Curing tobacco leaf....phase I

[Smoked!]

You two are amazing. There is yet hope for America and the Republic.

Since my cultivation efforts ended in what can only be described as a figurative farming face-plant, I have looked on at your progress with envy - green, green envy. What most impresses me is not simply the success of growing and harvesting, but the ingenuity employed to solve the simple tasks. Plus, there’s lots of neat pictures.

For some reason, I feel compelled to make cupcakes.

[mrtr33]

THIS IS NOT A THREADJACK

Your hanging space should work very well also, just pay attention to the amount of ventillation you have...a good cross breeze would be just perfect.

I'm contemplating putting a little oscillating fan in there, keeping it on low, and running it just during the day. Thoughts?

BTW, you're not bypassing anything, what you are doing now is color-curing.

Yeah, I knew that.....
Another reason I chose to harvest now is so that you'll do everything about a month before me. So I can learn from your successes and mistakes. I honestly have no idea what to do next. Your leaves are more dried out than mine right now, so I'm guessing I'm still good there.

When you get the chance, can you go into a bit more detail about what the curing process does in the long run? I have no idea.

What most impresses me is not simply the success of growing and harvesting, but the ingenuity employed to solve the simple tasks.

I can't speak for Jamie, but there just isn't that much reliable documentation available online for stuff like this. Most of it that is available, you find that they are just flying by the seat of their pants, too. A few weeks ago, my parents were driving by a barn in SW Arkansas and saw tobacco leaves hanging from the rafters - I thought it sounded like a good idea. Then you look at photos of the Fuentes or Padrons walking through fields of tobacco plants whose leaves are just absolutely massive. I don't have anything like that here.

*One quick update*
I checked the leaves out yesterday, and some had already noticeably yellowed. They are definitely getting droopier (it's HOT and HUMID in there), so I'll definitely keep an eye on them every other day or so.

[ashauler]

I'm contemplating putting a little oscillating fan in there, keeping it on low, and running it just during the day. Thoughts?

Yep, just put another little one in my space. Need some fresh air also, so if you can crack a window or the door or something do that as well.

Yeah, I knew that.....
Another reason I chose to harvest now is so that you'll do everything about a month before me. So I can learn from your successes and mistakes. I honestly have no idea what to do next. Your leaves are more dried out than mine right now, so I'm guessing I'm still good there.

When you get the chance, can you go into a bit more detail about what the curing process does in the long run? I have no idea.

Well, I really have no freaking idea what the hell I'm doing either, so I bet you'll have lots of mistakes to learn from.

Mistake 1....allowing leaves to dry green. Some say they can never be recovered, some say they can. I'm trying it now and I think it is actually working, but I ain't gonna bet on it.

All that I know I have learned by reading the various boards that you are, though I think one of them has much more knowledgeable people on it than the others. Ingenuity is in no short supply among these people, that is for sure.

Color curing is the process of letting the leaf die slowly enough that it consumes all of the chlorophyl and excess nitrogen from the leaves before they are dried. This is what makes the tobacco actually smokeable. Also during this process, nicotine is reduced to a small degree, though more of that takes place during fermentation and aging then during color curing.

[mrtr33]

Yep, just put another little one in my space. Need some fresh air also, so if you can crack a window or the door or something do that as well.

I didn't explain very well: there's an attic fan on one side of the garage. The fan is probably 4' X 4'. There's no screen or wall or net or anything - beyond the blades are the open elements. The garage door is makeshift as well. The garage/shack/tobacco house/whatever you want to call it might as well not even have a roof over it - it's not weatherproof at all. All to say: there's fresh air getting in there for sure. But does it need a slight breeze? It's been at least 85% humidity for the past few days, and around the mid to upper 90's during the heat of the day.

Mistake 1....allowing leaves to dry green. Some say they can never be recovered, some say they can. I'm trying it now and I think it is actually working, but I ain't gonna bet on it.

So not all leaves are going to turn yellow? Just how yellow do they need to be?


Back to reading again......

[ashauler]

See, you just thought that was a double post.

Mark it sounds like you have almost the perfect conditions to color cure. You don't want them to get wet, so some kind of protection from the rain is cool. Yes, some breeze is also beneficial to help prevent the growth of mold.

All the leaves should go from green to yellow to brown, but, if the rh drops and the temps stay up, they will indeed dry green. Bad news if it happens, trust me.

[Sam Tushing]

These pictures are so cool...thanks for posting them. I'm envious; I wish I had the room and expertise to do this...

[mrtr33]

See, you just thought that was a double post.

Mine eyes hath deceived me...

Going to check on them tonight. I checked them last Friday, and the edges were drying, but even the yellow ones were very sticky still. It's been unbearably humid here for the last 2 weeks - will this help them not dry green?

These pictures are so cool...thanks for posting them. I'm envious; I wish I had the room and expertise to do this...

Expertise - yeah, that's what it is.

Do or do not. There is no try. If you want to do something, then DO it. Find a way. Anything is possible.

[ashauler]

It's been unbearably humid here for the last 2 weeks - will this help them not dry green?

Yep. But, ya gotta watch for the mold and black mushy main stems....both are no bueno.

I built a curing chamber on Friday and Saturday morning. I have been having a difficult time keeping the humidity up in the garage where I'm color curing so I figured if I could make an environment that would stay about 90-95 F and 70 -80% rh I could use it to complete the color cure. So far I've been able to maintain pretty close to those parameters but I'm still fiddling with the fine adjustments. I've transferred all of the harvest previous to 21 August to the chamber. The 21 and 29 August harvests are still doing well in the hanging area so I'm in no hurry to move them.

Once they have completed the color change, I'll remove them and allow them to dry crunchy including the mid-rib (stem). Once that's finished, I'll up the temp in the chamber to 125 or so and start fermenting them.

The Long red leaf that I have been bag sweating is looking pretty darn nice, and smelling pretty good too. I may just get to smoke some of this soon.

[ashauler]

Here's the curing chamber (kiln) that my pops and I put together Friday and Saturday morning. It is 4' X 4' and made of 1 1/2'' polystyrene sheathing. The top and bottom frame and the braces are made from redwood recycled from an old picnic table.



The Front vent, the cords are from the crock pot and fan. Yup, that's a JdN slide top box from a sampler I picked up a long time ago.


The rear vent. Yup, that's a Habanos Puros Fuerte slide top box.


The crock pot and fan....and some tobacco hanging.


Here is the water heater thermostat. In this pic you can see the sending unit from my temp/rh guage. I can read it from my couch :). As I type this, the kiln is at 94.6 F and 78% RH.


And, since some just broke off the leaf I've had bag fermenting for 3 weeks, I just couldn't help it.