Goshawk
Member
Hi all,
I decided to grow my first crop of Virginia last year and have just completed the drying and processing.
WOW, what a great smoke I have created in just a few easy steps I will share with you as it turned out better than any cigarette I have ever smoked.
After air drying the leaves until the green color had mostly disappeared, I took the "hands" and placed them in an unused fridge. Just piled on top of one another.
I placed an old rice cooker without lid in bottom of the fridge and set it to cook. I let all the water boil off in steam (Took about 12 hours).
This resulted in the tobacco being moistened and heated to a high temperature.
The tobacco changed color from a light brown, to a dark brown/black. (I suppose I made a Cavendish of sorts).
The tobacco smelled like a herbal tea after this process.
Then I replaced the rice cooker with a crock pot filled with water (Again no lid), and kept it in the fridge for 2 weeks, ensuring there was always water in the pot.
After about 7-10 days, the tea smell became less pronounced and after 14 days the tobacco started to smell like tobacco.
The leaves were than removed from the fridge, and the "hands" were separated into whole leaves, and De-veined.
The De-veined leaves were then further air-dried and shredded.
The result:
The tobacco has a real soft feel, and is easy to roll into cigarettes.
My wife likes menthol, so I also made some into cigarettes using an electric cigarette making machine, using mentholated cigarette tubes.
The tobacco is extremely smooth to smoke, and has no harshness nor grassy taste.
Here are some pics of the product:
I only have 2 regrets:
So for my next harvest, I will built a proper insulated box to do the steaming and curing.
If I can manage it, I will grow enough tobacco for a whole years smoking and never do I want to buy tobacco again.
Regards,
Goshawk
I decided to grow my first crop of Virginia last year and have just completed the drying and processing.
WOW, what a great smoke I have created in just a few easy steps I will share with you as it turned out better than any cigarette I have ever smoked.
After air drying the leaves until the green color had mostly disappeared, I took the "hands" and placed them in an unused fridge. Just piled on top of one another.
I placed an old rice cooker without lid in bottom of the fridge and set it to cook. I let all the water boil off in steam (Took about 12 hours).
This resulted in the tobacco being moistened and heated to a high temperature.
The tobacco changed color from a light brown, to a dark brown/black. (I suppose I made a Cavendish of sorts).
The tobacco smelled like a herbal tea after this process.
Then I replaced the rice cooker with a crock pot filled with water (Again no lid), and kept it in the fridge for 2 weeks, ensuring there was always water in the pot.
After about 7-10 days, the tea smell became less pronounced and after 14 days the tobacco started to smell like tobacco.
The leaves were than removed from the fridge, and the "hands" were separated into whole leaves, and De-veined.
The De-veined leaves were then further air-dried and shredded.
The result:
The tobacco has a real soft feel, and is easy to roll into cigarettes.
My wife likes menthol, so I also made some into cigarettes using an electric cigarette making machine, using mentholated cigarette tubes.
The tobacco is extremely smooth to smoke, and has no harshness nor grassy taste.
Here are some pics of the product:
I only have 2 regrets:
- The temperature in the fridge was so high that it melted the interior (oops)
- I did not grow more.
So for my next harvest, I will built a proper insulated box to do the steaming and curing.
If I can manage it, I will grow enough tobacco for a whole years smoking and never do I want to buy tobacco again.
Regards,
Goshawk
