Curing+Fermenting?

[pastorj]

Hey

I am looking to grow and blend tobacco for the first time this year, and have been doing a lot of research online. My question: Is there a way to combine the curing and fermenting stages of tobacco processing to save time? I know what each stage is for on a very basic level, but I am just curious to see if anyone knows a way to combine these stages, or process tobacco in such a way that it takes care of the essential needs apart from the separate processes...

 

[Daniel]

The way I look at it the tobacco is fermenting or aging as it is curing. but the aging simply requires more time beyond the curing.

As far as curing fermenting quickly the only thing I can think of that might fit that bill is flue curing. I am not sure just how much additional aging the tobacco might require beyond the rapid curing flue curing provides. Of the top of my head I think aging is a process that is going to take as long as it takes and the a kiln is about the only option to speed it up. maybe piling it but to me that is to risky.

Maybe others can expand on more about what the results are of flue curing and what is needed beyond that for the tobaccos taste.

 

[FmGrowit]

Daniel hit the nail squarely on the head. Flue Cured tobacco does continue to age with time, but not a whole heck of a lot. There is a company (?) in Asia who shreds green tobacco and then sun cures the shredded leaf, but it isn't fermented.

I fermented some green leaf accidentally and then it froze solid in one big lump. When spring rolled around I dried out a few leaves and sent them to deluxestogie to get a review.. He wasn't all that impressed with the results and he even went so far as to kiln the leaf. I believe the kilned leaf was more agreeable so there was no advantage to fermenting the leaf green.

The tobacco variety was Rabo de Gallo Negro

 

[pastorj]

Interesting, but from what I have researched so far; curing and fermenting are two distinct and very different parts of the process... Curing's; in what ever fashion you choose, function is to dry the leaf to remove a certain % of water content and or add flavoring if you fire cure, etc... Fermenting on the other hand is primarily used to remove excess amonias from the leaf after the curing process and involves maintaining the leaves at a constant temp (120 ish) and constant moisture level (don't want it to continue to dry), so that certain enzymes, yada, yada, help break down and remove toxins such as amonia... After that you can age the tobacco as long as you like.

 

[Daniel]

They are different processes, that does not mean they cannot happen at the same time. Curing is the process of turning the leaf from green to whatever shade of brown it is going to become. Fermenting is a chemical process happening within the leaf that alters the taste of it. deluxestogie has a much more complete understanding of that process on both counts than I do.
The products required for the fermenting process would be destroyed at the temperatures of flue curing (as high as 170 degrees) so the fermenting process would be halted once whatever temperature that was distructive to them was reached. Before that the process woudl be accelerated as it woudl be in a kiln.

A kiln at 120 degrees and 75% humidity will accelerate fermenting or aging. I have not yet decided if there is a difference between fermenting such as when tobacco is sweated and aging alone. I am not saying there is no difference I just don't understand them well enough. But the aging process requires time. How much time can be shortened but only to a limited degree.

Flue curing for example takes the leaf from being green to dry and ready to smoke as a cigarette in about 7 days.

Air curing can take a couple of months just to cure. Keep in mind the aging process is going on it is just going slowly. Once the leaf has cured it will continue to age as long as it stays moist enough. I can just let it hang for a year or two and it will age. Or I can place the cured leaf in a kiln at a higher temperature and adequate humidity and speed up the aging process. This can shorten it from 1 to 2 years or more to 4 to 6 weeks.

So in short the faster method you seek does exist and is in common use. You can still reasonably expect to spend 3 months curing and fermenting your tobacco, but unless you flue cure, that is about as fast as it is going to get.

 

[deluxestogie]

Color curing = living metabolic process
Aging/Fermenting = enzymatic process in dead leaf

Bob

 

[Daniel]

Keep in mind there are several methods about how to go about any part of tobacco.
For example you can Air cure, flue cure (elevated heat), sun cure, or fire cure. They are all intended to turn the leaf brown but may also result in a difference in the final taste of the tobacco.

In addition you have a few choice in how the tobacco is handled as it is Aged/fermented. Again they will result in a different end product. Some are intended to produce a distinct end product.

To me it seems there are more choices in regard to curing than there are to aging. But that may only because I do not focus on aging nearly as much. That seems to be an area that is more of a concern to a cigar or pipe tobacco grower. I am just a lowly cigarette smoker so I can get away with the rude crude methods. Bob is making progress in refining me though.