Sorry to lower the tone I could go lower Smooth thighs, hairy legs might impede smooth rolling. Speak to wife again.
Do you have something like racks to spread the leaves on for drying? I imagine spreading them out initially would be good.
Would too warm not impair the flavour? Or is it the other way a warm cure makes it better?
I initially read @Pete.8 as tried it ten years ago not ten years old
The intention is to string them up in my attic, which is an open at the soffits so should replicate the barn conditions that is advised for air curing.
Hot and dry is bad for curing as it dries the leaf out so I'll need to keep an eye on the weather and move them around if theres the threat of a heat wave. I've also got a mechanical dehumidifier so on the flip side if things get too steamy then I can counter this. Plenty of options but definitely an experimental harvest in its first year...if I can even get to that stage!
I'll be keeping an eye on the thread too. Sounds really interesting and hope you have far better success than I did! I used to be partial to a Romeo & Julietta
I look forward to reading about your project - good luck
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I think you'll find the leaves shouldn't drop below 10% humidity or they'll crumble into dust. They'll then need to be made damper for the production stage, but I'm not sure of the figure. When I worked in the trade in the mid-sixties the whole humidity thing was vital. The most expensive leaves one could buy from the fields cost just 5/- per pound - but then cost another £4.7s.4d. in duty to get it out of the bonded warehouses. As a result there were chemists working full time in bonded warehouses juggling moisture content between 10% and 10.1% to avoid expense.
I guess there is so much more research and how-to guides out there. Plus MR works in the industry. If he poisons himself I guess he can closely document the hallucinations and the precise nature of the projectile vomitting.
I think you'll find the leaves shouldn't drop below 10% humidity or they'll crumble into dust. They'll then need to be made damper for the production stage, but I'm not sure of the figure. When I worked in the trade in the mid-sixties the whole humidity thing was vital. The most expensive leaves one could buy from the fields cost just 5/- per pound - but then cost another £4.7s.4d. in duty to get it out of the bonded warehouses. As a result there were chemists working full time in bonded warehouses juggling moisture content between 10% and 10.1% to avoid expense.
This is very interesting and great to hear from somebody with past trade experience. Thanks for your input!
My father tried that in the 1960's - ended up in hospital seriously ill with tobacco poisoning, he hadn't cured the leaves properly.
I would recommend a lot more research on the subject first.
This is a good point as nicotine yields can vary massively between varieties and hence have different uses. I've done a fair bit of research in this regard and have settled on what I believe to be the correct varieties for the three cigar components (filler, binder and wrap) - This should result in a mild/medium bodied smoke. As has been pointed out we've come a long way since the 60's so thankfully there's no end of online resources to help inform my decisions. Thanks for your concern - this is all part of the process
Posts
Hot and dry is bad for curing as it dries the leaf out so I'll need to keep an eye on the weather and move them around if theres the threat of a heat wave. I've also got a mechanical dehumidifier so on the flip side if things get too steamy then I can counter this. Plenty of options but definitely an experimental harvest in its first year...if I can even get to that stage!
Sounds really interesting and hope you have far better success than I did!
I used to be partial to a Romeo & Julietta
I look forward to reading about your project - good luck
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I would recommend a lot more research on the subject first.