Newbie looking for tips on cigarette tobacco

[Hooja]

Hi all I'm new to the scene been growing some virginia gold here in the uk, I have some leaf air cured ready to go. My question is how long do I kiln for, I've seen about 4 weeks plus for cigars but what about for roll ups.

My ultimate goal is to supplement or replace my current smoke of amber leaf and I have some burley growing with the intention to blend the 2 eventually. But for now I was just wondering if anyone has a guide line for fermenting times when it's for cigarette use I'm useing a cooler set up with ziplock bags 50 Celsius and 70%RH.
Any advice would be great as I don't want to over or under do it.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. While I do not use tobacco for cigarettes, I currently kiln all of my air-cured and sun-cured tobacco varieties for two months. To get Virginia that seems familiar, you will likely have to flue-cure it, rather than air-cure it. An intermediate method would be to sun-cure it. I don't usually kiln flue-cured tobacco, though doing so results in something similar to the Virginia "Double Bright" that is sold by WholeLeafTobacco.com--softer, not as acidic.

Bob

 

[Hooja]

Thanks Bob regarding the fermenting via the kiln that was more to speed up the ageing process as I got a very hay like taste with no real flavour to it so I may have missed the mark on that one.

Is air curing then time in the kiln viable(for cigarettes) at all as far as you know then or should I give up on that route ? . Its very wet and windy atm and lacking space In the greenhouse to sun cure and as of yet haven't got the means to flu cure .unless there's some way to use my kiln for it but it's lacking in head space only about 40 ish cm above my crockpot for hanging and leaf.

Thanks for the advice Bob I've been struggling to find much advice on how to process tobacco for roll ups.

 

[deluxestogie]

If you have a functional, circulation fan inside the kiln, and the wall materials can withstand temps up to 74°C (~165°F), then you can certainly use the kiln for flue-curing. But the leaf needs to start out green or only yellowed (prior to fully drying). Once leaf has air-cured, the flue-cure train has already left the station.

Bob

 

[Hooja]

Ah I see so hopefully when it's time to harvest the rest of the plants I get some sun so I can try to sun cure. Sorry to back track but when you said you ferment them for 2 months does it need to be that long as is that what you've just found to be best result. Would the same tobacco in for 2 3 weeks have the same but weaker taste or does the whole process have to finnish before it makes a difference?

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Welcome hooja

 

[Yug]

Welcome Hooja. You are on the forum where you will find the best advice for growing, preparing and curing tobacco with very experienced and passionate people. (I'm new too and I'm learning every day).

 

[Hooja]

Thanks guys

Yh there's so much info here it's amazing il let you guys know if the air cured virginia in the kiln ends up being of any use since its already comeing up to week 3. Going to try sun curing the rest (maybe strung up in the window seal if that would work) then pop that in the kiln next and hope it ends up nice

 

[deluxestogie]

After kilning, tobacco still needs to rest, before it reveals its true nature. Sometimes that's a few days. Sometimes that's a couple of years. Kilning is like preparing dinner. There is no right way. I've found the time to happiness shorter for me when I kiln for two months.

Bob

 

[Hooja]

Bob you my friend are a fountain of knowledge by resting would that be letting it air out after the kiln or just bring to low case and store for those flavours to develop?

 

[Knucklehead]

Thanks guys

Yh there's so much info here it's amazing il let you guys know if the air cured virginia in the kiln ends up being of any use since its already comeing up to week 3. Going to try sun curing the rest (maybe strung up in the window seal if that would work) then pop that in the kiln next and hope it ends up nice

It doesn’t hurt a thing to tear off a chunk and put it in your pipe to sample as you go along. The grassy taste goes away with more aging/kilning. The leaf will mellow and improve with age.

 

[Hooja]

It doesn’t hurt a thing to tear off a chunk and put it in your pipe to sample as you go along. The grassy taste goes away with more aging/kilning. The leaf will mellow and improve with age.

I have sampled it a couple times first was after air curing it was very hay like and not plesent at all. Second was after a week in the kiln and a day of rest the smell was for the first time was similar to my amber leaf tobacco and smoked okish but left an aftertaste that I can't quite describe but it was also not a plesent smoke because of that aftertaste. Il sample again after its had a week or so to rest and keep my fingers crossed. With the lack of sun atm Im praying the air cured in the kiln amount to something as flue curing isn't an option for me and the sun's not comeing out to play .

 

[deluxestogie]

bring to low case and store for those flavours to develop

I've produced some truly awful tobacco. I take it down to low case, store it, and forget it. Then...one lucky day, I rediscover it, and am pleased with it. Even my Venezuelan Guácharo eventually became nice tobacco.

Bob

 

[Hooja]

I've produced some truly awful tobacco. I take it down to low case, store it, and forget it. Then...one lucky day, I rediscover it, and am pleased with it. Even my Venezuelan Guácharo eventually became nice tobacco.

Bob

Nice so worst case scenario pop it in storage and hope and pray I like that haha

 

[Hooja]

I stumbled across this on the WLT website
Cigarette Tobacco Casing General Purpose
Would that help me out at all? The first test batch has mellowed some no lip burn and has a subtle taste still not sure if it's great but defiantly not bad. My question is would this be useful to me and secondly how and when do I use it.

 

[Knucklehead]

I stumbled across this on the WLT website
Cigarette Tobacco Casing General Purpose
Would that help me out at all? The first test batch has mellowed some no lip burn and has a subtle taste still not sure if it's great but defiantly not bad. My question is would this be useful to me and secondly how and when do I use it.

Use small test size samples to determine if you like it so you don’t ruin a whole batch if you don’t like it.
Shred the leaf first so the casing doesn’t gum up your shredder.

 

[Hooja]

Use small test size samples to determine if you like it so you don’t ruin a whole batch if you don’t like it.
Shred the leaf first so the casing doesn’t gum up your shredder.

Thanks for the reply unfortunately the site doesn't ship to my neck of the woods, I may attempt a simple casing recipe to see if I like it. Good shout on doing it after shredding I didn't think of that haha. Is it to be added after its been in the kiln then just apply it and dry it and ready to smoke ? Or is it a pre kiln kind of process?.

 

[Homegrowngoodnes]

Apply n dry b4 smoke

 

[Hooja]

Apply n dry b4 smoke

Cool thanks so after the kiln apply dry an smoke il let you know the results

 

[deluxestogie]

From the WLT Wiki:

Whole Leaf Tobacco - Cigarettes