JT's P.A.C.T. Garden

[zeb]

Your harvest looks great.I'm still a few weeks from total harvest.I'm going to try the same thing with sucker plants but only have until October.Thats when the heavy frost hit my area.

[CoderGuy]

That is so cool. So once you dry the leaves how to you turn them into snus? Wonder if I could grow in the cold rainy climate of Seattle lol

[justintempler]

That is so cool. So once you dry the leaves how to you turn them into snus? Wonder if I could grow in the cold rainy climate of Seattle lol

I use a Kitchen Aid coffee grinder, then sieve it through a 400 mesh sieve (doesn't have to be 400) then into the crockpot... http://www.snuson.com/forum/showthre...s-Oven-Snusugn

Growing tobacco in Seattle would definately be a challenge but I bet it could be done.

[CoderGuy]

I use a Kitchen Aid coffee grinder, then sieve it through a 400 mesh sieve (doesn't have to be 400) then into the crockpot... http://www.snuson.com/forum/showthre...s-Oven-Snusugn

Growing tobacco in Seattle would definately be a challenge but I bet it could be done.

Nice! I have no idea how I missed that thread but pretty awesome.

[justintempler]

The tobacco hanging under the eaves is pretty much cured. Air curing took 3-4 weeks, (although the rest of the leaves will continue to improve with age, the longer they age).

I couldn't take the temptation of the smell of cured tobacco any longer . I decided to grind up a small test batch. This represents less than 2% of what's hanging outside.


I only ground the lamina (that's leftover stem on the left).
I didn't do any extra oven drying. I use a KitchenAid ProLine coffee grinder, then sift with a 400 micron sieve into a 9" Pyrex pie plate. anything that won't pass through the sieve gets reground until it passes through the sieve.

I ended up with about 200 grams of tobacco flour, enough for 12+ cans of lös.

Within the week i'll cook up a batch of snus and report back. I have already tested the smoking quality, it does make an acceptable cigarette but I didn't grow it to make cigarettes, i want snus.

[Owens187]

Hell to the yes!

I dont know how I've missed this thread, but that is freakin awesome, JT!

[desirexe]

So you just have to air cure the tobacco leaves? I was under the impression that the leaves had to be cured AND fermented to make usable. I only had 3 plants this season so I got about 30 leaves to play around with.

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Looks great JT! My plants are topped and suckered. I primed the smaller leaves and they are drying now. Plants seem stunted in 5 gallon containers, but the leaves are very nice.

@ desirexe - I'm under the impression that the curing and fermenting steps are replaced with the steam pasturizing (baking) process when you make snus.

[justintempler]

So you just have to air cure the tobacco leaves? I was under the impression that the leaves had to be cured AND fermented to make usable. I only had 3 plants this season so I got about 30 leaves to play around with.

The most important part is killing off the chlorophyll and removing the moisture (i.e. color curing) You can continue to age your tobacco and it will improve the longer it ages but it isn't necessary.

Mr. Suffleupagus is right, the way we cook snus with heat is a "forced aging" process that is used instead of fermentation. We can accomplish in 2 days of cooking what would take 90 days using fermentation.

Remember that is one of the selling points of snus, dip is fermented, snus isn't.

[desirexe]

The most important part is killing off the chlorophyll and removing the moisture (i.e. color curing) You can continue to age your tobacco and it will improve the longer it ages but it isn't necessary.

Mr. Suffleupagus is right, the way we cook snus with heat is a "forced aging" process that is used instead of fermentation. We can accomplish in 2 days of cooking what would take 90 days using fermentation.

Remember that is one of the selling points of snus, dip is fermented, snus isn't.

I had a major brain fart when I posted my question! Silly me, I knew snus was NOT fermented like dip...I have just been reading too much about curing/fermenting on other sites, brain overload!

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

I had a major brain fart when I posted my question! Silly me, I knew snus was NOT fermented like dip...I have just been reading too much about curing/fermenting on other sites, brain overload!

LOL I know how you feel

[justintempler]

I had a major brain fart when I posted my question! Silly me,...

I hate when that happens. I have them too.

[badlands]

Living in Tennessee I have worked in dozens and seen hundreds of tobacco crops. To date I have never seen a crop this well pampered, not to mention the burly and dark fire around here never reaches 7 ft. tall monster status. Well done man.

[justintempler]

Living in Tennessee I have worked in dozens and seen hundreds of tobacco crops. To date I have never seen a crop this well pampered, not to mention the burly and dark fire around here never reaches 7 ft. tall monster status. Well done man.

It's ironic, This is my first attempt at growing anything since I was 10 years old. I lived just off Nolensville Road near Haywood Lane (south Nashville) for almost 20 years and visited my brother in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky on a regular basis. The whole time I lived in the heart of tobacco country, I never paid any attention to the growing of tobacco. In a way it's a good thing, tobacco farmers (if I remember correctly) get somewhere in the neighborhood of $2-3 a pound for tobacco so they don't have the option of pampering their plants. They can't afford to.

Next year is going to be interesting, I'm going to try to grow a dark burley hydroponically outdoors because growing a dark burley in Florida's sandy soil would result in utter failure.

[lxskllr]

Looking great Justin. I can't wait to hear how the snus turns out. What did it taste like as a cigarette? I'm assuming it has a fairly light flavor.