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Squeezyjohn's homemade snus recipe and method

squeezyjohn

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There is just enough room to float a 3 cup glass canning jar in the breadmaker pan.
Since the temperatures involved are below boiling, I assume no pressures are created that would break the jar.
I am fairly certain that the 10amp relay built into the W1209 controller would handle a crock pot as well.

My first batch of snus has been aging a week. I used 5 parts Virginia to 1 part Burley for this blend.
I may have made a mistake, and did not completely dry the leaves before grinding.

The taste is not horrible and the nicotine is certainly present. However the aroma leaves a bit to be desired.
It does not have the rich scent of commercial snus, it is more of a 'green', raw scent.
Does completely drying the leaves and rehydrating during snus making alter the scent profile in anyone's experience?

In my experience a snus made almost entirely of flue cured virginia does have a bit of an insipid, almost green, taste ... this is not caused by failing to grind the leaves when they were fully dry - the only reason I stipulated to make sure the leaf was crispy dry before grinding is that it makes the process easier and the snus-flour finer. I don't know what temperature you used to cook - but I find that if the snus is under-cooked you get a lack of richness in the flavour too.
 

Snusser

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Thanks again for the recipe Squeezyjohn!

My first batch was cooked with salt at 85 degrees C for 24 hours.
The carbonate was added and a further 12 hours at 75 degrees C.

I have my favorite commercial snus on hand and find myself reaching for your recipe results as my preferred already.
Your recipe is going to save me a ton of money and the product is better. :D
 

Snusser

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;) None of my batches are lasting that long...

I think the unappetizing scent of my first batch was from it being cooked way too wet and totally sealed to the atmosphere.
I also sprinkled in the carbonate dry, but I don't suspect that was the cause.
In garden compost terms, it may have gone anaerobic during the cook.

Batch 2:
100g Virginia Brightleaf, dried, ground and sifted into flour.
7g Salt
85g Water
24 hours @ 85 degrees C.
Remove from heat.
7.5g Carbonate solution in 16g of water.
15 hours @ 85 degrees C.
Results: Yes, it is insipid with only Virginia. Not much of a nic content either. I'll still use it. :D
The finished batch also needed to be dried in the oven to get the moisture down from the cook.
It was cooked in a sealed jar with no stirring. It took a week for the ammonia smell to settle down.


Batch 3:
150g Virginia Brightleaf, dried, ground and sifted into flour.
50g Burley, dried, ground and sifted into flour.
16g Salt
135g Water
6 hours @ 66 degrees C.
20 hours @ 85 degrees C.
Remove from heat.
16g Carbonate solution in 40g of water.
12 hours @ 66 degrees C.
I cooked this batch with no lid, and stirred the contents of the jar a few times during the cook to keep the snus 'breathing'.
Results: Batch 3 has been ageing for only a day and smells almost like snus should already. The ammonia smell is almost gone.
It hand bakes into a pris perfectly with this moisture content. Progress!

One notable thing about all of the batches. No drip at all. None. Every commercial brand I have tried starts dripping at some point. Not this stuff!
 

Snusser

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There is plenty of store bought General and Camel snus in the fridge. It isn't getting used. Batch 4 is that good.
It is the same Whole Leaf Tobacco, Flue cured Virginia Bright Leaf and all naturally grown Burley I have been using for the other batches.

This blend has 4 parts Burley to 1 part Virginia.
The major difference in technique was to add the sodium carbonate dry and stir the snus every few hours during the cook.

48 hours after the cook, and the ammonia smell is 95% gone.
I added about 6 drops of propylene glycol to a tin holding about 10g of this batch. No difference in forming a pris as far as I can tell and a very minimal sweet taste.

With no drip, there is no taste to speak of. The tobacco will sting if it hits the tongue, but no problem of burning when placed in the lip.
There is no looking back when home made is better than any store bought. :D
 

raucher

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Good luck with your batch SmokesAhoy! I've tried fire-cured and latakia in my blends even down to as low as 2% and I just can't stand the taste it ends up being after the snus processing has done it's job ... I find that the cooking and alkali tends to leave even a trace of fire-cured with a dreadful bitter and burnt rubber taste ... it ends up nothing like the fragrant smoky leaf it started off as!

I just made my first ever small batch of snus with the following tobacco varieties:
Maryland 609 55g
Tennessee Dark Fire Cured 87g
Homegrown B-grade and some green leaves of Unknown Virginia variety 31g
Katerini 74g

I used 25g of sea salt and 25g of sodium carbonate.

After one day from cooking I am using the product and am quite happy with the result. No burnt rubber smells or anything like that. The color is really black. Taste is excellent. Maybe slightly sweet thanks to the added Katerini? It will be nice to see if this develops to even better taste over time. If it will last that long that is...
 

squeezyjohn

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It will definitely taste better with about 2 weeks storage in a non-airtight container that is kept cool.
 

ChokDee4213

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I'm just here to give thanks to squeezyjohn for the recipe. Only one overpriced snus company in all Thailand, so producing it for nearly free has been incredible!

I also had the same trouble with my batches smelling off after a few weeks in the fridge. Also considered it may be an oxygenation issue, so I will start storing it in unsealed containers and see if it improves. Maybe turn it now and again. I've been using cocoa instead of PG to maintain structure, so I'm hoping it's not that.
 

ChokDee4213

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I'm noticing that no matter how long it sits/cures, if I make it anaerobic, it begins to smell off. This tells me that no beneficial bacteria are metabolizing what's inside and the smelly kinds are waiting for the right conditions to set. I'm able to maintain a nice product when I keep it open in cool or room temps, but this dries it out and I have to keep adding water to keep it enjoyable. Freezing it also preserves it. Add too much water or seal it and I get a nice sweaty sock smell after a few weeks, lol. No ill effects and not sure what this means; if it is from my starting material (I'm using local cut tobacco for smoking), or if I am missing a fermentation process that should be done, but just an update for posterity.

Previously I was adding extra water in the initial mix to compensate for what's lost during the week long heating process, next I will try maintaining field capacity throughout the process, adding small amounts of water to see what changes. I will also forgo adding my spices/cocoa and see what happens. If anyone has insight, great, otherwise I will post results in a month or two!
 

ChinaVoodoo

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I had maggots on top of a batch of beer once because of cocoa. I ain't going to say that's the problem, but having added fat in the mix can certainly change how something ferments. The fat can create its own environment. In my example it created a place in my fermenter where there was no alcohol.

The beer turned out fine.
 

jParnell

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It will definitely taste better with about 2 weeks storage in a non-airtight container that is kept cool.
squeezyjohn, I know you haven't posted on here in about a year, so this may be shouting into the void, but others may know the answer.

The only thing I'm unsure of is whether you seal your mason jars during the cook. I could see it going either way - if you seal it, you keep moisture, but I'm concerned about pressure building and breaking the jars. If you don't seal it, you could lose moisture. Any advice anyone could shed would be greatly appreciated.
 

jParnell

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Mason jars use a separate lid (in addition to the screw ring) that have a soft seal intended to allow pressure out of the jar, while not allowing air or water into the jar. That's how all home canning is done--with the lid sealed. The jars can't explode.

Bob
Thanks, Bob. I wasn't aware canning lids acted as a valve. That's good information to have.

I've started my first cook for some moist snuff. Here in about 16 hours, I'll pull it out and add the sodium carbonate and flavorings, and put it back in for another 8 hours or so.

I'm meticulously documenting my process, mostly based on this thread but with a lot more detail for people who, like me, cannot seem to fill in missing gaps in a process.
 

Tobaccofieldsforever

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I know it has been about a year since anyone posted on this thread but I wanted to add some information that may or may not be helpful. My dad has been making his own snus for many years now. I have tried it on several occasions and though I don't really dip it is quite good. I showed him squeezyjohns recipe and he said he does things very similarly with a few minor differences. For the step where you add the carbonate (he uses sodium carbonate that he purchased somewhere) after he adds his carbonate he puts the snus back on the heat source for 24 hours rather than 8 hours. According to him this accelerates the "aging" that is required after only doing 8 hours. After the 24 hour period he need only remove his snus, put it in a large mixing bowl so it is open to the air and stir it around every so often for about 30 minutes to an hour while the ammonia dissipates. He says after that the snus is ready to use and at perfect taste. He also stores his in the refrigerator and his recipe makes about a 4 cup batch at a time I believe. He said that he doesn't use mason jars or a water bath but puts the snus directly into a crockpot on the "warm" setting I believe. He said he will give me his complete recipe and I will post it on here eventually, but I thought I'd throw that little step in there that allegedly trades 16 extra hours of cooking for a weeks worth of aging. He also doesnt flavor his snus at all so he isn't missing out on the flavoring sitting with the snus in the fridge for a week while the ammonia gas escapes. I hope this is helpful.
 

deluxestogie

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See the detailed recipe here:


Bob
 

squeezyjohn

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squeezyjohn, I know you haven't posted on here in about a year, so this may be shouting into the void, but others may know the answer.

The only thing I'm unsure of is whether you seal your mason jars during the cook. I could see it going either way - if you seal it, you keep moisture, but I'm concerned about pressure building and breaking the jars. If you don't seal it, you could lose moisture. Any advice anyone could shed would be greatly appreciated.
I know I'm 4 years late to this conversation ... but just for the record I don't seal the jars while I'm cooking ... I use clip top jars with rubber seals but while I'm cooking the snus I don't use the rubber seals ... I only put those on once I'm happy with the taste of the snus.
 
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