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Toasting the whole leaf

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SmokeStack

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I have toasted flue cured shredded cigarette tobacco before with good results. Now I am interested in toasting flue cured for pipe tobacco. I wanted to make my pipe tobacco in plug or flake form - not shredded. Has anyone ever toasted the entire leaf? If so, how?
 

DonH

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I have toasted flue cured shredded cigarette tobacco before with good results. Now I am interested in toasting flue cured for pipe tobacco. I wanted to make my pipe tobacco in plug or flake form - not shredded. Has anyone ever toasted the entire leaf? If so, how?
Yep, that's the way I do it. The same way I would toast shredded tobacco. I do remove the midrib first.
 

Bruck

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I am planning on attempting to make flake - just picked up a press on craig's list, working on a concept for a pressure chamber of some kind.
Disclaimer - I have no idea what I'm doing other than reading up on the subject on various forums, and for that matter am pretty new to pipe smoking so I don't really have a good grip on what's good. But I do like flake, am an inveterate tinkerer, and always have leftover scraps from rolling stogies.
 

SmokeStack

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Hello Bruck,

I bought a very small press from seedman.com. I don't think they carry it anymore. The press was kind of flimsy and it contorted at high pressures. Now I am thinking of making a press using a C-clamp and whatever I can find at Home Depot. I don't think the pressure needs to be as high as making perique. I made flake tobacco using the small press from seedman.com by layering the whole leaf without the mid-stem (a mixture of Lemon Virginia, Red Virginia, and TN 90 Burley) into the press and placed the whole thing in a giant pot and steamed it for 6 hours. I let the press with tobacco at room temperature for an additional two months. Then I sliced the plug into flakes and jarred it. After a month in a jar, I had myself a very full-flavored smoke that was void of tongue bite and harshness. Steaming and aging made for a very smooth smoke. I am going to try it again using different tobaccos - maybe TN 90 and Madole since those two are hard to tame. I have been steaming much of my tobacco now as it is a quick way to make whole leaf palatable in a short time. I use flue-cured Lemon Virginia and steam it for 3 hours. It turns from yellow to dark brown in about 3 hours. I smoke it straight in my pipe and it is sweet and naturally aromatic. I pipe smoke only a few commercial brands. Now what am I going to do with all those tins of tobacco I bought?
 

Desertpipe

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Open them up and put them in Mason jars for 10 years.

Tins in their original packaging have value above loose jarred. I date all tins at purchase and if I decide later they are not my cup of tea, I send them off to Waco, Texas, where Steve Fallon has a site on the Net that specializes in aged tobaccos. Pipestud.com

Not affiliated, no interest in any current offerings, just a friend of many years.
 

AmaxB

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Hello Bruck,
I have been steaming much of my tobacco now as it is a quick way to make whole leaf palatable in a short time. I use flue-cured Lemon Virginia and steam it for 3 hours. It turns from yellow to dark brown in about 3 hours. I smoke it straight in my pipe and it is sweet and naturally aromatic. I pipe smoke only a few commercial brands. Now what am I going to do with all those tins of tobacco I bought?

Hi SmokeStack
I'd like very much to know about your steaming process can you give the details? Is there much loss of nicotine?
I know -0- about steaming.
 

Bruck

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Hello Bruck,

I bought a very small press from seedman.com. I don't think they carry it anymore. The press was kind of flimsy and it contorted at high pressures. Now I am thinking of making a press using a C-clamp and whatever I can find at Home Depot. I don't think the pressure needs to be as high as making perique. I made flake tobacco using the small press from seedman.com by layering the whole leaf without the mid-stem (a mixture of Lemon Virginia, Red Virginia, and TN 90 Burley) into the press and placed the whole thing in a giant pot and steamed it for 6 hours. I let the press with tobacco at room temperature for an additional two months. Then I sliced the plug into flakes and jarred it. After a month in a jar, I had myself a very full-flavored smoke that was void of tongue bite and harshness. Steaming and aging made for a very smooth smoke. I am going to try it again using different tobaccos - maybe TN 90 and Madole since those two are hard to tame. I have been steaming much of my tobacco now as it is a quick way to make whole leaf palatable in a short time. I use flue-cured Lemon Virginia and steam it for 3 hours. It turns from yellow to dark brown in about 3 hours. I smoke it straight in my pipe and it is sweet and naturally aromatic. I pipe smoke only a few commercial brands. Now what am I going to do with all those tins of tobacco I bought?

Very good, tnx for the pointers. The process I'm going to try to duplicate is to press some tobacco that's moistened to be flexible but not steamed, for a short time (like a day) at very high pressure, then clamp it at lower pressure, just to hold its shape, for abt 30 days (if I'm patient enough), then slice and jar. I'll try it first with cigar scraps, then if it's not a total disaster, try some different blends.

I made some psuedo-cavendish a while ago by steaming and light pressing - it turned out okay. It's good mixed with flake, half and half.
 

SmokeStack

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Hi SmokeStack
I'd like very much to know about your steaming process can you give the details? Is there much loss of nicotine?
I know -0- about steaming.

AmaxB, all you need are three things to steam tobacco. (At least this is the way I do it.) I use a screen-sieve, a Pyrex glass bowl, and a large cooking pot. I posted pictures of them below.

[FONT=&amp]PROCEDURE:[/FONT]

  1. [FONT=&amp]I fill the pot with about 2 inches of water and then I place the Pyrex glass bowl into the pot upside down. The Pyrex pot serves as a stand to support the screen-sieve above the water.[/FONT]
  2. [FONT=&amp]Then I remove the mid-stem from the leaf. The leaf is then lightly misted with water using a spray bottle.[/FONT]
  3. [FONT=&amp]I fill the sieve with the moistened leaf and place then place the sieve into the pot on top of the inverted Pyrex glass bowl.[/FONT]
  4. [FONT=&amp]I cover the pot with the lid and turn on the heat so that the water gently boils.[/FONT]
  5. [FONT=&amp]I open the lid occasionally to add water. Be sure not to let the water to completely evaporate.[/FONT]
  6. [FONT=&amp]I steamed Lemon Virginia. It starts off as a yellow leaf, but then turns darker brown in color as time passes. Note: condensation will drip onto the leaf and it will become a little soggy - but that is not a problem.[/FONT]
  7. [FONT=&amp]Once the leaf turns dark brown, I remove the sieve (be careful - it's hot) and let the tobacco cool to room temperature.[/FONT]
  8. [FONT=&amp]I place the wet leaf strips on a cookie sheet to dry until the leaf reaches the right moisture level.[/FONT]
  9. [FONT=&amp]I then store the leaf in a sealed jar.[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]
That's all there is to it. The longer you let the tobacco steam, the darker the color. It will turn black eventually (black cavendish). I prefer my Lemon Virginia tobacco to turn medium brown. I smoke the leaf in my pipe. The steamed leaf is void of harshness, but retains its natural sweet and aromatic flavors. As for the nicotine content, I cannot say. I'm a heavy cigarette smoker and my nicotine tolerance is very high; so I never sense the effects of nicotine when I smoke a pipe. For me, it's purely for the flavor and aroma.


IMG_0188.jpgIMG_0189.jpg
[/FONT]
 
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DirkReids

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It seems like very unique thought SmokeStack.. Were you able to build such a pipe tobacco in plug or flake form? Hope for quick reply..
 

DonH

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It seems like very unique thought SmokeStack.. Were you able to build such a pipe tobacco in plug or flake form? Hope for quick reply..
Hey Dirk, it's really easy to make your own flake or plug pipe tobacco. Lots of us have done it and reported on it here in the Pipe Smokers section of the forum. I'm just taking a quick smoke break on the porch while working on an intense work deadline or I'd search for the links :)
 
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