Drilled Plug Canister

[BCgoatfarmer]

Here I will attempt to display my method for producing plug in a drilled wooden canister.

I have used various local woods (cedar, alder,maple) this time I'm using a 6.5 inch long round of hazel from one of our trees. A 3/4 inch hole was drilled lengthways through the middle to a depth of 5.5 inches. Then the hole is reamed smooth and friction burnt with custom dowel, which I use later as the stuffing rod for stuffing and tamping the tobacco later.

The canister is then girded in three places by tiewire wraps. Which are driven down the taper of the canisters outside surface until very snug (like hoops on a barrel)

The tobacco I used this time was something I grew from seed sold to be by Richters, some name like "Ontario Bold" looks to be a Virginia type. The leaves were air cured. From harvest around mid september 2023. I moistened them with wet hands, stacked, pressed in a vice, and then fine cut by hand.

The moist tobacco was forced into the hole by means of the aforementioned rod and a hammer. Tamped down as firm as possible, layer by layer.

Afterwards a wooden cork is firmly hammered home with a snug fit.

I age these various amounts of time. Usually I end up wanting to try some before 2 months is through. I can remove the cork to test some from the top and re-secure the cork afterwars. Or I can cut the cylinder to cork the remaining portion.

The last photo is the last one I made. It's a bit cracked from drying now because I've left it out in the open to long. I remove them from the canister by slitting the canister open after removing the wire around it.

I hope the pictures have uploaded. My internet is very rural

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Darn lots of typos, accidental word repetition, and no photos.

I'll try and upload all relevant pictures when/if connection improves. Tried to edit them into the post, that failed and now I cant get back to edit the written portion either.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Looks like I'll have to try uploading them one by one. Here's the round being cut. It's about 3.5 inch across without the bark. I find a thick cross section is useful to prevent splitting.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Here's the canister, looks like a little wooden cannon (I might add I was tempted to use it as one, doubt it would do anything positive to the flavor though)

I smoothed the outside with a small hand plane. Ensuring it maintained enough taper to force the rings tight on.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

So, you're putting shredded tobacco in there. Compressing the crap out of it.
Then splitting it open after to get the tobacco out?
Is the wrapping because you initially tried it and they cracked?

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Here is the cake of very high case leaf, I pressed and folded with a large bench vice between two slabs of wood in an effort to consolidate it for ease of slicing. It cut up nice, don't mind about those little green bits. One of the leaves had some green spots which I didnt bother to remove.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

So, you're putting shredded tobacco in there. Compressing the crap out of it.
Then splitting it open after to get the tobacco out?
Is the wrapping because you initially tried it and they cracked?

Yes, though I don't use it only as a non reusable press. It is also an airtight, pressure proof container for fermentation. I keep them close to the woodstove where it's always warm sometimes I give it a bath overnight in a pot of warm water to prevent splitting due to drying out.

I must admit your carrot method is a more logical approach for a sealed compressed fermentation free of mold issues.

The metal banding is probably optional. The first ones I made were thinner of cross section. I make them wider now, probably don't need the wire. Maybe just one where the cork is pressing outwards

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I read in the forum years ago about someone doing multiple holes in one larger log. That would probably cut down on the labour.

Maybe you could do an indentation in the top somewhere and top it up with water.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

I read in the forum years ago about someone doing multiple holes in one larger log. That would probably cut down on the labour.

Maybe you could do an indentation in the top somewhere and top it up with water.

Yes, I think a larger log might be one way to go about making many plugs. Sometimes harder to find good warm storage locations for larger logs though.

I think I might go the other direction. Larger hole/larger plug (instead of many)

I saw you mention youd made a plug press from western red cedar before but didn't like the smell? I didnt leave my cedar plug very long because I felt similarly. It did smell a bit funny at first, but after some time out of the wood it became alright for me.

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

I saw you mention youd made a plug press from western red cedar before but didn't like the smell? I didnt leave my cedar plug very long because I felt similarly. It did smell a bit funny at first, but after some time out of the wood it became alright for me.

Yeah. I've had two problems with it. I floored my curing shed with Western red cedar, too and it was very strong and made me worry about possible toxicity. And I'm usually one to be dismissive of worries like that. I think in Alberta I would be looking for apple, cherry, alder, maple, Manitoba maple, and mountain ash, and would probably just buy oak dowels from the place you buy them at. I think poplar would be prone to rot, and spruce, pine, and larch too resinous. Willow might work for dowels. Hopefully it doesn't start growing roots into the tobacco, lol.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Yeah. I've had two problems with it. I floored my curing shed with Western red cedar, too and it was very strong and made me worry about possible toxicity. And I'm usually one to be dismissive of worries like that. I think in Alberta I would be looking for apple, cherry, alder, maple, Manitoba maple, and mountain ash, and would probably just buy oak dowels from the place you buy them at. I think poplar would be prone to rot, and spruce, pine, and larch too resinous. Willow might work for dowels. Hopefully it doesn't start growing roots into the tobacco, lol.

One does hear of cedars toxicity from time to time. I think the costal native tradition of cooking and storing foods inside of bentwood boxes dispels this notion (for me at least)

Nice to see another fellow with an encyclopedic knowledge of local tree varieties and their properties. Oak certainly would be nice. I've thought to make a canister drilled all the way through (with an opening at either end) with the hope I might be able to force the plug out and reuse the tube after. Might be especially worth it if one were to buy wood. It would probably work if a tapered hole was made to facilitate the extraction.

 

[deluxestogie]

tradition of cooking and storing foods inside of bentwood boxes dispels this notion

Romans drank from copper vessels lined with lead (to eliminate the nasty taste of copper in their beverages). I would suggest exploring the science of terpene toxicity in western red cedar, rather than relying on choices made by those who had no access to the science. Moths know to avoid it.

Bob

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Romans drank from copper vessels lined with lead (to eliminate the nasty taste of copper in their beverages). I would suggest exploring the science of terpene toxicity in western red cedar, rather than relying on choices made by those who had no access to the science. Moths know to avoid it.

Bob

Wise words as always Bob, and today we use plastics for convenience sake despite known issues. The more things change the more they stay the same. Regardless I do not plan to use red cedar again. It wasn't my favorite, though it was not distinctly unpleasant either. I prefer the natural characteristics of the tobacco to be enhanced, not obscured by added scent or taste.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Here's a small 1.5 inch wide plug, pressed from virginia black cavendish and air cured virgina with a little bit of rustica added for oomph. I'm still having issues loading pictures. Must've tried about a hundred times to load the finished canister. Anyways this one came out of the wood today and it was to pretty not to try and post.

 

[deluxestogie]

Pressed Tobacco Jupiter:

Bob

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Hah! that's what I was thinking while I cut it "Jupiter Slices" left this one compressed for only about a week, so the difference in color between the two tobaccos is still distinct.

 

[BCgoatfarmer]

Filled and corked canister, burnt rod is spun with a drill to polish and burn the inner walls of the container. Then used for tamping the tobacco down firmly with a hammer.