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Halloween has come-and-gone – and without dumping snow on most of us, so it was a successful year by most peoples’ standards! Now that the grim reapers and werewolves have been put away, a lot of homes are already daring to hang up those audacious Xmas decorations. Flashing, twinkling light displays, or the incessant fans and wobbling of the blow-up figurines have infected neighborhoods since November 1st.
There really are no breaks between the two biggest Fall/Winter holiday seasons anymore, much to many traditionalists’ chagrin. What is it about the colder temperatures that makes us want to decorate our homes so vividly? Do the colorful lights and dazzling displays warm our cold hearts during the lack of sunshine this time of year?
It’s clear to see that we seek to surround ourselves with lots of lights whenever the days get shorter and the nights grow longer. The psychology of Fall and Winter seem to trigger a need for light as much as we have a shivering need for warmth. Even though this time of year is very festive, a lot of people just straight up despise the colder temperatures.
Whether you’re the type who bundles up like an arctic explorer to just go grab a coffee, or you wear shorts because you enjoy the freezing thrill of cold air on your legs, there’s one thing we can all agree on: when it’s freezing, weed makes it all seem warmer.
Nothing soothes quite like a mug of hot cocoa – with marshmallows, obviously – and a joint, vape or edible of your favorite strain. When the weather outside begins to get frightful, instead of smoking outside and risking freezing your weed go inside where it’s delightful. Can you freeze marijuana? Does freezing THC “kill it”? Let’s stay warm by the fire and keep your buds from crystallizing – with ice, that is – as we discuss the science of freezing weed.
Can You Freeze Marijuana?
Every cannabis grower knows that their plants can be very sensitive to temperature fluctuations – cannabis likes to keep things consistent, whether it’s a hearty Indica that suits a bit lower temp, or a Sativa basking in the warm humidity of the jungle. Although we’re naturally drawn to dryer, hotter environments as people, our plants can actually be harmed when exposed to too much heat or not enough humidity.
So, if cannabis doesn’t do well in conditions where there’s too much heat or dryness, does that mean you can freeze weed safely? What about the cannabinoids? Does freezing THC “kill it”? How does freezing weed influence cannabinoids and terpenes?
Something to keep in mind anytime you’re storing cannabis is the presence of heat for decarboxylation. A source of heat and pressure can initiate state changes in your cannabis – such as that with decarboxylation whereby a raw, acidic form of cannabinoid like THCA can become activated into THC. When you consider that all hotter temperatures have the potential to activate cannabinoids like THC in your buds, then it would seem like freezing weed would always be a preferable option to cooking it – unless that’s exactly what you’re ready for.
In addition to your heat concerns, you need to be aware of any gasses that could chemically alter your precious nugs while they’re stored safely in their controlled containers. Moisture is also a huge factor, as excess water contents can promote bud rot – botrytis.
Another important note about storing your weed has to do with light exposure. Despite what you may think, even buds that have been harvested from the plants can still be impacted by certain wavelengths of light.
Can you think of one place that can control all of these environmental factors? Hm…
The freezer is a great place to keep your buds safe because it’s:
Dark, dry, cold and consistent.
This sounds great at first, but don’t go chucking all of your weed into the freezer just yet. Yes, you can freeze marijuana to stave off degradation of THC, but there are certainly risks to freezing your weed too much, too often. How does freezing cannabis affect it negatively? For starters, when you freeze your weed you can risk:
Trichomes hardening, falling off
Freezer burn affecting terpenes (tastes & smells)
Moisture lock-up (any moisture hidden within buds freezes then damages buds when thawed)
These factors, among others, can make the freezer or deep-freeze go from being your savior to the harbinger of your doom. However, it’s only for certain cannabis products that these risks really come to the forefront. Live resins, cannabis flowers, cannabis topicals and full-spectrum cannabis concentrates are obviously at risk of losing potency in freezing conditions, but others like edibles, shatter, hash and even cannabis oils can do quite well in the colder conditions.
There are steps you can take to make sure that the freezer doesn’t “kill your THC” like many stoners are afraid of. Let’s shift our focus from the classroom of basic stoner science to the laboratory – where all the magic of chemistry truly happens!
How Are Stoners Freezing Weed
Here’s where some tips & tricks from the HH community of stellar people – and even more stellar growers – comes in handy. There are many ways that you can freeze your marijuana, for many reasons. We’ve compiled some of the best weed freezing techniques to keep your cannabis products lasting as long as possible:
Zip. Lock. Bags.
Although we won’t go as far as condoning freezing your raw cannabis flowers, if you have to store them someplace safe for a short period of time – or if you’re planning on turning them into an edible or concentrate soon – then there can be instances where it’s appropriate to freeze your buds. If you do, you HAVE to invest in some high-quality, ultra-seal, smell-proof and puncture-proof ziplock bags.
These bags keep your nugs in a self-contained environment, within the cold environment of the freezer. Your trichomes will still harden and fall off due to the extreme lower temperatures, but you can collect them in the bag and repurpose them as some tasty kief. Ziplock bags with the double- or triple-seal locking feature are a must as well – try to press out the air in the bag without squishing your buds, and seal it up right away before putting it in the freezer.
Cannabice Cubes
Ever been drinking a virgin margarita and thought – this is delicious, but it sure could use some weed? Ya, us too. It’s not exactly daiquiri season right now – unless you’re flying somewhere for a chill holidaze! – but cannabice cubes never go out of season. Whether you’re one of those weirdos who puts ice cubes in their piping-hot chocolate, you’re thirsting for some ice tea, or you just want to experiment with cannabis in its frozen-state, cannabice cubes are a great way to preserve your weed for fun later on.
Try not to use raw buds as they don’t respond well to direct exposure to ice. Instead, an extract or cannabis oil can be infused into the cubes to make for a slow-release game of “when will it hit me?”. Cannabice cubes likely look very different from usual ones, but just in case make sure you label the frozen weed ones from the regular water-only ice cubes – nobody needs a “surprise high”.
Eternal Edibles
Now that we know that freezing THC doesn’t kill it, why not make some of those edibles last even longer by putting them in the freezer for a later-day party? Gummies and weed candy already have such a far-off expiry date that it shouldn’t ever be an issue, but weed chocolates, cannabis beverages, or other safe-to-freeze cannabis foods can benefit from some time spent in the deep freeze.
Keep in mind what will freeze safely – i.e. liquids aren’t ideal unless they’re in a safe, moldable container. On the other end of the spectrum, you have to consider how something will thaw. Chocolate doesn’t really get affected by being frozen, but baked edibles can get very mushy afterwards. Timing is everything when you’re freezing your weed edibles – write down what day you’re putting them in, set a reminder on your phone or calendar to take them out. Also regularly check on them to make sure they’re not freezer burnt, and check that the freezer didn’t lose power and throw the cold environment out-of-whack.
Cold Fusion Shatter
This one is from one of our shatter-heads here at Haute Health. This mysterious being from another dimension seems to think that it’s a good idea to freeze your shatter simply for the icy satisfaction that comes from inhaling something cold-infused. You heard it here first – cold-fusion shatter!
Shatter is very solid in its concentrate form, and only heat can melt it back into a liquid-vapor state to be inhaled. Shatter in freezing environments just does what it does – it doesn’t even notice the cold, or at least that’s what our shatter experts tell us. If you’re the kind of person whose favorite Star Wars was “Empire Strikes Back”, then you’re going to love the frozen-on-Hoth feeling of inhaling some freezing cold shatter – no Tauntaun stomach lining needed! Your senses will be ablaze before you can say “Luke, I am your father”.
