Hop drying

Hi all....yesterday I picked a few cones from my plants and left them on the kitchen counter over night....this morning they seem overly dry,almost to the point of crumbling to pieces when squuezed. I'm curious, it seems most people here dry them on a screen with a fan blowing on them. Can I just leave them out like I did or does putting them on the screen with air blowing on them do something different? Thanks

When you left them on your kitchen counter, did you have the A/C on? If so, its possible the relative humidity was low enough to over dry them. Most people who have them on a screen with a fan also have them in an unconditioned space like the basement or garage.

No....no A/C...it"s been pretty warm in the house and the humidity has been around 75%.

I was wondering about this too. I'm in so cal and it's friggin hot, so I put them on a mesh screen in my garage a couple days ago and just checked them. They are dry...maybe too much, but also the cones opened! This is my first harvest and wondered if this is normal/ok and they are still usable.

I am going to use mine.

You're probably there. Somewhere between 20% and 10% moisture content, the bracts start to open up. Some say to dry until the stig (stem) is brittle and breaks, but in my experience that is too dry. The stig should feel dry though. Just stop before the bracts start falling off.

When I harvested my Cascade hops last year I found a number of different calculations for the dry weight of hops. What it boiled down to is you finish weight should be about 30-33% of you wet weight. I usually dry them on the kitchen counter (no air conditioner) on an inexpensive furnace filter, turning them once. They are done in 1-2 days.