Sorry. Sarcasm in print is difficult.
Dr. Bob's multi purpose curing chamber in planning
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marksctm
Well-Known Member
Man your on a roll today, LMAO again.
Thanks, Just remember they can't all be winners. -- J
These are a couple of photo's of the blower I am going to use as the circulating fan. If you look closely it has the motor isolated from the shroud and the motor has it's own cooling fan. It sure looks to me that it was designed to blow hot air. It was advertized as a draft inducer for a wood pellet stove but it looks more a hot air exhaust fan.
this is a photo of a commercial water heater thermostat. It is capable of temps up to 180 degrees. it also has a overheat protect cutout relay I believe about 190 degrees. This will be the primirary thermostat and safety switch for the flue curing chamber. The low limit is about 100 degrees. A secondary thermostat will need to be added to allow control down to 80 degrees
by using water heater thermostats I can eliminate the sail switch, electric relay, transformer, and expensive thermostat. I want to keep the costs down close to the mythical $100.00
I used one for two years before switching to the Ranco. It is a very reliable thermostat. I found it a bit hard to get the temp setting right and the span was larger than I liked. I think for flue curing you will have difficulty setting your temp changes. Also it has to be inside the box so resetting will be a pain. On the other hand, it is a cheap alternative to the sail switch. We discussed the current handling of the Ranco. Since you will be using the N.O. contacts (16 A)you could use it as is and eliminate the relay but used relays are cheap ($5/10) and I'd still go that way.-- J
thanks for your input john. It is well taken. You are probably right. At this time I am still planning and havent built anything yet. I do have the fan, the heating element, the water heater thermostats and all the parts for the ductwork on hand and the freezer is ready for modification. I dont have a hundred bucks in it yet
leverhead
Well-Known Member
Don't forget to think about that Summer morning when you take a hundred bucks out of it.
that is all I am thinking about! The only reason I started growing tobacco was saving money. And save money I have I can't remember the last time I bought a pack of smokes.
This flue curing thing will be nice If I can get satisfactory results. Your experiments last year have made me think that meybe I could do it too.
You and Deluxe stogyman are the pioneers! I thank you
This flue curing thing will be nice If I can get satisfactory results. Your experiments last year have made me think that meybe I could do it too.
You and Deluxe stogyman are the pioneers! I thank you
leverhead
Well-Known Member
You will! Next year we can be arguing about the best varieties for home grown flue-cured.
NAAAaaah. We never argue about anything. LOL -·- J
Flue curing on the large scale has been done. Some of the old methods were pretty crude but they got the job done. I can handle a little crude. I am only looking at 20 - 40# of finished product. a year max.
Real tobacco farmers would just laugh to see the little curing chamber I am going to build.
Real tobacco farmers would just laugh to see the little curing chamber I am going to build.
leverhead
Well-Known Member
I stand corrected! We can discuss it with passion and beer.
leverhead
Well-Known Member
They might, until one of us gets a wild hair and does something cool that they haven't done. The cigar guys are already making stuff you can't buy. Who knows what might happen to cigarette blends or bright wrappers.
On the subject of the "right" variety for home flue-curing, I worked with a number of flue-cure varieties in my Cozy Can:
Bob
- Big Gem: huge, thick leaf. Cured to a medium brown.
- Little Yellow (a Dark-Air variety): Produces a yummy, heavy leaf.
- Paris Wrapper (yup! a flue-cure variety): worked fairly well
- Silk Leaf: cures to a medium-dark yellow
- VA Bright: my favorite. Gave me large, light golden, aromatic leaf. It's the only flue-cure variety on my 2013 list.
Bob
leverhead
Well-Known Member
I had poor luck trying to flue-cure two varieties at the same time, I grew mostly Southern Beauty and a small number of Virginia Bright leaf. This year I hope to get most of the wrinkles out, but I'm going with one variety to flue-cure.
I agree about attempting to flue-cure more than one variety at a time, even leaf of different degrees of ripeness of the same variety. Your flue-cured Southern Beauty was just about the nicest flue-cured tobacco I've ever sampled.
Bob
Bob
leverhead
Well-Known Member
Thank you! I've been saving that Paris Wrapper you sent me for a special occasion. I'm almost to 1000 posts and my Ottoman and Samsun are getting pretty good. It's been a good year!
then again, they say some people make thier own beer... Supposed to be better than the stuff in the store.
I make my own smokes... Is better than the stuff in the store...
I make my own smokes... Is better than the stuff in the store...
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