First Burley Chew Made Today

[Rednekf350]

Well, I couldn't wait any longer tp try to make chewing tobacco. This was my first year growing from seed and I got pretty good results all around. My only problem was a little bit of a late start getting them into the ground because I had to start seedlings a second time due to some human error. I certainly didn't do everything right after the harvesting and air curing my Burley in October but it sure looks and smells like tobacco after three months in a Ziploc bag. So, today was the day.

I cooked down store-bought apple juice to a syrup consistency, added two heathy tablespoons of molasses and added a little Kosher salt. The liquid smelled awesome. I broke up half of a large soup pot of destemmed Burley leaves and kept folding it in. Folding to coat everything got a little muddy so I added a little more tobacco until I got a better consistency. It is still ridiculously tacky.

After a cool down, I balled up a wad and tried it. I am very happy with the outcome. It has a good, mild tobacco flavor and It has a tang from the apple and sweetness from the reduced apple juice and the molasses. Within 5 minutes I could feel the nicotine but the tobacco didn't burn the mouth.

I am going to put it into a mason jar and store it in the refrigerator for now. I didn't make a whole lot because I didn't want to waste the leaves if it came out badly.

If there is a smarter way to store it , please chime in. I do want to try the full process on the WLT Wiki as was recommended here at some point.

A good day.

 

[Jbg]

You might try freezing it in ziploc bags for a longer storage time. I am going to use the apple juice concentrate as it has less water in it. Time should help meld the flavors also.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Well, I couldn't wait any longer tp try to make chewing tobacco. This was my first year growing from seed and I got pretty good results all around. My only problem was a little bit of a late start getting them into the ground because I had to start seedlings a second time due to some human error. I certainly didn't do everything right after the harvesting and air curing my Burley in October but it sure looks and smells like tobacco after three months in a Ziploc bag. So, today was the day.

I cooked down store-bought apple juice to a syrup consistency, added two heathy tablespoons of molasses and added a little Kosher salt. The liquid smelled awesome. I broke up half of a large soup pot of destemmed Burley leaves and kept folding it in. Folding to coat everything got a little muddy so I added a little more tobacco until I got a better consistency. It is still ridiculously tacky.

After a cool down, I balled up a wad and tried it. I am very happy with the outcome. It has a good, mild tobacco flavor and It has a tang from the apple and sweetness from the reduced apple juice and the molasses. Within 5 minutes I could feel the nicotine but the tobacco didn't burn the mouth.

I am going to put it into a mason jar and store it in the refrigerator for now. I didn't make a whole lot because I didn't want to waste the leaves if it came out badly.

If there is a smarter way to store it , please chime in. I do want to try the full process on the WLT Wiki as was recommended here at some point.

A good day.

Great job. Nice and simple and natural.

 

[Rednekf350]

Great job. Nice and simple and natural.

Thank you . I am not a lunatic organic guy but I do like the fact that I was able to grow my tobacco without any fungicides, herbicides or insecticides. The bugs didn't eat much at all and as the season progressed, most of my crop was bug-free. I applied 10-10-10 when I tilled the ground and did one light side dress with 10-10-10 in July.

I had another pull out of the jar tonight and it tastes so good it actually makes you want to eat it ! The nicotine is very noticeable but the flavor is sweet and mellow. The finished texture right now is a like a sticky wad of coarse ground oats. I had to pry some out of the with a fork. I'm thinking of adding some glycerin in the next batch and reducing the molasses a little. I am wondering if that would help ??

 

[Jbg]

i made some last week with the frozen concentrate and good sorghum molasses(4T juice, 2t molasses, 1/4 or 1/2t salt cant remember) cooked down to a syrup and mixed crispy dry burley in. end result is a horridly sticky mass of over sweetness but good flavor. next time i will not cook it so thick. later i added a shot of southern comfort and its been marinating in the fridge ever since and havent tried it yet.

 

[Rednekf350]

i made some last week with the frozen concentrate and good sorghum molasses(4T juice, 2t molasses, 1/4 or 1/2t salt cant remember) cooked down to a syrup and mixed crispy dry burley in. end result is a horridly sticky mass of over sweetness but good flavor. next time i will not cook it so thick. later i added a shot of southern comfort and its been marinating in the fridge ever since and havent tried it yet.

I used a quart of apple juice cooked down to an unknown but far smaller quantity and two heavy tablespoons of molasses. I would guess it was at least 4 oz. of reduced apple juice. It was enough to saturate half of a 10 quart pot soup pot of de-stemmed, dried burley leaves.

 

[Ozzy]

I'm thinking of using apple concentrate for Apple Snus. Is apple concentrate equivalent to boiling down apple juice?

 

[Jbg]

I'm thinking of using apple concentrate for Apple Snus. Is apple concentrate equivalent to boiling down apple juice?

I would think so but boiling may result in a "cooked" apple flavor.
I did learn that for chewin baccer you want a VERY thin syrup, basically slightly thickened juice.