Thanks for the tip Bob; I'd thought of using those, but so far I hadn't found any that would fit the box; most were too big. I'll look into it when I redesign the entire thing to accommodate different sizes. They're certainly quite handy if it doesn't require opening them up all the time.
What am I actually doing?
- Thread starter mr1992
- Start date
One consideration is that the canning jars must be upright (lids on top), to work properly.
Bob
Bob
That's one of the problems with the current configuration; those jars would be way too tall to sit upright to guarantee proper heating. I've had a few over the years catch mould at the top; I can't get the heat cable to distribute the heat properly then. Hence they're lying like that; it's at capacity right now. The cable is usually meant to heat up the ground in terrariums, not the ambient air in there, unless you want to toast your lizard. It's suffered the abuse of being run at top temperatures for some ten years now, though.
Perhaps add a small fan.
Thanks for the update. Just stumbled across this thread. I had a bunch of late season stuff that dried green. Thought I was going to have to write it off as a loss, but I'm going to give your method a try. Nothing to lose. Short summary of what I've gleaned is de-rib it, get it pretty wet, put in mason jars and put in kiln, checking progress every few days or so.
Don't mention it, yup, you've basically summed it up. If you really want to go fire and forget you needn't even bother with deribbing them, as long as they're mould-free. Spray every leaf generously, leave them for an hour or so, sort them for size, roll them up and stuff them in there. Spray the inside of the jar for good measure and you're good to go. I'm curious what results you'll get!
Just out of curiosity, did you end up giving it a shot? I'd love to hear what others' results are with this approach
Yes I did give it a preliminary try. Loosely stuffed a quart mason jar with very wet green leaves and put in kiln around 128 degrees F. Checked and opened the jar every couple days, and within a few days they started turning dark. After a couple of weeks they got very dark. Darker than your pics in post 19. Almost black, like a very dark espresso coffee color. Smell was kind of sweet, almost a little like pipe tobacco. Was leaving for vacation, so had to shut down kiln and dry everything out so it wouldn't mold while I was gone. Did roll a couple small cigars out of the dark stuff, but haven't tried them yet. Haven't gotten back to the tobacco yet as I've been busy seed starting for this years garden. Will report back after I've experimented more, but it could be a couple months. I'm encouraged at this point, as I thought my "dried green" tobacco was going to be a loss.Just out of curiosity, did you end up giving it a shot? I'd love to hear what others' results are with this approach
More to come. Thanks!
Blackfly
New Member
I accidently wound up with results similar to yours from my first attempt at kilning some air-cured virginia leaf. There was way too much moisture, and the leaves were heaped up in a soggy pile in the kiln...the leaves turned extremely dark, produced a copious amount of brown juice, and smelled like dark chocolate, honey, and cigar when removed after 4 weeks. They produced some excellent, if mild, cigars; very smooth.Just out of curiosity, did you end up giving it a shot? I'd love to hear what others' results are with this approach