When do leaves start to smell good?

[mwaller]

First year grower here! Perhaps a silly question, but when do tobacco leaves begin to smell like.... Tobacco? I've been picking suckers off my plants, and apart from making my fingers sticky with resin, the plucked leaves smell terrible and not at all like the finished product. Do they only smell good after color cure, or...?!

 

[Orson Carte]

Depending upon the variety you are growing, you could perhaps start thinking about building yourself a simple kiln (for using after the leaves have ripened and air-dried) - otherwise it's going to be a much longer time than you'll probably be happy with before the start to 'smell good'.
Yes, they only smell good, given time or forced aging.

 

[Leftynick]

I would say, after fermenting/kilning. Some tobacco smell like tobacco only after color cure. During drying most of it smell like freshly cut grass(the chlorophyll breakdown). During fermenting it can smell like tea, due to oxidation of the leaf. My homegrown smell a lot better after 1 month fermenting/kilning. Taste will improve a lot too.

 

[ArizonaDave]

I would say, after fermenting/kilning. Some tobacco smell like tobacco only after color cure. During drying most of it smell like freshly cut grass(the chlorophyll breakdown). During fermenting it can smell like tea, due to oxidation of the leaf. My homegrown smell a lot better after 1 month fermenting/kilning. Taste will improve a lot too.

You should probably ask Bob. I just get mine until they smell good, then let them sit in a deep drawer in my tobacco room for a few months, or roll some and sit them in one of my cedar humidors for 6 months before I ever touch them. Then again, I'm partial to cedar. And I have plenty of tobacco built up now. The only thing I'm missing now is some WLT leaves I like. We're gone in July, so I'll probably put in an order in August.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Just my personal experience. I find flue cured smells good after a week or two in the kiln. Burley, and dark air after a month, and a month rest. I haven't done much cigar, but a month doesn't seem to be enough, so I'd like to hear about how long others kiln their cigar filler.

 

[mwaller]

This is great info, guys. Thanks for helping get my expectations in line with reality! I do plan to build a kiln, though I figure I have many months yet before I can use it. The first piece of hardware I acquire may need to be a humidifier to help the leaves color cure correctly. The humidity in my garage is typically no more than 50%... I'm thinking it should be closer to 70%, right?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

This is great info, guys. Thanks for helping get my expectations in line with reality! I do plan to build a kiln, though I figure I have many months yet before I can use it. The first piece of hardware I acquire may need to be a humidifier to help the leaves color cure correctly. The humidity in my garage is typically no more than 50%... I'm thinking it should be closer to 70%, right?

Good call on the humidifier. 70% is appropriate. Preferably with decent air circulation as well. In a more enclosed space, (say, if you partitioned off a section with vapor barrier) the water loss from the tobacco is often enough to humidify the space in its own. I prefer to have the humidifier on a controller so it turns off if the humidity is already high enough. My curing shed is so enclosed, when there's lots of leaf in it, I have to connect a ventilation fan to the controller in order to remove moisture. (Indoors in Alberta is usually < 15% rh in the fall, so that tells you how much humidity comes from the leaf)

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

You're growing about 30 plants? You can totally do without building anything, but I would consider building a partitioned off area. Adding humidity to the entire garage might be beyond the capability of a standard humidifier. Also, if it's a finished garage, and it's cold outside, you're going to have condensation buildup on Windows and doors, and could end up with moldy drywall or plywood along the floor.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Like CV said you probably only need to staple some plastic sheeting to a corner of the garage to partition it. The plants can be their own humidifier as they are mostly water at that point. Just put a fan in there and keep a flap of plastic loose so you can roll it up to vent excess moisture.

Tobacco goes through a few stages in the kiln. Tea smell is letting you know all is going well. Usually a month at high case around 120f will have it smelling and tasting like you'd expect.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

First year grower here! Perhaps a silly question, but when do tobacco leaves begin to smell like.... Tobacco? I've been picking suckers off my plants, and apart from making my fingers sticky with resin, the plucked leaves smell terrible and not at all like the finished product. Do they only smell good after color cure, or...?!

What type of tobacco are you growing? If Rustica, they will always stink. My tobacco in the field starts to smell really good at about the time they are forming flower buds.

 

[mwaller]

Yes, I have about 30 plants as mentioned above. They are all cigar varieties - Corojo 99, Criollo 98, Vuelta Abajo, Florida Sumatra, and Little Dutch. My garage does have an alcove that contains the furnace and water heater. I'm thinking I could partially obstruct airflow to this area to help contain the moisture a bit. My plan was to get a console humidifier - the kind that supposedly will help humidify multiple rooms.
Regarding a kiln - I just found a broken 50-bottle wine fridge on craigslist. Do you think that would be big enough for a small kiln? Exterior dimensions are roughly 2'x2'x3'
Thanks!

 

[BarG]

Those are all good choices for cigars. Good luck with your kiln, for the amount of plants you have it should work although it will probably need to be done in batches. I had real good luck kilning Florida Sumatra tied into hands and packed into 5lb vapor proof bags from Don. Keeping at a moderate moisture content;leaves pliable stems dried.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Yes, I have about 30 plants as mentioned above. They are all cigar varieties - Corojo 99, Criollo 98, Vuelta Abajo, Florida Sumatra, and Little Dutch. My garage does have an alcove that contains the furnace and water heater. I'm thinking I could partially obstruct airflow to this area to help contain the moisture a bit. My plan was to get a console humidifier - the kind that supposedly will help humidify multiple rooms.
Regarding a kiln - I just found a broken 50-bottle wine fridge on craigslist. Do you think that would be big enough for a small kiln? Exterior dimensions are roughly 2'x2'x3'
Thanks!

It's definitely a decent size. Just don't let tobacco touch walls or floor because condensation and cooler temperatures equals mold.

 

[mwaller]

It's definitely a decent size. Just don't let tobacco touch walls or floor because condensation and cooler temperatures equals mold.

Great, thanks for the info. I was planning to use a small crock pot connected to a temperature-controlled outlet to raise the heat and humidity in the kiln. Do you typically just hang hands of tobacco from the top of the kiln, or are they best stuffed into bags or other containers for curing?

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Great, thanks for the info. I was planning to use a small crock pot connected to a temperature-controlled outlet to raise the heat and humidity in the kiln. Do you typically just hang hands of tobacco from the top of the kiln, or are they best stuffed into bags or other containers for curing?

A number of members hang hands of tobacco like you described. I use the baskets that go into the 1020 trays. I stack the leaves flat in the baskets. And, I stack the baskets on top of each other. The bottom of the kiln is an upside down basket so air circulates under the stack.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

The first run you do in the kiln, I suggest you put a small amount in until you are confident its operating well. (No mold)

 

[BarG]

I found that my winters work best for kilning in my crock pot fridge kiln. It is easier to control humidity and temp. With the tobacco in proper case and vapor proof bags I found it is virtually maintenance free other than temp control. I ended up smoking 5 lbs of kilned Florida Sumatra as cig tobacco, Damn it was good.

keeping water in crockpot at proper level was main chore. control by adjusting lid to allow for evaporation and heat, which is more critical with hands or stacked tobacco in my opinion.

 

[mwaller]

I found that my winters work best for kilning in my crock pot fridge kiln. It is easier to control humidity and temp. With the tobacco in proper case and vapor proof bags I found it is virtually maintenance free other than temp control. I ended up smoking 5 lbs of kilned Florida Sumatra as cig tobacco, Damn it was good.

keeping water in crockpot at proper level was main chore. control by adjusting lid to allow for evaporation and heat, which is more critical with hands or stacked tobacco in my opinion.

Interesting... do you run your crock pot without water since you keep the leaves sealed in bags?

 

[BarG]

Yes, that is necessary I believe to keep crock pot from breaking. I usually have some loose stacked leaves also. it is still a chore for a month to check every couple of days. Mine is located in an outbuilding close to my house [ woodshop] I still have not replaced my wifes crock pot after 4 or 5 years, she never cooks anyway I do heh heh.

Edit: I have vent holes also and you can also use a bowl of salt to monitor humidity, {cost free humidity checker] I am extremely low tech. what I would realy like is to build one of Bobs flue cure chambers one day. It is basicaly trial and error for your set up but you are gonna be fine.

 

[greenmonster714]

A bowl of salt? How does that work? I've never heard of that before.