Curing Chamber from the box up My Build

[bonehead]

Loaded Racks pics
Top 9 inches of one rack is VA brite the bottom is Stolak 17 / Top 9 inches of the other rack is Commom Smoking Tobacco the bottom is Kutsaga 110
I got em in the chamber.
A note here I will be starting a new thread for the Flue Curing
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View attachment 7071---View attachment 7072

all as i can say is wow when i look at the racks filled with your backy. can you post a photo of the racks when you take them out of the chamber? that is something i would really like to see. transformation is really cool.

 

[DGBAMA]

I presume there is a strip of paper or other dividing material between the types in each rack? looks great

 

[deluxestogie]

Since "common smoking tobacco" is a non-variety, and VA Bright flue-cures to a distinctive color and texture, it should be fairly easy to tell them apart.

Bob

 

[AmaxB]

Am fairly sure you will be able to see difference between the varieties, but yes there is a small thin paper divider with label.
Have been running about 5 hours now and have to say the way things are working is completely other than I had expected. How ever all readings are as they should be. May blower fan is running on high to force air. This is going to be interesting. Here are some pics of the general set up.
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............
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I did change the griddle to a setting of just above warm guessing some place around 80F the heat box is at 91F and am reaching 93% RH to activate venting.

 

[AmaxB]

The above is three large heaped and a half wheelbarrow of leaf. That is what it took to fill the racks it did a number on my mind. I was thinking 1 maybe 2 wheelbarrows of tobacco. If this does not work that will be a lot of good tobacco wasted.

 

[DGBAMA]

looks great, and the amount of control you have in that small area should be exponentially better than the commercial guys have in their huge spaces. Cant wait to see the results. Best of luck and thinking you won't need it.

 

[AmaxB]

The leaf being all packed up like that it is hard to say what is going on with it time will tell. the box is doing what it is meant to do as far as I can tell. In this phase I am not running with PC it will come in when the need to ramp temp comes about. If I get through the Color set and wilt phases I think I'll be good to go.
DG you had mentioned the holes in the leaf and maybe tearing for me it is not a problem it all gets shredded. But I don't think any or mush will be damaged.

 

[AmaxB]

all as i can say is wow when i look at the racks filled with your backy. can you post a photo of the racks when you take them out of the chamber? that is something i would really like to see. transformation is really cool.

Was going to start a new thread but think I'll keep it here, Yes there will be photos

 

[grgfinney]

That is one sweet setup

 

[AmaxB]

Flue Curing Data Log

Yellowing - Phase

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Date[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Time[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Heat Box[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Temp[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Top Temp.[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Bottom Temp [/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]RH Sensor[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Wet/ Dry [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Bulb RH[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tobacco Temp[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]8/10/13 [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]10:30 PM[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]91.4F[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]95F[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]102F[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]93.00%[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]89.00%[/FONT]	[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]93F[/FONT]

Note: Bottom and top temps as well as the RH top and bottom vary. This is due to the shear mass (tobacco) in the middle and the griddle. It will be interesting to see how this changes
as the tobacco loses moisture and I shut the griddle off.
The Tobacco Mass has come to temperature as reflected above. Now I will shut the griddle of for the night and check things in the morning. It was acting as a booster for
temps and RH I don't think it is needed now.

 

[DGBAMA]

You, sir, are the"mad scientist" of homegrown tobacco.

 

[springheal]

I don't get it

With air circulation being important and with that huge amount of leaf in the chamber, I can not see how the packed leaf will get sufficient air to prevent mold.

The last thing anyone wants is the dreaded mold. Fine leaf AmaxB.

 

[DGBAMA]

I don't get it

With air circulation being important and with that huge amount of leaf in the chamber, I can not see how the packed leaf will get sufficient air to prevent mold.

The last thing anyone wants is the dreaded mold. Fine leaf AmaxB.

For yellowing.....rh is kept too low for mold. For curing...temp is kept too high.

 

[Fisherman]

I think that mold doesn't grow on to green of a leaf or rather fresh picked (?) and the yellowing period progresses into the leaf drying cycle where temp over 125 is not good for mold growth. Timing seems to be pretty crucial during the transition period between yellowing and leaf drying.

 

[springheal]

I was under the impression that mold can occur at all/any stage of the life of a leaf and AmaxB is starting at a low temperature and green leaf has huge amounts of moisture which no doubt will increase the rh in the chamber!?!
Just seems like a high risk with such a large amount of leaf.

 

[AmaxB]

A typical dry-bulb and wet-bulb curing schedule used for normal ripe tobacco. Also shown is the relative humidity associated with the given dry- and wet-bulb temperatures. Typically the curing schedule is divided into three phases defined as yellowing, leaf drying, and stem drying. Although each phase in the figure is divided into 48-hour intervals, the actual time required may vary.

It is important to note that the curing schedule is a general guide, and the actual schedule followed may deviate due to factors such as the tobacco ripeness and maturity, weather conditions during the growing and harvest season, airflow, and other influences. Tobacco harvested from different fields on the same farm may cure differently when exposed to the same curing environment. Each cure is different; and, as a result, tobacco can be cured successfully with a temperature schedule that deviates from the general schedule. Select a temperature schedule based on your curing experience and the tobacco’s response to the curing environment.
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[AmaxB]

This morning I'll drive my Temperature to 100F than watch for plus-F / minus-F when stable and color changes

 

[AmaxB]

7:00 AM about 16 hours into Yellowing Phase
Increased My Heat Box Setting to 35C from 33C allowing for 2C overshoot (I have found with the new heat box temperature will become stable at 2 to 3C above setting due to Ceramic Heat Emitters)
The idea is to try to bring interior temperature of the chamber to 100F and hold.
After shutting the griddle off last night over all temperatures within the chamber are changing to being inline or the same. (Tobacco temperature will not be the same as ambient)
This is reflected in my Data Log below the data was taken at 6:32 AM this morning. (I'll be posting these as I move along and through the Phases Updating often so we can all see how the Chamber is doing while flue curing).
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Flue Curing Data Log
Yellowing Phase
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Date Time	Heat Box Temp	Top Temp.	Bottom Temp	RH Sensor	Wet/ Dry Bulb RH	Tobacco Temp
8/10/13 10:30 PM	91.4F	95F	102F	93.00%	89.00%	93F
8/11/13 6:32 AM	95F	95F	97F	90.00%	W-82F D-86F 89%	91F

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I added the Wet / Dry Bulb temperatures to be more detailed. 8/10/13 the griddle was on I shut it off at 10:30 PM which helped this mornings temperature reading
for the Chamber's bottom temperature.
The Chamber's bottom temperature reading of 97F is higher than that of the Chamber top and the Heat Box. There is no reason for this except for the cheap multimeter
I am using to take it, it could be off.
The Chamber's venting is working very well to hold RH level.

 

[AmaxB]

8:09 AM temps have come to 35C & Rh is 90% Going to increase temp to 38C / 100.4F

 

[DGBAMA]

Your heat box is at the bottom of the chamber correct? The density of the tobacco could simply be insulating the upper air space from the lower.