How To Keep Weed Fresh & Effective 2021 Guide
If you’ve ever taken a stale, unpleasantly harsh hit from some weed that’s past its prime, you understand just how important it is to properly store your weed. Knowing how to keep weed fresh is essential for ensuring your smoke sessions are always enjoyable, and that you experience your weed at its most potent.
Fortunately, there are plenty of products, such as weed packets and weed containers, that can help you keep weed fresh for longer. Read on to learn some tips and tricks for how to (and how not to) store weed to keep your stash at its best quality for as long as possible.
How to Store Weed Properly at Home
Let’s face it. As much as you love your local dispensary, you don’t want to be going in every day to get the exact amount of bud you need to roll a joint or pack your pipe. The guys at my local shop are awesome, but I don’t have time for daily visits.
If you’ve ever found that a strain you recently purchased has already shown a dip in quality, you know it’s an awful feeling. So, what's the best way to store weed at home to keep it fresh and effective for longer? It’s not as challenging as you might think. I’ve tried a few different ways over the years, and have found that these are some of the best ways on how to keep weed fresh.
Storing Weed with Humidity Packs
You’ve probably heard this before, but excess moisture is a weed killer and is one of the worse things when it comes to how to keep weed fresh. It makes your buds squishy, hard to grind, and incredibly difficult to smoke. Not only that, but it also promotes mold growth, and that’s just gross, not to mention unhealthy for your lungs.
Keeping moisture at bay is crucial for preserving the life and quality of your weed stash. The Integra Boost humidity controller packs do just that. These weed packets protect your buds from humidity without going too far in the other direction and drying them out. They’re super easy to use, too. You simply pop one in the sealed container you keep your herb in, and you’re good to go! A single 4-gram pack is good for keeping up to 12 grams of bud safe from humidity.
You may have seen other humidity control packs for weed before, but here’s what sets the Integra Boost packs apart. No humidity pack lasts indefinitely, but many other brands of packs require guesswork to figure out when to change them. The Integra Boost weed packs, however, feature a replacement indicator to let you know when they need to be changed out. They’re easy to read, too; just check to see if the dot turns blue. You don’t even need to know how to keep weed fresh when you have one of these.
With the indicator, you won’t have to dump your weed out of its jar or root around in your stash to check on your weed humidity pack. Not only is it inconvenient to have to root around in your weed jar; it also increases the risk of contamination. With the Integra Boost packs, you’ll know exactly when it’s time to change them out. That feature alone was a huge draw for me. It also helps that they’re affordable (only $12.99 for a pack of four), and they’re incredibly effective at what they do, which is keep weed fresh.
Sealed Mason Jars for Weed
When it comes to learning how to keep weed fresh. Mason jars are a popular item for storing a lot of different things. While their most common use is for canning food items like jams, jellies, and pickled goods, you can use them for a variety of purposes. Did you know that one of those other purposes is storing weed?
That’s right; mason jars are the perfect jars for weed. They’re clear glass, so you can see your stash without having to open the lid (unless you’re going in for some to grind). You won’t have to worry about your weed imparting a smell on the material, which means you can reuse them over and over for different strains. When closed completely, they create an airtight seal, which can help to prevent microbial growth. And, they can hold a lot of weed, which is a nice bonus. To borrow a line from Mary Poppins, they’re “practically perfect in every way.” But having a mason jar is just one step of how to keep weed fresh there's some other stuff to also remember.
Keep in mind that while mason jars make excellent weed containers, how you store them does matter. First, you want to make sure your jar lid is intact so it provides an airtight seal, and you also need to remember to fully screw the lid closed every time you put your stash away. Be sure to store your weed jar away from windows or anywhere sunlight comes into your home. A cabinet away from any heat sources is a popular location. You’ll also want to make sure that your jars for weed are dried completely after washing them before you store new weed in them. Even a small amount of water left on the lid or in the jars for weed can promote mold growth. As mentioned before, that’s gross, and it can ruin your whole stash. Which is doing the complete opposite of what we want, that is how to keep weed fresh.
The Best Temp to Keep Weed Fresh
You can’t talk about how to keep weed fresh without also touching on what the ideal storage temperature is. If you put your stash somewhere too hot and moist, there will be an increased likelihood of mold and mildew growth. On the other hand, environments that are too warm and dry can dry out your buds, causing them to become brittle and crumbly. Sure, you can break dry buds apart easily, but they are also harsh and unpleasant to smoke. Temperatures that are too cold are no good either, and I’ll explain why in a minute.
The ideal weed storage temperature is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). You also want to make sure that you’re not putting your stash in a location where it will have a constant light on it. Look for cool, dark, dry places around your home. As mentioned above, a cabinet away from appliances and with minimal light exposure is perfect.
While your favorite strains won’t last forever, using the above weed storage tips will help to ensure that they stay fresh for as long as possible. Knowing the temperature is just as key as where you store weed when it comes to how to keep weed fresh.
Does Dry Weed Lose Potency?
We already touched on some of the downsides of dry weed. It gets brittle and breaks apart almost too easily. Not only that, but it becomes harsh to smoke. Another common question that many users have is whether dry weed loses potency.
In short, yes, dry weed does lose potency. In fact, the drier it gets, the more potency it loses. When you take a hit of dry weed, you’re likely to feel very little. The next thing you know, you’re burning through a substantial portion of your stash to get the same effects you would from a much smaller amount of fresh bud.
So, how can you tell when your buds are starting to dry out and lose their potency? While brittleness is an excellent indicator, you might be able to tell without having to touch your stash. Fresh buds have a pungent aroma. The smell practically smacks you in the face each time you open one of your weed containers. As buds begin to dry out, however, their odor dwindles until you’re barely able to smell anything at all. Hopefully this also answers why it’s so important how to keep weed fresh.
Can You Freeze Weed?
You know how when you want to keep food fresh for longer, you freeze it? Well, that little trick can leave a lot of weed enthusiasts wondering, can you freeze weed? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no. While you can freeze soup, a loaf of bread, or cake slices, you can’t freeze weed. Well, technically you can, but it wouldn’t do you any good.
Contrary to what might seem logical, freezing weed doesn’t keep it fresh. It actually causes your buds to lose their potency. You see, every bud has trichomes, which are the little resin glands where weed produces and stores its cannabinoids and terpenes. These are the compounds you want for aroma, flavor, and effects. When you freeze your flowers, the trichomes become brittle and can fall off.
Then there’s the process of unfreezing your stash. Even if the trichomes somehow managed to stay in place while the buds were frozen, the thawing process can make them very moist. Again, that means they’re difficult to grind and nearly impossible to smoke. It also increases the risk of mold growth.
In short, avoid the freezer at all costs. It might seem like a good idea at the time, but you’ll quickly find that it’s anything but an effective way on how to keep weed fresh.
Bottom Line
Learning how to keep weed fresh is essential for any user. Storing weed in the proper conditions is essential to preserving the longevity of your buds. Using weed packets helps to keep moisture (and therefore mold) away, and knowing how to store weed in an airtight jar limits exposure to potential contaminants and unwanted airflow.
You’ll also need to pay attention to factors like temperature and light. Avoid temps that are too hot, as well as those that are too cold. Keep your jars for weed in a dry, cool, dark place, such as a cabinet away from heat sources. With your weed stored in optimal conditions, your stash will stay fresher longer.