Curing and fermenting Nicotina Rustica?

[Mirituz]

Hello friends

First time grower of tobacco, so Im a real newbie in this.

I have been growing some rustica plants and just started harvesting them.
I have been putting the leaves in a cardboard box with newspaper between the layers. I made some holes in the box and put a small fan outside of the box for ventilation. Is this a good way to dry them out and to make the leaves more yellowish?

I also wonder how dry the leaves should be before i start to ferment them?
I was thinking of fermenting them with the oven method.

Thanks

 

[Knucklehead]

I only grew Rustica one season but the best curing method that I found was to let the leaves fully ripen on the plant before harvest.
The leaf stem should be crispy, crunchy dry when finishing the color cure. Then rehydrate the leaf just enough to be able to handle them. Then ferment. I recommend building a kiln. I've heard of toasting burley leaf in an oven for a few minutes but trying to ferment for two months in an oven sounds like a recipe for disaster.

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

Post #55

Is there any way to mellow out shredded tobacco ?

Muggs, Is you burley from the 2018 season? Has it been kilned? If the answers are yes and no, respectively, then you're just smoking the stuff way too soon. Bob Yes,the burley turn dark drown.smells wonderful.im smoking this straight, An it make me cough, an has an bitter after taste. I...

fairtradetobacco.com

Check out the curing section of the Key Forum Threads at top of banner. There are some good threads on building a kiln. ChinaVoodoo built one using very basic tools and materials. There are also more complicated ones.

 

[Mirituz]

I only grew Rustica one season but the best curing method that I found was to let the leaves fully ripen on the plant before harvest.
The leaf stem should be crispy, crunchy dry when finishing the color cure. Then rehydrate the leaf just enough to be able to handle them. Then ferment. I recommend building a kiln. I've heard of toasting burley leaf in an oven for a few minutes but trying to ferment for two months in an oven sounds like a recipe for disaster.

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

Post #55

Is there any way to mellow out shredded tobacco ?

Muggs, Is you burley from the 2018 season? Has it been kilned? If the answers are yes and no, respectively, then you're just smoking the stuff way too soon. Bob Yes,the burley turn dark drown.smells wonderful.im smoking this straight, An it make me cough, an has an bitter after taste. I...

fairtradetobacco.com

Check out the curing section of the Key Forum Threads at top of banner. There are some good threads on building a kiln. ChinaVoodoo built one using very basic tools and materials. There are also more complicated ones.

Okey thanks for your advice

With the oven method I mean cutting the leaves into thin stripes and putting it i glassjars.
Then ”bake” them in the oven at 50 celsius for 8-10 hours a day. For 5-7 days.

Has anyone tried that method?

 

[Knucklehead]

Welcome to the forum.
I'm not aware of anyone doing that. That's not to say it can't be done. Keep us posted.
There will need to be moisture. Aging stops when the tobacco is dry, but starts again when there is moisture.
Mold could be an issue below 120F.
Above 140F or thereabouts there are some enzymes that may be destroyed but I can't remember what they do. For flue curing virginia varieties (different process) the hottest temp is 165F. It's different from fermenting but can use the same chamber.
With our homebuilt kilns most of us use temp controllers that maintain temps between 123 and 128F. I use a crockpot to provide both temp and humidity. The controller kills the power to the crockpot at 128F, then kicks back on at 123F. Others use sealed containers to trap the humidity inside and just provide a heat source with the temp controller. We run ours for 2 months continuously.
edit: I'm pretty sure you will still experience a grassy flavor after only one week.