Fire curing Kentucky Dark at home

[absinthe]

I have decided to try fire curing at home. I use a 3 chambered smoker bbq. This costs a little, but is also great for bbqing! My leaves were yellowed in the barn loft prior to curing. I lay the leaves in stacks at the far end of the bbq near the chimney. In the smallest chamber, I use a few briquettes, paper and cardboard to get the fire started and layer tiny kindling pieces of cherry wood. Over that, I lay very small pieces of maple. This has resulted in a very strong smoking with very pleasant smelling smoke. I put a couple pans of water in the middle chamber to help with humidity. I spraymist the tobacco periodically to keep it from getting too dry. I spraymist the fire to just keep the briquettes and coals smoldering with no real flames. I fire the leaves for about 3-4 hours a day after work. I will do this for about two weeks. This is labor intensive and the amount of leaves is relatively small, but of very high quality. I remove the leaves from the smoker in the daytime and lay a moist towel over them to keep them supple and not too dry. Overdrying seems to be a problem with fire curing generally. I really think I have nailed it with this method. I think the tobacco will turn out perfect. The only drawbacks are the amount of labor involved for a relatively small amount of finished product, but of high quality. I use a bit of wood. Luckily, I have a lot.
If you have the time to invest and a 3 chambered smoker/bbq, I recommend this way to fire cure at home. I can't wait to show you all the final result!

 

[Hemlock]

I have decided to try fire curing at home. I use a 3 chambered smoker bbq. This costs a little, but is also great for bbqing! My leaves were yellowed in the barn loft prior to curing. I lay the leaves in stacks at the far end of the bbq near the chimney. In the smallest chamber, I use a few briquettes, paper and cardboard to get the fire started and layer tiny kindling pieces of cherry wood. Over that, I lay very small pieces of maple. This has resulted in a very strong smoking with very pleasant smelling smoke. I put a couple pans of water in the middle chamber to help with humidity. I spraymist the tobacco periodically to keep it from getting too dry. I spraymist the fire to just keep the briquettes and coals smoldering with no real flames. I fire the leaves for about 3-4 hours a day after work. I will do this for about two weeks. This is labor intensive and the amount of leaves is relatively small, but of very high quality. I remove the leaves from the smoker in the daytime and lay a moist towel over them to keep them supple and not too dry. Overdrying seems to be a problem with fire curing generally. I really think I have nailed it with this method. I think the tobacco will turn out perfect. The only drawbacks are the amount of labor involved for a relatively small amount of finished product, but of high quality. I use a bit of wood. Luckily, I have a lot.
If you have the time to invest and a 3 chambered smoker/bbq, I recommend this way to fire cure at home. I can't wait to show you all the final result!

Can you post photos of your setup?

 

[adamziegler]

I cold smoke pork belly to make bacon using a "pellet" maze in an enclosed space. https://amzn.to/41fHadS It smokes for 12hrs ... I wonder if something like this could also be used?

Also interested in pictures

 

[absinthe]

Here are my pics as requested.

 

[Sergey Ukraine]

I cold smoke pork belly to make bacon using a "pellet" maze in an enclosed space. https://amzn.to/41fHadS It smokes for 12hrs ... I wonder if something like this could also be used?

Also interested in pictures

The aroma of smoke from simple burning and from using such a smoke generator will be different. In the first case, it will be sharper, in the second - milder. It also depends on the type of wood. I have been smoking meat for many years, so I know what I am writing about. I think in your case, tobacco will have a mild smoke aroma. Try it, experiments are always interesting.

 

[absinthe]

The aroma of smoke from simple burning and from using such a smoke generator will be different. In the first case, it will be sharper, in the second - milder. It also depends on the type of wood. I have been smoking meat for many years, so I know what I am writing about. I think in your case, tobacco will have a mild smoke aroma. Try it, experiments are always interesting.

Thank you for your input. I think this is as close as I can come to fire curing at home. I am not a professional and do not have a 2,000,000 dollar fire curing barn. I think it will be great, but I realize it will be different than proper fire cured tobacco. I got this idea from another article I read.

 

[adamziegler]

have been smoking meat for many years

Sergey, You are probably familiar with low temperature cold smoking then! It's different and used for different purposes. Temperature wise it is a process (similar not the same) to tobacco barns.

pics as requested.

I bet that all smells amazing! Have you tried any of it yet? The picture make my mouth water.

I am curious about the temps the tobacco sees. Even if it's hotter than "traditional Barnes" it does not mean the end product isn't good. I am just wondering if you might be getting a hybrid DAC + Cavendish!

 

[Sergey Ukraine]

Sergey, You are probably familiar with low temperature cold smoking then! It's different and used for different purposes. Temperature wise it is a process (similar not the same) to tobacco barns.


I bet that all smells amazing! Have you tried any of it yet? The picture make my mouth water.

I am curious about the temps the tobacco sees. Even if it's hotter than "traditional Barnes" it does not mean the end product isn't good. I am just wondering if you might be getting a hybrid DAC + Cavendish!

I often did hot smoking, up to 70 degrees Celsius.
I was talking about how wood and sawdust have different aromas when they burn. It doesn't matter whether you use cold or hot smoking.

 

[adamziegler]

sawdust

Are we talking about smoking meat or tobacco? The hardwood pellet smoker I shared was simply an idea on how one might fire cure tobacco on a small scale and stay in temp ranges. Nobody is forced to try it. That's said, maybe sawdust would be better:

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mzGcBaMc9Rw

 

[Sergey Ukraine]

Are we talking about smoking meat or tobacco? The hardwood pellet smoker I shared was simply an idea on how one might fire cure tobacco on a small scale and stay in temp ranges. Nobody is forced to try it. That's said, maybe sawdust would be better:

View: https://youtube.com/watch?v=mzGcBaMc9Rw

I was talking about the difference in aroma when burning a piece of wood and sawdust/pellets of the same species. It doesn't matter whether it's meat or tobacco. The aroma of the smoke itself, not the end product.

 

[Tuco The Ugly]

Looks great, do you have a picture of the leaves before going into the smoker? Do you know the variety

I’m doing some similar experiments now with my smoker. I’ve been leaving it outside with the lid open to let the leaves reabsorb moisture over night. In the morning I hit them with some thick but cold pecan wood smoke until they are crispy again.

 

[StoneCarver]

Sergey makes a good point about how the smoke aroma can be different between sawdust and whole wood pieces even from the same species.
I wonder how chipped wood would compare?
Every year when I cut firewood for winter, I end up with a lot of wood fragments/chips. I use those chips in my bee smoker when I inspect my honeybees.
My bee smoker holds about 1qt and can smolder for 5 hrs when loaded with wood chips.
Of course too, I have a chipper/shredder for chipping wood into mulch.

 

[Sergey Ukraine]

Sergey makes a good point about how the smoke aroma can be different between sawdust and whole wood pieces even from the same species.
I wonder how chipped wood would compare?
Every year when I cut firewood for winter, I end up with a lot of wood fragments/chips. I use those chips in my bee smoker when I inspect my honeybees.
My bee smoker holds about 1qt and can smolder for 5 hrs when loaded with wood chips.
Of course too, I have a chipper/shredder for chipping wood into mulch.

Chips closer to whole pieces... sawdust 1-2 mm in size.
Try making this fraction with a hand saw or a coarse file. Light it and compare the aroma of the smoke to see which one you like better.

 

[StoneCarver]

Watch me put my bee smoker in a box with some tobacco leaves.

 

[DaleB]

Why use the smoker at all? Just puff away at a pipe or cigar and let the bees enjoy some fine tobacco smoke also. Yeah, I know, probably not a great idea!!