Finnish grower: @man.in.boots

[man.in.boots]

I see you're placing those leaves out of reach of children .

(Although, about what I know regarding kids living on a farm, nothing is truly out of reach for them )

didin't only place them out of the children's reach, moved the combine harvester and i don't have the guts to climb there anymore. i have already climbed 2times up the wall just to reach the top and climb back down in defeat.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

The only way I know of, other than handling and shuffling and inspecting each leaf daily, is to maintain the kiln temp above 123°F, to prevent the vegetative growth of mold.

In the past, when I noticed some mold forming on some hanging (not yet fully cured) leaf, near the central vein, I sprayed just that area of the leaf with vinegar. That killed the mold. Later on, when the leaf had fully cured, the area that had been sprayed with vinegar was a different (lighter) color than the unsprayed parts of the same leaf. My conclusion is that the vinegar (acetic acid) has a definite impact on the curing process, and likely also on later fermentation.

Bob

I agree with Bob here. The fermentation and aging of tobacco is pH sensitive. Whether you believe tobacco fermentation is strictly from native enzymes, exogenous from other microbes, or somewhere between the two; the constant here is enzymatic action. Many enzymes are pH sensitive. Meaning, most have a range of pH values they will work in and an ideal range. With vinegar being a weak acid, this will change the pH. Additionally, acetate itself is toxic to quite a few microbes at too high of a level, that is part of the reason why your pickles last forever in the fridge! As a final note, even once the vinegar evaporates some acetate will remain behind with a negative charge. You may not be able to smell it on the leaf, but you will very likely be able to taste it when smoked.

I usually toss moldy leaf if it makes it past the mid rib, or if it smells non-tobacco- ey. This can be mentally hard to do though.

 

[man.in.boots]

found a more convinient place to dry the leaves.

 

[man.in.boots]

I agree with Bob here. The fermentation and aging of tobacco is pH sensitive. Whether you believe tobacco fermentation is strictly from native enzymes, exogenous from other microbes, or somewhere between the two; the constant here is enzymatic action. Many enzymes are pH sensitive. Meaning, most have a range of pH values they will work in and an ideal range. With vinegar being a weak acid, this will change the pH. Additionally, acetate itself is toxic to quite a few microbes at too high of a level, that is part of the reason why your pickles last forever in the fridge! As a final note, even once the vinegar evaporates some acetate will remain behind with a negative charge. You may not be able to smell it on the leaf, but you will very likely be able to taste it when smoked.

I usually toss moldy leaf if it makes it past the mid rib, or if it smells non-tobacco- ey. This can be mentally hard to do though.

thanks nice info, need to make some reserch myself on the sience of fermentation to get a better understanding

 

[man.in.boots]

doe's n. rustica smell like shit when flowering ore am i tripping ??

 

[Knucklehead]

doe's n. rustica smell like shit when flowering ore am i tripping ??

You're tripping. My rustica smells like cat piss.

 

[Alpine]

Mine smelled like wet hunting dog… my wife once aptly described rustica smell as “abused kitty litter”

pier

 

[man.in.boots]

I had an idea it might be possible to turn freezers /fridges cooling system into a heating system by just swapping the 2 outlets from the compressor. If somebody has any cooling system expertise or just more sens than me i would like to know if this is a bad idea.

bought and used fridge/freezer and after having this idea went to look at it to see how much the metal coils warm up in the back to get a sense if this can work i plug it in and it cached on fire instantly i havent even done anything to it yet. XD (in the pic you can see the burned electrical box)

 

[man.in.boots]

i think expansion valve has to be flipped around too

 

[deluxestogie]

Interesting question. I have no special expertise in refrigeration technology (other than being aware that relatively new kitchen refrigerators sometimes explode when there is a problem with the compressor). The project seems risky to me.

Bob

 

[slouch]

Interesting question. I have no special expertise in refrigeration technology (other than being aware that relatively new kitchen refrigerators sometimes explode when there is a problem with the compressor). The project seems risky to me.

Bob

The juices alone coming out of that compressor when I ripped it out were enough of a deterrent to keep me from trying this project lol. It smelled like a pile of old mattresses that people died in.

 

[man.in.boots]

yeah i cheked the pipes and they looked like a hole bunch of work to create somthing that might not work im just gonna go whit crockpot

 

[WillQuantrill]

yeah i cheked the pipes and they looked like a hole bunch of work to create somthing that might not work im just gonna go whit crockpot

I like where your head is at getting creative. You already have an isolated box you don't mind drilling holes in, heat and humidity will be easy. Looking back I spent ALOT of time building a sealed wooden box when the right used appliance would have worked just as well.

 

[man.in.boots]

not liking this leave most of them are looking nice jellow but some has thease dark green spots that are dry. any ideas what this is?

 

[man.in.boots]

this one is fully dry not all of them are like this but bunch of them have some green in them, do you smoke leaves like this?

 

[deluxestogie]

Allow them to fully color-cure, then see what you have.

Bob

 

[man.in.boots]

found a temperature controller for crockpot you can set up a temperature where it turns of and on

Inkbird ITC-308​

 

[deluxestogie]

You may want to use a Crockpot that has an analog (dial) power switch. If your electricity is cut off during a storm, or even simply "blinks" off for a moment, an analog switch assures that the Crockpot will resume operation as soon as the power comes back on. Some digitally controlled devices lack the non-volatile memory required to resume after a power interruption. (Perhaps the newer, digital Crockpots have remedied that shortcoming.) The Inkbird controller is likely designed to remember its settings during a power outage, though I would test that, to make certain. [Being a skeptic, I added a long-probe, analog, compost thermometer to my kiln, as a double check on the digital readout. Its dial extends outside the kiln.]

Bob

 

[man.in.boots]

You may want to use a Crockpot that has an analog (dial) power switch. If your electricity is cut off during a storm, or even simply "blinks" off for a moment, an analog switch assures that the Crockpot will resume operation as soon as the power comes back on. Some digitally controlled devices lack the non-volatile memory required to resume after a power interruption. (Perhaps the newer, digital Crockpots have remedied that shortcoming.) The Inkbird controller is likely designed to remember its settings during a power outage, though I would test that, to make certain. [Being a skeptic, I added a long-probe, analog, compost thermometer to my kiln, as a double check on the digital readout. Its dial extends outside the kiln.]

Bob

good thinking

 

[PressuredLeaf]

found a temperature controller for crockpot you can set up a temperature where it turns of and on

Inkbird ITC-308View attachment 53000​

I have the same one and used it with a crockpot for my kiln. It worked very well for me. The only thing you need to be conscientious of is placement of the temp prope.