If you’ve been in the cannabis community for a while, you probably know that turkey oven bags aren’t exclusively synonymous with Thanksgiving. In fact, legacy operators are less likely to call them Thanksgiving turkey bags and more likely to recognize them as turkey bags for weed.
While modern consumers are used to storing their cannabis products in polymer bags, jars, or even large Ziplocs, the OG community deferred to Reynolds Kitchens’ finest: a low-cost hack that has served as the foundation for today’s advanced cannabis storage options.
What’s a turkey bag?
Despite them commonly being used to store weed, an average American might look at oven bags, grip a tablespoon of flour and a nylon tie, and think “time to cook turkey” – and that makes sense. Turkey oven bags have long been used to bring your grandma’s epic holiday recipe to life.
Image source: WikiHow – How to Cook a Turkey in a Bag
Not only are oven bags BPA-free and easy to use, but they’re almost guaranteed to result in a moist, juicy bird. Using an oven bag also eliminates the need to baste or brine, significantly slashes your cook time, and is much easier to clean up at the end. Why does that matter for weed? For the cannabis industry, legacy growers tended to gravitate toward the bags for their format and moisture contention, which is why “cannabis turkey bags” grew in popularity.
Unlike traditional polymer or foil-based bags, turkey bags are puncture-resistant, able to withstand temperatures, and are ideal for long-term storage because they allow anything that’s stored inside to breathe.
Turkey bag weed also enjoys an environment with a high moisture content, which means the bags are perfect for any minor increase in heat or pressure that might occur during long-term storage.
Using turkey bags for curing weed
A lot of operators have remained loyal to the turkey bag for weed because of how simple and effective it is. They’re considered especially helpful for the process of curing cannabis, which comes after your buds have been trimmed and before they’re ready to be consumed.
Proper curing demands an airtight environment for your bud to live in for about 2-8 weeks, and turkey bags have helped home and commercial growers get the job done. With 18 x 24 inch dimensions, they’re often used for storing large quantities of cannabis at a time. However, as the industry has matured, operators are discovering that while turkey bags have been one of the best curing and storage solutions thus far, better options have evolved.
The major downside of turkey bag storage is that they allow for a little too much transmission. There’s a certain amount of leakage your cannabis will be susceptible to with turkey bags, which means that some of your controlled atmosphere will be able to escape from the environment.
Even with a proper vacuum sealing, turkey bags have a porous profile, which naturally allows oxygen and moisture to transition. That’s why operators who love oven bags are still likely to stack them in totes or humidity-controlled vaults, constantly having to create a perfect atmosphere for the flower because the bags—and the totes—just don’t have a great seal as they were built for the perfect turkey recipe.
You can test this yourself by vacuum stealing your bag and putting it underwater. If moisture gets in, you know the environment isn’t 100 percent sealed, and that can pose a problem for your curing and storage timeline.
As much as the community has leaned on turkey bags throughout the decades, this is a major downside. At the end of the day, turkey bags aren’t really created for cannabis. They’re designed for butter and season to make Thanksgiving juicy goodness.
Long-term storage with an oven bag
Operators have also relied on oven bags for long-term cannabis storage, as they work quite efficiently to maintain freshness and mask the plant’s overpowering smell. But even though oven bags are able to do the trick pretty effectively, they still aren’t the best option on the market anymore.
So, what does that mean for cannabis curing and storage? Well, it just turns out we’ve been pronouncing “turkey bags” incorrectly this whole time.
TerpLoc’s “Terpy” bags were designed with turkey bags in mind, coupled with the ultimate goal of making them even more effective. Terpy Bags are better at maintaining moisture content by pushing out oxygen and retaining CO2 in the space, which in turn produces an ideal atmosphere.
Unlike Reynolds Kitchens creations, Terpy Bags were produced with cannabis at top of mind—specifically for curing and storing flower. Intended for backend storage before your product is ready for point of sale, these small wicket bags are made for 1-2 pounds of cannabis, while the larger size can fit 5-10 pounds depending on product density.
They’re incredibly similar to the OG turkey oven bags, but much more ideal for cannabis storage. Terpy Bags are also much better than glass jars, which are more porous and not UV protectant nor antimicrobial.
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