Afraid of the new possibly excruciating "snus ban"

[snupy]

From my understanding you still have to cure the leaf, it takes 60-90 days of curing (air drying) after harvesting before the tobacco is suitable for use in snus.

Could I take that to mean the only curing necessary for tobaccos used in snus is air curing?

[justintempler]

Could I take that to mean the only curing necessary for tobaccos used in snus is air curing?

Correct. I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to this I've just been digging longer than you have.

There's more than a few plans for a snus oven on the net. It can be as simple as a cardboard box lined with styrofoam. or you can get fancy.



That picture comes from this website:
http://nonkisthaihorna.forum24.se/no...a-about69.html

Basically he uses a Coleman cooler, with a droplight for his heat source, and those are inverted glasses he uses as a platform.

You just got to learn to do some digging.
google is your friend "snus oven" = snusugn

and not be afraid to use a translator.
http://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=sv&tl=en#

[snupy]

I won't even attempt it without a method of cooking that has temperature control. I won't be in a situation where I have to check a thermometer every 15-30 minutes for 24 hours, because I lack a way to set the temperature, forget it and go on with my life until it is done. I need to find a toaster oven with a thermostat.

[Kvlt]

Maybe Swedish Match (if snus becomes banned for good) will make a snus making kit, and the recipes to some of their brands.

Then a few people on here could make it, and we'll all buy from them.

[snupy]

I hope to have pictures of my plants posted here by Sunday or Monday. Some have been hit by cutworms, but I am working to remedy that and most have not been attacked as of yet.

[Sacrilicious]

Maybe I'm missing something, or reading it wrong, but how do you put a plastic container in the oven?

Wouldn't it melt? :?:

[Ainkor]

Maybe I'm missing something, or reading it wrong, but how do you put a plastic container in the oven?

Wouldn't it melt? :?:

It actually uses the light bulb in the bottom as the heat source and the tightly sealed insulated container as the "oven" itself.

I would think one would need a little portable cold holder to be rated for a hot environments since high heat can cause transfers of some of the plastic contaminants.

[justintempler]

Maybe I'm missing something, or reading it wrong, but how do you put a plastic container in the oven?

Wouldn't it melt? :?:

When you pasteurize snus in an "oven" the temperature used is not a high as you might think. The only plastic they normally use would be the Saran wrap to cover the bowl.

The recipes vary, the lower the temerature, the longer the oven time.

50 C (122 F) = 5 days
60 C (140 F) = 4 days
70 C (158 F) = 3 days
80 C (176 F) = 2 days
90 C (194 F) = 1 day

As you can see no matter which option you use the temperature never goes above 100 C (212 F) the boiling point of water. So basically any cookware that can withstand the heat in a microwave could be used in a snus oven.

[Ainkor]

Very cool, thanks for the info justintempler.

It sounds like either you are the google translate master or you make your own. If you make your own, where do you get your tobacco from or what kind do you use?

At a local high end tobacco shop they have some loose natural cigarette tobacco or some natural pipe tobacco without any additives. I have been considering trying with these but they are flue cured which if I understand properly is bad for you.

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

Well I just spent 890 SEK on two kits and some flavors It wasn't easy. I ordered from Primafint.se and I don't speak Swedish. Thank God for Google Translate. I also couldn't get the payson.se payment site to work. Luckily I was contacted via email and they agreed to ship it and helped me set up a wire transfer for payment (which took me all morning and costs another $20). Anyways, I'm really excited because I've wanted to do this for months now. Now I just need to throw a snus baking oven together and wait for delivery

Edit for spelling oops!

[HK11]

cool. I look forward to reading your exploits into snus making (and hopefully a sample )

[snupy]

The recipes vary, the lower the temerature, the longer the oven time.

50 C (122 F) = 5 days
60 C (140 F) = 4 days
70 C (158 F) = 3 days
80 C (176 F) = 2 days
90 C (194 F) = 1 day

As you can see no matter which option you use the temperature never goes above 100 C (212 F) the boiling point of water. So basically any cookware that can withstand the heat in a microwave could be used in a snus oven.

AWESOME! I found a toaster oven here, some no name brand, for $25. It has the temp settings, I think from 0-250 (F). I would rather have a name brand and have time to look around. Will see about posting pics of the baccy here soon. Some of them are ready to go into the ground.

[justintempler]

It sounds like either you are the google translate master or you make your own.

I've never made any, I'm still in the research stage. The cooking part is pretty straight forward. Choosing the right tobacco, curing it, blending it, getting the grind right, flavoring it, would be the most important parts.

AWESOME! I found a toaster oven here, some no name brand, for $25. It has the temp settings, I think from 0-250 (F).

When they talk about temp, that's the internal temp of the snus mass, not the oven temp.

There is no way I would trust the thermostat on a $25 toaster oven.
And most toaster ovens use a browning element that would melt the Saran wrap.

I would rather go with a lightbulb, with a dimmer switch, a temp. probe and a well insulated cardboard box or cooler.

If you want to understand the process read the patent:

Process for producing moist snuff Andrew J. Sensabaugh et al
Abstract
A method in which moist snuff is produced, differing radically from the prior art. The tobacco is hogshead-aged for only about two years. Instead of producing snuff taste characteristics through fermentation, the tobacco is cased and chemical reactions, including Maillard reactions, are induced to produce snuff flavor precursors chemically.

Patent number: 4528993
Filing date: Oct 3, 1983
Issue date: Jul 16, 1985
Inventors: Andrew J. Sensabaugh, Jr., Ronald L. Parks, Arvol C. Marsh, Jr.
Assignee: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

:!: :!: :!: <---- Notice it doesn't say Swedish Match!

http://www.google.com/patents?id=B_Q...bstract&zoom=4

P.S.
and something you might have missed. There is a chemical reaction going on during the "cooking" process called a Maillard reaction which creates its own heat. . That's why you need to monitor the temperature of the snus mass not the oven!

[snupy]

When they talk about temp, that's the internal temp of the snus mass, not the oven temp.

Here's a recipe translated from Swedish. How does the above relate to the following?

"3. Then place the container or plate with tobacco mass in the cooker stoves with a temperature of 55-75 ° (131-167F) in about 5 days depending on the heat you have. Stir in the tank every day, the mixture becomes too dry, you cook up 1 dl. water with 2 teaspoons of salt and blend in to the right consistency "(opinion & taste).

An alternative to the --->oven<--- is to use a box that you put inside with frigolit. The source of heat, use an ordinary light bulb - to ensure that light is not in contact with frigoliten. You may try your way to the watt-power is appropriate, depending on eg box size, how tight it is or what temperature you want.

Or review the recipe posted earlier in this thread:

1. Pour the grounded tobacco powder in a container and blend the salt dissolved in water in the mix. Blend and pour the snus blend in a platic container and set your --->oven<--- to 95 degrees celcius (205 F) for 24 hours.

There is no way I would trust the thermostat on a $25 toaster oven.

That's your issue not mine. There is no way I am going to check the temperature every 30 minutes for 5 days straight, nor tie up the oven in the kitchen for that long. There's no reason to and it's not necessary according to the instructions. Why would I micromanage the temperature anyway? Machines exist to do that, so that we don't have to.

[Lucky Striker]

I would monitor both, I'd check the snus itself every few hours just to see what temp is it's cooking at internally. It takes all of what? thirty seconds? Hell, even every eight to ten hours. That's a non-issue to me, and I would be curious as to what it's actually cooking at.

One thing that I'm weary of is all the different temperatures and cooking lengths I see quoted. One-five days, and a lot of it contradicts other recipes. Like Justin said earlier, though, this is not the crucial thing to me, it's figuring out what to to with the tobacco itself after I buy it off the farm.

Am I supposed to air cure it? How long? Hang it in a barn for months or year(s)?