Uncured Weed: Should You Choose It Over Cured Weed?

The last weed you bought was very likely cured. Reputable weed dispensaries and sellers avoid selling uncured weed because it has a shorter shelf life and offers a poor smoking experience. But there are ways you can enjoy uncured weed, and in this article, I’m going to tell you all about it.

I’ll explain what uncured weed is, reveal its benefits over cured weed, and share how to get the most out of fresh buds. Let’s get rolling.

What Is Uncured Weed?

Uncured weed is freshly harvested cannabis that has undergone minimal or zero processing. Turning uncured weed into cured weed typically involves drying and aging harvested buds.

Drying removes moisture from the buds and makes them less susceptible to mold. Aging or curing, on the other hand, eliminates unwanted compounds and intensifies the weed’s flavor and potency. In summary, uncured weed is cannabis in its natural state, fresh and full of cannabinoids and terpenes.

Cured vs. Uncured Weed

Cured weed is the bud of choice for lovers of blunts and other forms of cannabis smoking. This is because cured weed has been dried and aged to eliminate moisture and unwanted compounds, such as chlorophyll.

Weed with a high moisture and chlorophyll content makes for a crap smoking experience because the smoke will be excessive, harsh, and bitter. It’s the same problem you experience when you start a fire with wet wood or fresh leaves.

Also, because weed curing eliminates unwanted compounds, it refines cannabis’ terpene profile, leaving you with desired flavonoids and scents. This gives cured buds a more robust and pleasurable flavor and fragrance when smoked.

Uncured weed, on the other hand, is fresh cannabis that has undergone some or no drying. Since it has undergone minimal drying and zero aging, uncured weed offers a fuller spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes than cured counterparts.

For example, uncured weed typically contains higher levels of THCa than cured cannabis. THCa is similar to THC but delivers potential medicinal benefits minus the psychoactive effects of THC.

Source: Grassdoor

Uncured weed is richer in cannabinoids and terpenes because the curing process degrades multiple cannabinoids and terpenes while eliminating unwanted compounds. The harsher the drying and curing process, the higher the cannabinoid and terpene loss will be in cured weed.

However, alongside its rich tapestry of terpenes and cannabinoids, uncured weed contains chlorophyll, ethylene, and other unwanted compounds. Fortunately, these compounds are harmless and ignorable if you consume uncured weed the right way.

Benefits of Uncured Weed

Let’s now take a closer look at the benefits of uncured weed that give it an edge over cured cannabis.

1.     Full-Spectrum of Cannabinoids and Terpenes

Weed loses some cannabinoids and terpenes during curing. So, it makes sense that freshly harvested cannabis contains a more complete profile of cannabinoids and terpenes.

However, the amount of desirable compounds lost during curing isn’t problematic if curing is done correctly. For example, modern curing methods, such as freeze-dry curing, minimize cannabinoid loss. But it doesn’t change the fact that uncured weed will contain cannabinoids in higher quantities and with far less degradation.

2.     More Potent

Since uncured weed contains all the cannabinoids you can find in cured cannabis and more, many assume uncured cannabis is more potent. However, what counts as potency will depend on your desired therapeutic effects.

For example, if you want cannabis that delivers the most high, uncured weed may not be the way to go. This is because curing boosts THC potency while uncured weed contains more THCa than THC.

However, uncured weed can still deliver a potent high if you heat it. Heat (220-245°F or 104-118°C) turns THCa into THC. So if you cook uncured weed into your food or find a clean way to smoke it, you can expect a high that’s comparable to that of cured weed.

3.     Raw Consumption

You can eat uncured weed raw by consuming it alone or mixing it into your salad or smoothie. Cannabis lovers say it’s an effective way to enjoy a full spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes without getting uncomfortably high. This is because fresh bud contains more THCa than THC, which causes psychoactive effects.

However, don’t forget to thoroughly wash your fresh cannabis before eating it raw. Otherwise, you risk ingesting harmful materials, such as pesticides. Also, even though eating uncured weed might not get you stupid high, you may still fail a drug test that looks for THC.

4.     Cost-Effective

If you grow your own cannabis, uncured weed may help you save time and resources. Curing weed can take weeks, and the materials required for curing are an expense. You can avoid the time and expense by enjoying your weed fresh and uncured. This can be particularly beneficial if you need to use your cannabis quickly.

Even if you’re buying, uncured weed is typically cheaper than cured weed. It’s cheaper because producers expend less effort and resources to prepare uncured weed for sale. These cost-savings transfer to buyers in the form of cheaper prices.

5.     More Terpenes

Terpenes are the less talked about compounds found in cannabis, but that doesn’t mean they are valueless. Terpenes give your weed its unique aroma and flavor, and many specialists believe cannabis terpenes may have wide-ranging therapeutic effects.

Naturally, uncured weed contains more terpenes than cured weed, leading to uncured weed having a more pronounced and pungent aroma. This is because the trichomes or kief are still fresh with wet, sticky resin filled with terpenes. Depending on how you consume uncured weed, you can fully experience this rich flavorful terpene profile.

For example, vaping uncured weed can let you experience the full flavor of its terpenes. However, the vaping experience may still not be as clean and smooth as vaping or smoking cured weed.

The Best Ways to Enjoy Uncured Weed

Here are the best ways to enjoy uncured weed and its full-spectrum offerings.

Source: Veriheal

1. Vaporizing: With a vaporizer, you can vape your uncured weed. Vaporizers or vapes work by heating your weed without burning it. You can then inhale the vapor without worrying about the harsh or excessive smoke you’d get from smoking uncured weed. However, vaping uncured weed works best if the cannabis is sufficiently dry. Also, the heat from the vape element can turn THCa into THC.
2. Edibles and Juices: You can mix your uncured weed into snacks, drinks, or other digestibles to enjoy the full-spectrum benefits in a delicious bite or sip. Just remember that the weed’s THCa content will turn into THC if you cook with high heat. You can avoid this by adding your uncured weed after cooking or adding it to low and no-heat meals like salads.
3. Tinctures: Taking weed sublingually, such as with a tincture, gets cannabinoids into your system faster than ingesting it. You can easily make a tincture with your uncured weed by soaking the buds in alcohol. Besides sublingual usage, you can add uncured weed tinctures to foods and drinks.
4. Tea or Infusions: Instead of regular tea leaves, brew yourself a hot cup with uncured weed. You can mix the fresh buds with other herbs and flavors to create your preferred beverage. You can even brew it with your coffee. But again, don’t forget that the hot water can turn the weed’s THCa content into THC.
5. Topicals: Do you have joint pain or interest in incorporating cannabis into your beauty regimen? If so, you can make creams and soothing oils or balms with uncured cannabis. Studies show that applying cannabis-infused balms to painful or inflamed muscles and joints may provide relief.

If you would like to add uncured cannabis to your food or eat it raw, remember that different weed strains have different flavors and effects. Experiment with different strains of uncured weed to find one with a flavor and scent that works for you.

Can You Smoke Uncured Weed?

Yes, you can smoke uncured weed, but you might not enjoy it as much as smoking cured weed. This is because smoking fresh cannabis generates a lot of smoke. Besides being copious, the smoke can have a harsh, bitter taste that spoils the experience. The high smoke volume and harshness come from the high moisture content of fresh cannabis and the presence of chlorophyll.

So, in summary, smoking uncured weed in a blunt or pipe isn’t recommended unless you don’t mind choking on unpleasant smoke.

How to Cure Weed

1. Paper Bag Method

The beauty of the paper bag method is it can dry and cure your fresh weed, removing the need to air dry first. However, using paper bags for drying and curing will take far longer than air drying before paper bag curing.

Before you can start paper bag weed curing, you need… well… paper bags.

Regular brown grocery paper bags will do, but they must be clean to prevent contaminating your weed. If you’ve dried your buds, place them at the bottom of the bag with some room between each bud. Leaving room between each bud promotes airflow to prevent mold growth.

Fold the top of the bag loosely to allow air to enter and circulate to dry your buds.

Store the bags in a cool, dark, and well-ventilated room with a temperature between 60 and 70°F or 15 and 21°C. The room’s humidity should also be about 55% to 65%. It also helps if you have a fan circulating air within the room, but don’t point the fan directly at your weed-curing bags.

Open the paper bags to check the buds daily and keep an eye on the curing progress. You want to check for moisture loss and signs of mold or mildew. During your daily checks, gently shake the bags and rotate the buds to ensure even curing and moisture distribution.

Once the buds start feeling dry or brittle, transfer them to an airtight jar to continue the curing process. Open the jars once daily to burp them (release moisture) as the curing continues.

Drying in paper bags may take seven to ten days, while paper bag curing can last one to two weeks, depending on humidity levels and your climate.

2. Low-Temperature Oven

If waiting weeks to dry and cure your fresh weed isn’t an option, try oven curing. It involves placing and spacing your wet buds on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Put the buds in a 105°F (40°C) oven for one to two hours and flip each bud every 15 minutes for even drying.

Once the buds appear dry, remove them from the oven and let them cool for at least 15 minutes. Test their dryness by gently squeezing each bud and snapping small stems.

Properly dried buds should have a slight springiness – not too soft (still wet) or too hard (over-dried). During the snap test, small stems should snap easily and audibly, but larger branches should not be overly brittle. If the small stems bend or feel flexible, the buds still contain too much moisture.

It’s best to use only convection ovens for oven-drying weed. But keep in mind that using an oven is only ideal if you are in a pinch or a hurry. This is because the oven heat may degrade cannabinoids and terpenes, lowering your bud’s potency.

Never Cure Your Fresh Weed in the Microwave! Microwave drying or curing exposes buds to high heat that kills cannabinoids and terpenes, leaving you with dry, flavorless cannabis husks.

Click here for our complete guide on How to Cure Cannabis.

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