Virginia Gold 2 months out of the ground

[treecutter]

I'm new at growing and I harvested my Virginia Gold 2 months ago. I know it takes about 2 years to really cure or use a kiln for faster results but being inpatient to try this I took a bunch of leaf, destemmed them, sprayed them until soaked with a mixture of honey and water ( 1 Tbsp. per 8 oz. ) and stuffed the leaves into my press for 5 days. Then after removal from the press I let them sit for a week to dry and I just tried them today. Here is the photo. The tobacco is not bad at all. It tastes like a tame version of WLT Kentucky Burley. I'm sure it's character .will change as it ages. What I am happy about is that I can grow something I can live with if there are tobacco shortages or government directives. Who knows what the future holds. I am still a huge fan of WLT.

 

[Knucklehead]

Nice looking plug.

 

[deluxestogie]

Congratulations on enjoying what you have produced yourself.

Bob

 

[Old Gasman]

That looks really good, just think how good it'll be in a year or two.

 

[treecutter]

I don't think it will last that long. I only had 8 plants started late on a whim. The seedlings kept dying and I kept replanting until I ran out of seeds. These were planted at the end of June. Knowing that the plants required more time than the growing season would allow I primed leaf as they came due and hung them in my barn. I wrote the post after I lit my pipe today. The interesting thing for me is that the longer I continued smoking the better it seemed to get. The stuff burns well and slow. I usually don't press the tobacco that I purchase from WLT preferring to smoke it straight after running it through the 8mm hand shredder I purchased from them. I enjoy their tobacco so much that I smoke it pure, one day red virginia, next day bright, Canadian lemon the next day and so on but it burns fast because it's only shredded. I pressed the stuff I grew because it was not at all aged and I figured that pressing it would give it less harshness, but it is quite a smooth smoke, however there is no sweetness at all. I was kind of hoping that the honey would make it a little sweet.

 

[Knucklehead]

I don't think it will last that long. I only had 8 plants started late on a whim. The seedlings kept dying and I kept replanting until I ran out of seeds. These were planted at the end of June. Knowing that the plants required more time than the growing season would allow I primed leaf as they came due and hung them in my barn. I wrote the post after I lit my pipe today. The interesting thing for me is that the longer I continued smoking the better it seemed to get. The stuff burns well and slow. I usually don't press the tobacco that I purchase from WLT preferring to smoke it straight after running it through the 8mm hand shredder I purchased from them. I enjoy their tobacco so much that I smoke it pure, one day red virginia, next day bright, Canadian lemon the next day and so on but it burns fast because it's only shredded. I pressed the stuff I grew because it was not at all aged and I figured that pressing it would give it less harshness, but it is quite a smooth smoke, however there is no sweetness at all. I was kind of hoping that the honey would make it a little sweet.

Flue curing will yield a sweeter taste than air curing, sun curing the Virginia will fall in between the two.

 

[treecutter]

Flue curing will yield a sweeter taste than air curing, sun curing the Virginia will fall in between the two.

I'd love to flue cure or even kiln but I live off the grid and don't have a constant source of electricity. That's also a problem for starting seeds as I can't run lights or a heat pad. At least I'm not subject to roaming blackouts and I won't be in trouble like the poor folks in the Northeast with the shortage of heating oil. I have 100 acres of firewood trees.

 

[deluxestogie]

Flue-curing was invented prior to electrification. A wood fire is vented into a metal flue that passes through a shed, with the smoke being conducted to the outside. Seed starting can be easily done with an indoor, south-facing window, and no electricity. [The benefit of electricity is that you can sit eating snacks, and watching reruns on a big-screen TV, while the electronics adjust the temperature.]

Bob

 

[GIL]

dar trăiesc în afara rețelei

Why do you need electricity in growing and processing tobacco? I personally do not use light bulbs, heaters, anything from modern technology, even the oven works with used car oil. It is possible without electricity.

 

[Radagast]

I'm growing weary of relying on the 'grid'. Oil too.

 

[treecutter]

Flue-curing was invented prior to electrification. A wood fire is vented into a metal flue that passes through a shed, with the smoke being conducted to the outside. Seed starting can be easily done with an indoor, south-facing window, and no electricity. [The benefit of electricity is that you can sit eating snacks, and watching reruns on a big-screen TV, while the electronics adjust the temperature.]

Bob

This is my barn. I can't see how I could possibly start building a fire and running flues through it. Also the logs have lots of air cracks in them. It would be a full time job 24/7 moderating the heat. All the posts I've seen so far here on small homemade flue curing chambers require some type of electricity flow to keep the heat steady unless I've missed something.

 

[deluxestogie]

Below is a link to @johnlee1933's build of a small smokehouse. If, instead of piping the smoke into the shed, you continue the pipe (flue) through the shed, and out the roof, you have a flue-cure chamber. Use a long-stem, compost thermometer to view the interior temp from outside.

Smokehouse Log

This new thread is to report experiments, recipes, successes, and failures with the smoke house. As reported in Providing for the Table it is built and the dead gas grill smoke generator was a dismal failure. I just ran the first test with the new barrel generator. I used bits and pieces of...

fairtradetobacco.com

@ChinaVoodoo also built a smokehouse on the same principle. Just keep in mind that:

1. regulating the temperature of a wood fire requires some practice
2. the smaller the volume of the enclosed shed, the the greater the temp variation from one moment to the next

Bob

 

[pottsS]

This is my barn. I can't see how I could possibly start building a fire and running flues through it. Also the logs have lots of air cracks in them. It would be a full time job 24/7 moderating the heat. All the posts I've seen so far here on small homemade flue curing chambers require some type of electricity flow to keep the heat steady unless I've missed something.

That is a beautiful place.

 

[pottsS]

The whole kilning and curing thing is enough to keep me from even trying to grow tobacco. You have done it, you worked out a process that gives you a satisfying smoke...now look for ways to make it even simpler and more efficient, not ways to make it more complicated and long! Next time instead of pressing it just let them dry and shred them. If that still gives a satisfying smoke let me know...maybe I will try growing some tobacco! Although...like you said WLT delivers a good product at a price that makes growing my own uneconomical...but who knows how long we'll be able to take advantage of a whole leaf exemption!

 

[treecutter]

The whole kilning and curing thing is enough to keep me from even trying to grow tobacco. You have done it, you worked out a process that gives you a satisfying smoke...now look for ways to make it even simpler and more efficient, not ways to make it more complicated and long! Next time instead of pressing it just let them dry and shred them. If that still gives a satisfying smoke let me know...maybe I will try growing some tobacco! Although...like you said WLT delivers a good product at a price that makes growing my own uneconomical...but who knows how long we'll be able to take advantage of a whole leaf exemption!

I agree with you entirely with keeping it simple. Today I took a leaf from the barn that had been curing for 3 months. I primed the leaves as they started to yellow. I destemmed it, rolled it tight and crimp cut it with scissors, filled a corncob and smoked it. Very smooth, very acceptable, just no sweetness. I was quite surprised that that there was no rawness or herbal like taste, just a nice room aroma. WLT is the best stuff. I smoke all their Virginia's separately without mixing anything in rotating them daily. I bought a hand shredder from them last year which does a super job on the Virginia's. One never knows what new devilish things our government will come up with in regards to tobacco. That is the main reason I want to have the knowledge of growing my own. Virginia Gold, the only seeds I could get seem to produce the pretty decent tobacco I grew. I could live with this if worse comes to worse.

 

[treecutter]

By The way, The block of tobacco in the photo at the beginning of my post is now in my cook stove. I put it in a sealed jar for less then 24 hours and it got mold. I thought honey was anti microbial. I'm just going to shred for now and keep everything low case.

 

[deluxestogie]

I thought honey was anti microbial.

"A large number of in vitro and limited clinical studies have confirmed the broad-spectrum antimicrobial (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antimycobacterial) properties of honey, which may be attributed to the acidity (low pH), osmotic effect, high sugar concentration, presence of bacteriostatic and bactericidal factors (hydrogen peroxide, antioxidants, lysozyme, polyphenols, phenolic acids, flavonoids, methylglyoxal, and bee peptides)..."​

[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23782759/]

That's for pure honey. Used as a flavorant and sweetener, it loses its effects from pH, osmotic effect, high sugar concentration, and many of its bactericidal properties. Any prepared tobacco should be stored in low case (or frozen, in the case of prepared snus and chew).

Bob

 

[Plinsc]

Below is a link to @johnlee1933's build of a small smokehouse. If, instead of piping the smoke into the shed, you continue the pipe (flue) through the shed, and out the roof, you have a flue-cure chamber. Use a long-stem, compost thermometer to view the interior temp from outside.

Smokehouse Log

This new thread is to report experiments, recipes, successes, and failures with the smoke house. As reported in Providing for the Table it is built and the dead gas grill smoke generator was a dismal failure. I just ran the first test with the new barrel generator. I used bits and pieces of...

fairtradetobacco.com

@ChinaVoodoo also built a smokehouse on the same principle. Just keep in mind that:

1. regulating the temperature of a wood fire requires some practice
2. the smaller the volume of the enclosed shed, the the greater the temp variation from one moment to the next

Bob

One trick that helps is to have all your wood cut and split to the same size pieces, (with food smoking anyways) you will get a good idea on temps and when to add another piece of wood that way