Quote Originally Posted by pipefitter
I was giving a little thought as to what is considered a better method of drying. This question is geared for purposes of quality and not speed. Maybe some of the the more experienced folks could recommend if hanging your plants upside down in a cool dark place with a small fan moving the air around, or trimming a bit and putting buds on racks/screens is better.

Personally, I have always cut secondary branches from the main stalk and hung for almost a week them trimmed/manicured and finally a cure, by burbing for about 15 minutes in mason jars every day for another week or two.

Picked up some meds today called "The White." It was so pretty and smelled amazing. I know these are the perks of a good dry/cure process. I envy the ones who have it down like that.
Leaving leaf material on the plant when you hang it to dry keeps more moisture in the plant, meaning it dries more slowly and give more time for some of the sugars and chlorophyll to break down, which is what is happening in the cure, but a slower dry is always better. Personally I only remove large fan leaves first round, then hang everything up, 1 - 2 weeks later, trim them up, put them in a box for a day, then into jars for 3 months or so.