Curing tobacco leaf....phase I

[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.

[mrtr33]

So, they've been hanging in the garage about 10 days now. Thought I'd provide a status update.

So far, the results have been spotty - some leaves are as green as I picked them (I'm guessing they weren't ready to be harvested yet), while others are not only shriveled up, but drying on the edges. It doesn't look like there's any leaves drying green, or that there's any mold (yet) - but these pictures may prove me wrong.

Black Mammoth


Black Mammoth - other end


Long Red Leaf - Sumatra - Argentina


Long Red Leaf - Sumatra - Argentina


Argentina - Sumatra - Long Red Leaf


I mean, what happens now? Jamie, I'm guessing your kiln is another tool to get the leaves to cure, correct? If not, am I going to have to build a fucking kiln next? What am I supposed to be doing now? What leaf did you smoke, and how was it?

I need some cupcakes.

[ashauler]

I mean, what happens now? Jamie, I'm guessing your kiln is another tool to get the leaves to cure, correct? If not, am I going to have to build a fucking kiln next? What am I supposed to be doing now? What leaf did you smoke, and how was it?

I need some cupcakes.

Looking good!! I've noticed the leaves I harevested a little early are taking much longer to change color also.
Yes, initially to help me get the color cure finished, then to ferment the leaf with heat.
No, you don't have to ferment the leaf, so you don't have to build a kiln.
Enjoying the experience.
Long red, and really, not too bad.

[mrtr33]

No, you don't have to ferment the leaf, so you don't have to build a kiln.

So.....theoretically, I could start rolling once I have enough shriveled up leaves (that aren't completely dried out, obviously!)?