means to you but I have personally verified this be researching the studies. I don’t like to trust what the newspapers tell us about studies, so I like to right to the source.

And every time I do it reinforces my belief, because popular sources are quite inaccurate.

It has been found that dioxins get released by freezing, heating and microwaving (the worst). It has also been found that plastic wrap over food will deposit dioxins by sweating them out and this drip into the food. Yummmm

I don’t know if this really applies to weed though. Because:
-are dioxins destroyed by smoking?
-is their enough bag/plant contact?

So I don’t know

i think i have the studies on my computer i'm looking for them now

[madeline]

The few times I've stored in the freezer the bud comes out crispy-dry and not near as tasty as the buds kept stored in mason or fruit jars in the fridge. Freezing any living (past or present) tissue will burst the cells when thawed and deterioration sets in much faster. Do a test with your next harvest and see for yourself. After the cure is finished and everything is ready to be "put up" (as grandma always said about canning) take a jar and put it in the freezer and another jar on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Wait a few months then do a taste and potency test...I think you will see what I'm talking about.

And plastic was never meant to keep fresh produce fresh. Use glass.

[Volker]

What she said.

[Flower Child]

Madeline... We are dealing with a dry product... any tissue needs to be hydrated for ice cristals to rupture the cell wall... Freezing is the best long term storage solution (to preserve potentcy) for dried canibus.... provided 1) temps are stable and below -10 F and... 2) the container is completly sealed from ANY gas exchange... Unfortunatly most people think a ziplock is air tight... not even close.... and many people open and close there freezer and the temps do not remain stable.
After the weed is cured, double vacume seal in heavy poly bags and storage for many years will not change the quality....
You just have to pay for the power...
FC

[Volker]

Madeline... We are dealing with a dry product... Even bone dry bud has some residual moisture. Most bud is far from bone dry. It doesn't take much ice crystal to rupture a cell membrane.

The difference in taste between cooled & frozen weed is a very fine one upon first return to room temp. But if the thawed weed sits out for any length of time, that difference is going to get "wider" quickly.

So if you pull a nug at a time out of the freezer, it's fine. If you pull a quarter oz at a time out of the freezer, and it's smoked up in 2 days, it's fine. But if you pull a quarter oz out of the freezer, and it lasts 3 weeks, by the end of those 3 weeks the taste difference will be apparent.

So is a judgement call.

If you're using extreme cold to "rotate" certain THC molecules, a household freezer, or even garage deep freeze, isn't going to be cold enough. And the cell wall rupture thing still applies.

[babystarbud]

madeline is right,
flowerchild...thats assuming the weed has ZERO water content, therfore over dry (past its best)anyway.

it will keep fine for months and months in a mason jar in a cool dark cupboard, or longer in a fridge.

dont get me wrong, freezing it wont destroy it, but why bother when theres a less destructive option if its not already bone dry, just treat it like a jar of delicate spice/herbs, which is what it is.

[Web Smoker]

yea a class jar in a cool dark place will keep the potency better then freezing, try putting it in the fridge it will work better then the freezer.

[Flower Child]

I guess your right....
But if I wanted to store alot for a long time like ten years or more I would do it as I stated... less room for error... I "lost" a jar for a few years once and when I opened it I found canna-dust... so now I always freeze!
FC


http://nepenthes.lycaeum.org/Plants/Cannabis/preserve.html

http://www.cdnaids.ca/web/setup.nsf/(ActiveFiles)/factsheet+5_Where+to+find+Cannabis/$file/5_Where%20to%20find%20Cannabis.pdf