What is fermenting tobacco supposed to smell like?

[SmokeySwede]

Hey yall first post here.
Im fermenting tobacco for the first time by making a makeshift kiln using a mini fridge that has a heat mode and putting a glass jar inside it filled with tobacco and spraying the leaves every 24h

At first my tobacco started to develop a bit of the classic cat pee/ammonia smell but has now transitioned into a strong tomato-like smell? Almost like canned ravioli??

I stuck a thermometer in the fridge which is about 52 degrees celsius and humidity is alright, could it be my leaves were to green? (Some of them dried slightly greenish-yellow but most were yellow)
Using Nicotiana Rustica Var rapa nui if that matters

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. Read through the New Growers' FAQ, linked in the menu bar. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, also linked in the menu bar.

Fermentation should not be started until the tobacco leaves have fully color-cured. I can offer no useful advice for Nicotiana rustica, other than to allow it to fully color prior to kilning.

Bob

 

[Juxtaposer-]

I’m curious to know if there are ANY nicotiana rustica cultivars that actually do smell like somthing from the nicotiana tabacum species.

 

[Knucklehead]

Hey yall first post here.
Im fermenting tobacco for the first time by making a makeshift kiln using a mini fridge that has a heat mode and putting a glass jar inside it filled with tobacco and spraying the leaves every 24h

At first my tobacco started to develop a bit of the classic cat pee/ammonia smell but has now transitioned into a strong tomato-like smell? Almost like canned ravioli??

I stuck a thermometer in the fridge which is about 52 degrees celsius and humidity is alright, could it be my leaves were to green? (Some of them dried slightly greenish-yellow but most were yellow)
Using Nicotiana Rustica Var rapa nui if that matters

It sounds like your leaves dried too quickly. Perhaps your humidity was too low and the leaves dried green or yellow before it could go through the complete cure process. The leaf should be kept alive until the leaves turn from green to yellow. After yellow, they can be allow to die, turning from yellow to brown. The brown leaves need to be dried completely including the stem to avoid mold or rot. Once the leaf is completely dry it is ready for the kiln. Kilning is speed aging already cured brown leaf.

If the humidity is too low in the area where you are trying to air cure you should make a makeshift booth around the leaf from plastic sheeting to make a smaller, more controllable environment to artificially raise the humidity. Wet the dirt floor of a shed, or suspend a towel from a bucket of water to raise the humidity on average to about 70% rh.

Curing, Fermentation, Aging, Kilning? Basic Definitions

Curing Tobacco When you begin with leaf from the field (primed or stalk-cut), and then allow it to convert from a living leaf to a dead leaf (of yellow or brown), you have cured the leaf. Often in this forum, we refer to this as "color-curing". There are a number of methods for color-curing...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[johnny108]

I’m curious to know if there are ANY nicotiana rustica cultivars that actually do smell like somthing from the nicotiana tabacum species.

I have had Aztec rustica smell like tabacum species tobacco, when I sun cured it:

My window and balcony: @johnny108

Just air cure for now, No kilning. I use it in snus, after a considerable resting time (longer than tobaccum) i get a berry like taste, quite plesant actually. Tho rediculusly strong on its own, and the texture isnt great(doesent stick together). I usually mix it with tubaccum at about 1/3...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[vktr]

My Aztec leaves smelt horrible when subjecting them to the heat to make them yellow. While fermenting only increasingly pleasant smell, for what it's worth.

 

[SmokeySwede]

It sounds like your leaves dried too quickly. Perhaps your humidity was too low and the leaves dried green or yellow before it could go through the complete cure process.

I think so too, altough they werent completely green, some were yellow some were in between green/yellow. Maybe I can let it keep fermenting and use this batch to make snus instead.

Got some more leaves currently drying and these were fully yellow at the time of harvest, and 80% of my remaining tobacco is still on the plants…. Just have to be a little more patient this time

 

[Rotgut]

I'm a beginner at this and in my limited experience nicotiana rustica smells really bad when fermenting it but slowly the smell turns pleasant.

 

[deluxestogie]

Welcome to the forum, @Rotgut. Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum. You may wish to scan through the topics in our Index of Key Forum Threads, linked in the menu bar.

Bob

 

[SmokeySwede]

Update:
The smell first started to transition to a sweet slightly musky smell, I asked my mom to smell it and she said it smells like ”fruit peels that have been left out for a moment”

Now this evening I smelled it again and Im starting to notice an actual mild tobacco smell arising. However some of the smaller leaves have turned so dark they almost look completely black. Is it normal this early on?