AmaxB
Well-Known Member
Got around to trying the A-56-N from last year. Been mixing it 50/50 with VA Brite am loving this one it has a soft full flavor, no bite or throat kick. But does have a nic punch..
Are you planing on growing a crop of tobacco next spring? I missed you having a grow blog this year.
That boat is a dream boat for Us older guys. A good name for it would be,Cigarette boat. Ha Ha.
I did the same thing with some pile yellowed that I didn't have room for in the kiln. turned brown within 24 hrs.I would not yellow in the boxes again I think it hurt the flue cure process and is why that tobacco cured brown.
If all the tobacco that went into the chamber had been pre-yellowed to a point it might be OK.
Even though it cured brown it smokes OK but lacks some flavor...
For the little guys like us:
Yellowing: keep it in a natural temp range for ideal coloring (95-100 deg) 105 from first batch observation borders on wilting which tends to fix color in the leaf. The accelerated process of flue curing is achieved not by more temperature but by maintaining the proper conditions 24 hrs per day.
Wilting: 105-125 and high humidity. We want the leaf to go limp and leathery and as much excess moisture removed as possible without actually drying anything
Leaf drying: 125-135. Basically until the leaf dries to low/medium case
Stem drying: 135-150. My first batch dried completely including stems in less than 36 hrs, stems brittle and leaf falling apart crumbly when touched.
My theory in not going all the way to 165 is the leaf when brought to order will still have natural aging enzymes available and will continue to get better with age instead of being stuck in the condition it was dried in; this is my deviation vs commercial temps where the goal is fast and consistent vs us needing to dry fast to conserve space yet want the fine wine “gets better with age”.
If I want to ramp up the sugar content or carmelize or fix the aging process I can bring leaf to high case, put in the chamber and ramp to 165 deg or more to kill/darken it. If I want it sweeter I can hold the 145-150 temp range longer.
This is how I will approach my second run in the flue cure chamber. Thanks to everyone documenting their experiences in kilning, flue curing, toasting, etc and your impressions of the results. This post is a combonation of reading all of that and my own observations of leaf curing of my own.
Just my take and look forward to completing my second more educated run of the flue cure chamber.
Sorry for getting long winded.
I agree. I put some fully yellowed leaves in last year and they turned brown. I think they had retained to much moisture to go into next step that quickly.Win: first run that was handed had some green/grey leaves i just figured did not yellow properly.....after 5 days rest, they have nearly taken on the finished gold color of the nice hands. Maybe i don't need to obsess so much about perfect yellowing.
Fail: i can say conclusively over-yellowing is bad. A few leaves in batch 2 were nearly yellow when put in. AS i went into wilt those leaves had turned into light brown paper Mache'. Appears over-yellowed leaf gives up moisture AND substance. s
I agree, not what to want but they still make a good smoke.