curing Brazilian style

[rustycase]

Gosh y'all got more energy than the likes of me!

make up a form. make a tamp that fits into it.
Fill the form with baccy.
Put tamp on top.
Ramp a 2 x 8 or better from ground to the tamp.
Get that broken chevy up onto the ramp and let r sit for a while.
Squzzed tobacco!
no werk, no swet. no rope.
rc

 

[squeezyjohn]

I just get a kick out of trying the old traditional methods rusty case ... it's about the result AND the process for me.

Talking of which ... this is how much the rope darkens in a couple of days.



As you can see it's become more tatty ... that's because I thought I'd try and give it a few more turns to juice up some more ... but the rope is quite delicate when it's still freshly wet. If anyone's trying this with green baccy I'd wait until it's quite a bit drier before tensing it up more.

It doesn't smell like any kind of tobacco at the moment ... it smells really green - even though it's turning black.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Just be careful with that twist, mine went from wilted to dangerously soft in just 2 days. Without enough pressure somehow being exerted on every last bit of fiber I think you will see mold and/or compost.

Yeah that surface area is what is stumping me deluxe. I'm thinking of seeing a canvas cylinder with a flat bottom sewn on one end (but I can't remember what this is from) that could be repurposed to allow the flat bottom to support and the ram to exert pressure while holding that mass together. That might afford surface area since it will wick while providing for support of the leaf under pressure.

 

[deluxestogie]

SmokesAhoy, that comes back to the old man sitting on a rope video. The tobacco is wrapped in canvas, then the rope squeezes the Dickens out of it.

Bob

 

[SmokesAhoy]

I was out tying my 5th twist up and was thinking I need to give my original direction a fair shot. I think the process is good, but my process for achieving it is still seeing changes that are drastically making it better, so if I am still learning very basic ways of doing it I cannot write it off as no good as I clearly don't know what I am doing yet. Today I learned a new way of twisting the rope that was easier and produced much more pressure. So if I'm still learning basic things like this I need to continue on before I decide this isn't for me.

I also sampled some of the 2 week old stuff. It was firm and chocolate brown. It tested fresh with a bit of bite... But not like 2 week old fresh. This consists of trash flier leaf, about 15 leaves of various sizes, deribbed and only 2 weeks old.

 

[squeezyjohn]

Wow - that's a lot neater than any of mine have been! I really struggle with the sitting on the rope technique - it seems to squeeze all the green tobacco to the ends of the canvas and mashes it up good and proper.

But your results make it look really worth pursuing ... Anything that can cure protected from mould and take up little valuable space would be amazing!

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Thanks I don't sit on it. I hold tension with a finger and do a half wrap then pull back with about 50 lbs force (about the pull you'd expect on a light bow draw) but still just an estimate. Maybe sitting on it would negate the need for a rewrap, but also allowing another day of moisture to dissipate will likely have the same effect.

I was really surprised by the flavor of it though. Certainly young but way older than 2 weeks would suggest. After I had a good even burn to the top of the pipe it was actually really nice. A bit bitey and harsh before.

 

[rustycase]

John, will you undo the braid to tighten up the strands?

Perhaps I'll go back to post #1 and review all, to give it a try.
I've got leaf on hand that might be a good candidate for a new project!
Best
rc

 

[squeezyjohn]

This is what I mean ... all the wet green leaf refuses to stay bound by the rope and migrates down to the end of the cloth as I'm tightening it up.



This is extremely annoying ... with the funny side effect that it looks like the mummified remains of a certain part of King Tut!

 

[leverhead]

I think King Tut would be in pain!

 

[SmokesAhoy]

lol yeah that's exactly what it looks like. Keep binding and it'll start spurting and then pop. Ouch. You're on the right track though. I just cut off the ball (balls?) At the end and use them in the next twist.

In another note I had some juice spill on the table yesterday from where the finished wrap had been sitting for a while before hanging. Today it was the thickest, blackest glue like substance. Pure tar?

 

[DGBAMA]

you are creating a balloon. try leaving the end of the cloth open, so that air and excess juices can be expelled as you make the roll..

 

[DGBAMA]

lol yeah that's exactly what it looks like. Keep binding and it'll start spurting and then pop. Ouch. You're on the right track though. I just cut off the ball (balls?) At the end and use them in the next twist.

In another note I had some juice spill on the table yesterday from where the finished wrap had been sitting for a while before hanging. Today it was the thickest, blackest glue like substance. Pure tar?

Tar or not, use care in handling / cleanup (like latex gloves); that goop is likely VERY high in nicotine, enough that skin contact could result in something like "green tobacco sickness".

 

[squeezyjohn]

The air and liquid could get through the cloth fine it's just the wet green tobacco trying to get free - I had my hands plastered in the juices trying to roll it up with no ill effects ( mind you it's all lower leaves of silver river grown in a northern climate!)

this technique using high case cured young tobacco does not behave in the same way!

 

[SmokesAhoy]

the thought did cross my mind, and like john we are both doing bottom leaves so far and no ill affects. that might change hehe. oh well, i have gloves.

 

[DGBAMA]

the thought did cross my mind, and like john we are both doing bottom leaves so far and no ill affects. that might change hehe. oh well, i have gloves.

Probably not much worry in the liquid expelled wrapping the green leaf. I was more pointing out precautions, for the tarish residue once the majority of liquid has evaporated. In the later part of harvesting last year I never had symptoms of GTS, but I did notice I had no craving/desire to smoke, for hours at a time while handling sticky green leaf.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

So I was rushing to work this morning and didn't have time to retie all my twists so I took one with a soft center and put it between cigar box wood plates and placed a full Folger's can of range scrap on top of it to press it. Hybrid twist/plug

 

[squeezyjohn]

I found that my "green carrotte" had gone quite a bit slack over the weeks - and as I untied it to try and get the tension back I found that it had moulded on the inside ... definitely needs to be kept under tension in order to keep it anaerobic so that you can get a perique-like result.

I've binned mine - but the smell was promising ... there were hints of fruitiness and a lot of spiciness in it - although it still smelled pretty green and sickly too. A quick chew showed that it contains quite a large chunk of nicotine despite being from a mild variety and lower leaves ... I think it would be far better to attempt this with fairly dry yellow-brown leaves rather than full-on juicy green ones because of the effort involved in tightening the whole thing up every few weeks until it is solidified.

 

[SmokesAhoy]

Yeah it doesn't even take weeks, pinch them daily. I've noticed at times they go soft real fast.

In an effort to reduce the work load I have started waiting to tie them. I let the leaf wilt a few days on the stalk until the veins aren't so big and juicy, then I strip them off the stalk and the midrib off the leaf. I keep the leaf flat and stack them about 3/4 inch high. Front to back, back to front, not exact but I don't want all tips on one end. At the bottom of the stack II lay some leaves at a 45 degree angle or so, nothing exact again but enough so when I roll it up the ones on an angle will wrap it up like a cigar. I roll them every day or two or so to keep them tight and the binder leaf just snugs itself tighter. This also expresses more juice from the middle and saturates the outside where it can evaporate.

Once I can tell it's actually getting tight due to water loss I bind them up.

I tried some lugs done like this and threw out the bowl, definitely not ready. It was bad. I have a good feeling this will be good over time though so I am continuing my goal of wrapping up the whole crop. I have no clue how long Brazil ropes sit and what the climate is. What I plan on doing though to age is cut all the twists to fit into mason jars standing end over end, cram the jar full once moisture is low enough and pressure is high enough not to mold. Then I will stack all the jars against the wall in the wood furnace room, sealed. I am hoping the daily rise and fall of temperature in the room with the right moisture levels will do something special with the leaf. Nothing extreme, probably 60-90 over the course of the day depending on the burn in the furnace.

Totally an experiment, but I am doing it with everything because I am almost positive this will work, and will allow me to store a large amount densely packed that is continuously ageing and maturing. It might take an entire year, and if it does I'm willing to risk the whole crop so if it does work I will have a good stash ready and aged so I'm always a year ahead.

If it fails it won't be from mold, I'm being too careful for that, it will be from flavor. I might not like leaf aged in this manner. I doubt that though, but you never know. One of my samples tested good, another twist did not. I dunno.

Anyway the mason jars are going to be marked for type and position, as that is how I harvest. First priming: trash, second: low leaf, third all the rest after stalk hanging it

 

[deluxestogie]

That will be an interesting experiment.

Bob