Buy Tobacco Leaf Online | Whole Leaf Tobacco

over humidified leaf in kiln

Status
Not open for further replies.

buck

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2013
Messages
618
Points
43
Location
Vancouver BC Canada
I know that too much heat can kill your leaf, not enough humidity will slow the process but how about too much moisture in the leaf while in the kiln? Does humidity have to be between %70-%75 and what happens if it gets to %80-%90 for an extended period of time.

Besides a greater chance of mold, what other negative impact will that have on the end results.
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,929
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
At above 120 degrees F, you won't see vegetative growth of mold. If the kiln has cooler "corners," then those may permit mold. Very high moisture will darken the leaf more than at a lower RH. It may also alter the taste, though I've never been able to convince myself that I'm detecting a difference.

Bob
 

Smokin Harley

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2014
Messages
2,573
Points
48
Location
Grant ,Alabama
ok so with that said ...I've been tweaking and adjusting the moisture in my kiln over the last month so its basically steady at rolling case or slightly above . Are you saying then if I want darker finished tobacco I should raise the humidity ?
I noticed that while the leaf was color curing in the barn the leaf that took longer cured darker. BUT, Little Dutch was the fastest to color cure , going almost from green to brown with a very short time in yellow .
 

deluxestogie

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 25, 2011
Messages
23,929
Points
113
Location
near Blacksburg, VA
Are you saying then if I want darker finished tobacco I should raise the humidity ?
Some varieties yield darker leaf than others. All varieties yield darker leaf from higher up the stalk.

You'll have to experiment, if you intend to intentionally darken the leaf with the kiln. But a general rule of thumb is that, during color curing, higher humidity and slower color-curing usually results in darker leaf. I consider the darker color that results from excessive kiln temperature to be a kilning error. Leaf within the kiln that gets soaked, for whatever reason, also seems to come out darker (or to mold, if in a cold pocket). I regard such darkening as also a kilning error. That having been said, if the result is what you want, then the error becomes a feature. [If you burn the sugars when you bake an apple, you may end up with caramel. Or char.]

Bob
 

rustycase

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
303
Points
0
Location
Left coast
Yep.
In my own, really cheapo implementation of the drbob crockpot kiln I used manual venting... I left the opening wide, if needed. Sometimes I was busy with other projects and did not get to check the chamber when I should have and discovered the leaf dripping, when I got to it. NOT good! lol
As Mr Deluxe Stogie said, it was an error.
lol IIRC, my hygrometer had said 98% humidity !
I usually need to keep it under 70%, And with marginal insulation quality, I've never been able to generate suitable temps... it's really not a kiln, merely a chamber, to prevent flash curing in our arid climate.
Good luck
rc
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top