Are these ready for the garden?

[mwaller]

A red letter day - tobacco is in the kiln!

 

[Thedbs999]

Should turn out great. looking forward to a review of the results.

Dan

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Looking good just be vigilant since it's so close to the kiln. I wonder if you couldn't cut a hole out of the bottom if that metal is just a shell there to sink your heat source down in the middle and further from the leaves

 

[mwaller]

I wondered about that, but I convinced myself that there isn't a problem. The crock pot heating element is in the bottom, and it warms the ceramic insert. The temperature controller cuts off heating whenever the air is 123F, so the water never even boils. Am I missing something?

Looking good just be vigilant since it's so close to the kiln. I wonder if you couldn't cut a hole out of the bottom if that metal is just a shell there to sink your heat source down in the middle and further from the leaves

 

[deluxestogie]

It's probably safe. And your house will probably not burn to the ground. The auto-ignition temperature of paper is about 450ºF, and tobacco leaf is likely higher. (It's a different situation if your kiln is heated by an exposed heating coil or hotplate.)

I have a similar, though more spacious arrangement. My greatest worry is that leaf tips that touch the ceramic dry out sooner than the rest of the leaf in the kiln.

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I wasn't thinking fire, just dry leaf that isn't going to be aging if the tips are too warm to be able to hold on to moisture.

In my kiln I have a layer of rigid insulation over the heat to try to dissipate heat spots.

 

[mwaller]

Gotcha... I'll see what I can do!

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

Didn't Ray Bradbury write a book about that? Wasn't it called Fahrenheit 451?

 

[mwaller]

So, the smells emanating from my kiln are a slightly unappetizing mix of fresh bread and hay. Does that sound about right?

 

[mwaller]

Yes, indeed.
A cautionary tale about a man who built his kiln with a hot plate in lieu of a Crock-Pot....

Didn't Ray Bradbury write a book about that? Wasn't it called Fahrenheit 451?

 

[mwaller]

I found tremendous variability in the durability of the leaves I loaded into the kiln... Little Dutch and Vuelta Abajo were very brittle, and sometimes crubled or snapped when I tied them into hands. Corojo 99 and Havana 142 were much more pliable at the same RH (65-70)... Is this consistent with your experience?

 

[deluxestogie]

If leaf is dry, you should bring it into case before handling it, so that you don't break or shatter it. You can do this by misting it with water, then waiting for it all to loosen up, or you can hang it in very humid conditions (like in a shed while it rains for a couple of days).

The funky smells are common when beginning a kiln run. After a week or three, the smells will approach that of nice tobacco.

Bob

 

[Leftynick]

If leaf is dry, you should bring it into case before handling it, so that you don't break or shatter it. You can do this by misting it with water, then waiting for it all to loosen up, or you can hang it in very humid conditions (like in a shed while it rains for a couple of days).

The funky smells are common when beginning a kiln run. After a week or three, the smells will approach that of nice tobacco.

Bob

The first week I kiln my flue cure variety, it smelled like manure. It is until two weeks that the smell gone and take on more fruity, raisiny smell. And another two week to really smell like tobacco. I kiln my tobacco in my car, using sun so it might be why it took twice as long. The temperature is not as consistent as the actual kiln.

 

[Gavroche]

[QUOTE = mwaller; 139363] J'ai trouvé une grande variabilité dans la durabilité des feuilles que j'ai chargées dans le four ... Le petit Hollandais et Vuelta Abajo étaient très fragiles et parfois criblés ou cassés quand je les ai attachés à la main. Corojo 99 et Havana 142 étaient beaucoup plus flexibles à la même HR (65-70) ... Est-ce compatible avec votre expérience? [/ QUOTE]



Was the thickness of tobacco leaves the same?

l'épaisseur des feuilles de tabac était-elle la même ?

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Tobacco gases I noted-wet dog, tea, something, tobacco

 

[mwaller]

It is a mix. There are some brittle and flexible leaves of all thicknesses.

[QUOTE = mwaller; 139363] J'ai trouvé une grande variabilité dans la durabilité des feuilles que j'ai chargées dans le four ... Le petit Hollandais et Vuelta Abajo étaient très fragiles et parfois criblés ou cassés quand je les ai attachés à la main. Corojo 99 et Havana 142 étaient beaucoup plus flexibles à la même HR (65-70) ... Est-ce compatible avec votre expérience? [/ QUOTE]



Was the thickness of tobacco leaves the same?

l'épaisseur des feuilles de tabac était-elle la même ?

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

Spritz those dry leaves with a spray bottle filled with water. Let them stand for several hours in some kind of sealed environment to absorb the moisture before resuming kilning. It is amazing how fast tobacco leaves will dry out under low humidity conditions. I have to add water to my kiln regularly to keep my tobacco from becoming dry and crispy.

If you let your tobacco stand for too long in the heat without proper moisture, it gets very dry and has a toasty smell to it. Not quite burned, but not quite what tobacco should smell like either. Believe me I know what I'm talking about on this one.

Good luck!

Wes H.

(Just trying to save you some of the grief I had on my first attempt at kilning. Once the tobacco has reached the toasted state, it can be rehydrated okay but will forever retain the toasty flavor. This is okay for a cigarette tobacco you are going to blend, no so much for a whole leaf cigar tobacco.)

 

[mwaller]

Thanks, guys. My kiln is fairly well I sealed, so it stays moist and the leaves mostly stay in case. I can see what you mean about tips drying out, though. I will see if I can create some fence around the Crock-Pot to keep the leaves further away.

 

[OldDinosaurWesH]

Ah yes...Adventures in tobacco production. It is a never ending thing. Good luck! And happy (eventual) burning.

Wes H.

 

[Leftynick]

If you let your tobacco stand for too long in the heat without proper moisture, it gets very dry and has a toasty smell to it. Not quite burned, but not quite what tobacco should smell like either. Believe me I know what I'm talking about on this one.

Good luck!

Wes H.

(Just trying to save you some of the grief I had on my first attempt at kilning. Once the tobacco has reached the toasted state, it can be rehydrated okay but will forever retain the toasty flavor. This is okay for a cigarette tobacco you are going to blend, no so much for a whole leaf cigar tobacco.)

Now I know why all my tobacco have toasty smell. I just thpught that all kilned leaves supposed to smell like this. But it is good for cigarette tobacco so I have no complaint.