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Topic: Now WTF do I do??? (Read 663 times) |
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Dontnojac
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Posts: 46
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Ed...I caught what OlSchool said also...I had assumed that the leaves had to be loose when cured, then bricked afterwards...Maybe if we talk real nice about him (Good boy, OlSchool) he will explain.....
Am a bit concerned about temp also, supposed to drop into the low thirtys in Tacoma, which means it will be below that out at my place (we are quite a bit higher than Tacoma). But, ain't a hell of a lot I can do about it, hard to heat five acres..
How's the temp and RH doing in your box?........jack
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ohio_olschool
Coffinails Senior Member
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If everybody smoked there could be a tobbaco shortage and high prices!
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Ed,
I have always bricked my tobacco before I cure it. So far I have done one Virginia, and one burley. I have also done two 'dark fire' Virginia cured blocks.
As long as you have air/or heat dried your leaves (all enzyme action has been completed) next step is aging/fermenting the tobacco. I saw no real advantage to aging in leaf form...then pressing into blocks...seems redundant.
I had some of my stems in this last batch down toward the bottom of the pile still a little green. I stripped them anyway and pressed. The aging is a fermenting process....same temps and RH as leaf drying phase.
I spent the better part of a day de-snaking those rascals....back breaking and tedious. I put the leaves in light 'case' so they did not crumble as I stripped the stem...kept them that way to make pressing a little easier.
What I also have done is put my plugs in a ziplock bag...marked with date I started along with type of tobacco I plugged. Easier to spritz a little moisture in the bag. I tried the pan of water and several other methods of keeping RH at 75% ... with my plugs sitting on racks...spray water bottle and baggies works for me. After about 2 weeks you can smell the difference between compost smell and the new 'rich' tobacco odors coming from the kiln. 
Because of the drop in temps here I am going to have to get my 50 watt bulb back out....the 40 watt is only keeping temps at 118*F.,..10* less than before.
Still hoping to get a few more weeks of above freezing temps....my second crop is just starting to flower and the leaves not sticky enough yet.
Ohio ol_school
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ol time puffer...new time grower ;>)
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edowens
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thanks olschool for the info mine arte color cureing ok but stems are still not done at least the firsyt 4 inchs or so the rest is nice then teens tronite may hurt the dark stuff not much going on there as far as coloring yet ED
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Dontnojac
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Old School.....
Just one more piece of info, and I promice I won't ever bug you again (like thats gonna happen)....
The way you go about brickin first then curing makes sense... (I sometimes wonder if too much ain't made of the "mysterys" of curing tobacco)...Am gonna try your way..
So, sing along with me please, and lemme know if I'm gonna screw it up....I am gonna pick a bunch of leaves off the batch that has been hanging for about six weeks....I then gonna stem (snake?) them, press em into bricks...mist em down and put them into sandwich bags, put em into the kiln at 130 degrees for a couple of weeks???????
I have a small (test) batch that I pressed into a brick this morning....How long do I leave it in the press?? (that question don't count.....Does it?)
Ed....Down into the low twentys last night here at poverty acres....How are you doing over on the "frosty" side of the hill??
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edowens
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Jack ben 3 nites onto the teens freeze dried baccy anyone? 99.9 percent still hanging in the barn with the hi winds we had and agin sunday not sure how its going to turn out sure slowed the drying down with this cold spell saying rain for days now bet your getting it now and lots of it but maybe get in case still RH of 20 out side and the wind had sure cracked up alot of leaf ohwell live and learn huh ED
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ohio_olschool
Coffinails Senior Member
Posts: 314
If everybody smoked there could be a tobbaco shortage and high prices!
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on October 11th, 2009, 9:09pm, Dontnojac wrote:Old School.....
So, sing along with me please, and lemme know if I'm gonna screw it up....I am gonna pick a bunch of leaves off the batch that has been hanging for about six weeks....I then gonna stem (snake?) them, press em into bricks...mist em down and put them into sandwich bags, put em into the kiln at 130 degrees for a couple of weeks ?
I have a small (test) batch that I pressed into a brick this morning....How long do I leave it in the press?? (that question don't count.....Does it?) |
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Dontnojack,
Not a problem with questions....sorry I did not find this until today.
The aging/curing phase takes years for some tobacco companies. I have found with mine...Virginia, Walker, and Lizard tail that they start changing smell in about 2 weeks. This is at temps of 120-130*F with a RH of 75-80%. My temps fluctuate a little, and I know my RH does also..but they are in the range. They go from an ammonia compost odor to a tobacco odor in about 2 weeks....in about a month the odor changes again to a deep rich cigar smell (tobacco odor).
I have pressed anywhere from a week to a day. The blocks pressed for a week are very solid and do not 'rise' when you bake them (grow a little when heat and moisture are added). I think a day is plenty for the press. The blocks stay together well, and cut easier (and separate easier after cutting) than the 'bricks' I made earlier.
So far everything appears to be fine with pressing then curing....again that is what happened years ago when tobacco first became a cash crop for the colonies to be shipped over seas.
hope that explains it.....good luck....I do not know yet if there is a wrong way to age tobacco. I know several university reports I have read say not to wet the leaf after it has color cured...you can put it in case as many times as needed...but not to get it wet.
Ohio ol_school
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ol time puffer...new time grower ;>)
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