Making Black Cavendish Pipe Tobacco

[Mad Oshea]

WOW that is neat. I would think it would fall apart after an hr. (like meat) Thanks for sharin that one. Great post, I love to learn somthing new. I dont smoke Cavendish in My pipe but may make a new one for just that. I like it once in a while.
What would it take to get a sample if it is offered?

 

[DonH]

WOW that is neat. I would think it would fall apart after an hr. (like meat) Thanks for sharin that one. Great post, I love to learn somthing new. I dont smoke Cavendish in My pipe but may make a new one for just that. I like it once in a while.
What would it take to get a sample if it is offered?

You can smoke homemade Cavendish in any pipe. The commercial stuff is heavily cased and aromatic (lots of vanilla) but with the homemade stuff you don't have to add flavorings if you don't want to. Unflavored Cavendish tastes pretty neutral. It's good for toning down blends.

 

[deluxestogie]

What would it take to get a sample if it is offered?

Cavendish is so easy, it's not worth the postage. Just put any color cured leaf (any variety) into a colander and steam it for 8 hours. That's all it is. Read the thread from the start, to see the various methods folks have tried. The extra heat of the 15 psi pressure cooker (250ºF vs 212ºF) just trims a couple of hours from the process. But steamed leaf is really simple to make. If I recall correctly, JohnLee1933 was the first member with the courage to try a pressure cooker for making Cavendish.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Making Sliced Rollcake

After allowing the Cavendish to dry to medium case, I made up a small rollcake, and produced slices.

I chose the crossing leaf to be the "wrapper" of the rollcake.

The filler is bunched, then cut into thirds.

The rollcake is made just like a cigar.

The rollcake is sliced, the placed into a pan to dry in the oven.

In making a rollcake, keep in mind that the thicker the "cigar," the greater the force required to slice it. So a longer one is easier than a thicker one. If you want the slices to retain a round shape, the leaf needs to be dried to a lower case before rolling the rollcake.

The oven is run at ~150ºF. I check the feel of the slices every ten minutes, and remove it from the oven as soon as it feels mostly dried. The warm slices will dry even more, as soon as the pan is removed. The goal is to avoid raising the temp too high.

The dried slices can now be brought into low case, and rested for a week.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Making a Cavendish Cut from Presscake

Cavendish cut is unrelated to the Cavendish process. The first photo in this post shows its typical appearance--stacked shred. I just happen to be using my newly made Cavendish (Bolivia Criollo Black) to demonstrate a Cavendish cut, which is made from presscake, and not fully rubbed-out.

The leaf is teased apart, then piled into a rectangle that will occupy the bottom half of a 1 gallon Ziplock freezer bag.

My lever-arm press exerts about 65 pounds of weight on the half-bag.

I allowed the tobacco to press for only a few hours.

Finished presscake.

The presscake is first cut into ~1-1/4" bars, which are then sliced.

As with the rollcake, the Cavendish cut slices are dried in the oven, then brought back to low case for storage.

The entire string of 40+ large leaves of Bolivia Criollo Black have produced a little under a half-pound of stemmed, finished Cavendish tobacco.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

Why the two methods of slicing (presscake and rollcake)? Are there advantages/disadvantages, one over the other?

 

[Markw]

I have read the whole of this thread and have found it most educational and I was going to have a go at making some. Unfortunately I don't have a pressure cooker I would need to do it in the saucepan and strainer.
Just a quick question? do you think this would work in a slow cooker (crockpot) on the high setting for lets say 24 or 36 hours, I know I can cover my slow cooker with a few towels and can get it to just boil.
Do you think it worth having a go.

 

[DonH]

I have read the whole of this thread and have found it most educational and I was going to have a go at making some. Unfortunately I don't have a pressure cooker I would need to do it in the saucepan and strainer.
Just a quick question? do you think this would work in a slow cooker (crockpot) on the high setting for lets say 24 or 36 hours, I know I can cover my slow cooker with a few towels and can get it to just boil.
Do you think it worth having a go.

A crockpot siold work fine. Like Bob said, it's not rocket science. The nice thing about using a crockpot is that you don't have to cook it in the kitchen. My wife was not happy when I made Cavendish in the house.

 

[Markw]

Hi Don
Well it has been in the slow cooker for nearly 8 hours now, I just checked on it and it is looking good it is turning a nice colour, I will keep checking on it for the next three hours to see how it is going. As you have said Don about the smell I have done it in the garage.

 

[deluxestogie]

Why the two methods of slicing (presscake and rollcake)? Are there advantages/disadvantages, one over the other?

The rollcake can be made with no tools other than a knife of some kind. For a home process, it allows making it in very tiny batches. Also, with care, you can end up with lovely coins. The result is not a Cavendish cut.

The presscake requires rigging a way to press it. It is more suitable for large batches. The shred length is determined by the width of the first cut. The result is a Cavendish cut.

Bob [Sitting on my front porch in 29ºF windy weather, trying to type and smoke a cigar while wearing fingerless gloves. The keys are only momentary, but the touchpad is painful.]

 

[Markw]

Well it is out of the slow cooker after nearly 13 hrs, I think 12 hrs would have been fine, it is a nice dark colour. The leaves that I used were quite light to begin with. One inch of water in the cooker last for about 13hrs there was just a small amount of very dark water left in the bottom. I am going to try it again tomorrow with some cherry or vanilla essence added to the water to see if I can add some flavour into the leaf.

 

[Fisherman]

Could you shred the cavendish into 1mm strips and add to ciggerette?

 

[deluxestogie]

Could you shred the cavendish into 1mm strips and add to ciggerette?

You can shred it however you like. I can't do a 1mm shred by hand. I can't comment on how it would blend in a cigarette.

Bob

 

[DonH]

I haven't tried it in a cigarette, but I don't think it would taste very good or add anything. Its use in pipe tobacco is to make the smoke milder (because most of the flavor gets steamed out, also most of the nicotine) and to soak up flavorings for aromatic pipe tobacco (since so much stuff has been steamed out it absorbs casing better).

 

[Dean]

I have used cavendish in cigs, I have flavoured high to get some follow through. Went away with a mate recently and I'll quote one of the best cigs he ever had flavoured with vanilla bean steeped in vodka and artificial cherry. A strong flavoured mixed with air cured leaf to give a sweet cherry smoke. I can smoke it on its own but most think it too strong. There is honey as well as a few other ingredients for my taste. Steeped in vodka it's easy to get the taste with minimal water, well 50% less water as the alcohol dries off. It is not a quick process to get a flavour down, a month in a sealed jar bottle in some sun, heat, think kiln will meld the flavours.

cheers

 

[deluxestogie]

I haven't tried it in a cigarette, but I don't think it would taste very good or add anything. Its use in pipe tobacco is to make the smoke milder (because most of the flavor gets steamed out, also most of the nicotine) and to soak up flavorings for aromatic pipe tobacco (since so much stuff has been steamed out it absorbs casing better).

My Cavendish has a rich flavor, and all the nicotine that it started out with. In steaming the leaf, it must be kept above the liquid in the steaming container. The residual water in the bottom of my pressure cooker, after many hours of cooking, is transparent and colorless.

As to using Cavendish for making a blend milder, it all depends on the variety of tobacco used for making Cavendish. If you use a mild, bland tobacco, such as some of the Maryland varieties, then yes, it will make a blend milder. If you make burley Cavendish, it will usually make a blend stronger.

My last batch of Cavendish, made from Bolivia Criollo Black, is full-flavored, medium nicotine, and smokes beautifully in a pipe as a straight, unblended tobacco.

So, select your variety for the nature of the Cavendish you wish to produce. I don't smoke cigarettes, but I would imagine that Cavendish from a flue-cure variety would be a likely candidate.

Bob

 

[DonH]

My Cavendish has a rich flavor, and all the nicotine that it started out with. In steaming the leaf, it must be kept above the liquid in the steaming container. The residual water in the bottom of my pressure cooker, after many hours of cooking, is transparent and colorless.

As to using Cavendish for making a blend milder, it all depends on the variety of tobacco used for making Cavendish. If you use a mild, bland tobacco, such as some of the Maryland varieties, then yes, it will make a blend milder. If you make burley Cavendish, it will usually make a blend stronger.

My last batch of Cavendish, made from Bolivia Criollo Black, is full-flavored, medium nicotine, and smokes beautifully in a pipe as a straight, unblended tobacco.

So, select your variety for the nature of the Cavendish you wish to produce. I don't smoke cigarettes, but I would imagine that Cavendish from a flue-cure variety would be a likely candidate.

Bob

I'm not sure how you can steam it while keeping the water below colorless. Good job! When I tried it the leaves were way above the water but the water ended up dark brown.

Do you prefer the Bolivian Cavendish more than the original Bolivian smoked straight up? I guess I'm wondering what the benefit of the Cavendish process would be for cigarettes, especially.

 

[deluxestogie]

I'm not sure how you can steam it while keeping the water below colorless.....Do you prefer the Bolivian Cavendish more than the original Bolivian smoked straight up?

In a pot of boiling water, condensation collects on the inner lid, and drips back into the tobacco. Once a pressure cooker comes up to temp, there is no condensation, so no dripping.

Bolivian Criollo air-cured vs. kilned vs. flue-cured vs. Cavendish processed vs. Perique processed--each tastes different. Each offers a new blending ingredient. Any variety can give you a bevy of interesting results.

Bob

 

[DonH]

How long do you pressure cook it? Sorry, I'm sure you covered it somewhere.

 

[deluxestogie]

How long do you pressure cook it? Sorry, I'm sure you covered it somewhere.

Busted!

Try reading the previous page of this thread, or even the whole thread.

Bob