My plug press: @highgrave

[highgrave]

Here is the device I built to make press plugs. I made it from a piece of 2" stainless tubing and some beverage fittings. I am in the beer business, so I have access to this type of material, and I can weld. I can press multiple plugs at the same if I like. Here it is assembled:




Here it is disassembled:

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Here is the device I built to make press plugs. I made it from a piece of 2" stainless tubing and some beverage fittings. I am in the beer business, so I have access to this type of material, and I can weld. I can press multiple plugs at the same if I like. Here it is assembled:


View attachment 51753

Here it is disassembled:

View attachment 51754

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Very nice work!

Never though of using tri clamp style parts. Great idea since they are very affordable compared to custom stainless steel pieces.

 

[highgrave]

Very nice work!

Never though of using tri clamp style parts. Great idea since they are very affordable compared to custom stainless steel pieces.

Thanks! The tri clamp seems to do a decent job of resisting the pressure created by hand cranking the handle down.

If I wanted, I could clamp the base in a vice so that I could get a very strong purchase, but I haven't found it necessary. At a certain point the tri clamp cap would start rotating too.

I might try using it to make a Perique-style pressure fermentation. If I need to squeeze harder I might clamp something to the cylinder itself, so that I can crank harder. Might also mount a pressure guage on the tri clamp cap for that project. I love Perique, and I enjoy fermenting things. I have enjoyed reading the info shared by deluxestogie, BigBonner et al.

 

[Old Gasman]

It's my cheap Chinese Pasta Press that's gone and got all grown up, looks good.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Thanks! The tri clamp seems to do a decent job of resisting the pressure created by hand cranking the handle down.

If I wanted, I could clamp the base in a vice so that I could get a very strong purchase, but I haven't found it necessary. At a certain point the tri clamp cap would start rotating too.

I might try using it to make a Perique-style pressure fermentation. If I need to squeeze harder I might clamp something to the cylinder itself, so that I can crank harder. Might also mount a pressure guage on the tri clamp cap for that project. I love Perique, and I enjoy fermenting things. I have enjoyed reading the info shared by deluxestogie, BigBonner et al.

I like the idea of trying perique in these. The 304 should be resistant to rusting and or leaching. I’ve always wanted to give it a shot, but with glass or plastic you have to be careful how much pressure you apply.

 

[deluxestogie]

how much pressure you apply.

Traditional perique presses in St. James Parish, despite the stated pressure on each barrel, is only applying about 35 psi (pounds per square inch). My own experimentation has demonstrated that leaf lamina cells are ruptured by a mere 3.5 to 5 psi. So making perique really requires only modest pressure that keeps the soggy leaf entirely beneath the liquid surface. Once the leaf cells are ruptured, the fermentation is an anaerobic, microbial process.

Bob

 

[highgrave]

Thanks again Bob, if I can have a pressure deadband of say 10 psi, then I bet I can skip the pressure guage and just go by feel to give the right amount of squeeze to a Perique fermentation. I will give it a go this winter.

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Traditional perique presses in St. James Parish, despite the stated pressure on each barrel, is only applying about 35 psi (pounds per square inch). My own experimentation has demonstrated that leaf lamina cells are ruptured by a mere 3.5 to 5 psi. So making perique really requires only modest pressure that keeps the soggy leaf entirely beneath the liquid surface. Once the leaf cells are ruptured, the fermentation is an anaerobic, microbial process.

Bob

<10psi is much more reasonable! I almost imagine that at lower psi the tobacco is easier to tease apart after fermentation. For no reason other than curiosity, I pressed a 5g plug at 12 tons (if you believe the harbor freight shop press). This equates to about ~30,000psi. The resulting plug was so shiny, it looked like it was made out of black acrylic.

Edit: press mold was 25mm in dia - that’s where the 30k psi figure comes from.

 

[WillQuantrill]

How do you prepare the leaf before pressing? Shred and bring into high-case?

 

[highgrave]

Well, I decided to dive in and try to get a Perique fermentation going today. I had some primings of Little Yellow and One Sucker that I vacuum sealed and then color cured later; they cured a bit differently and seemingly fast, so I thought this was a good use for them.

I wanted to try harvesting the microflora that exist in a genuine batch of Perique, from the source. Fortunately I have some on hand that I got from our friends at WLT, which I have been storing in my fridge.

I chopped up a few leaves of Perique, which is very high case, as it came from the manufacturer. Hopefully these bugs are still viable, and living in the Perique. I added this in layers, between handfuls of my leaf. I soaked the leaf with a hand sprayer, so that it was soggy, and then stuffed into my press immediately. Cranked it down hard.

I will open it up in a week, spread it around, and then re-pack the press with it.

 

[slouch]

Well, I decided to dive in and try to get a Perique fermentation going today. I had some primings of Little Yellow and One Sucker that I vacuum sealed and then color cured later; they cured a bit differently and seemingly fast, so I thought this was a good use for them.

I wanted to try harvesting the microflora that exist in a genuine batch of Perique, from the source. Fortunately I have some on hand that I got from our friends at WLT, which I have been storing in my fridge.

I chopped up a few leaves of Perique, which is very high case, as it came from the manufacturer. Hopefully these bugs are still viable, and living in the Perique. I added this in layers, between handfuls of my leaf. I soaked the leaf with a hand sprayer, so that it was soggy, and then stuffed into my press immediately. Cranked it down hard.

I will open it up in a week, spread it around, and then re-pack the press with it.

View attachment 52259

Update on the perique?

 

[highgrave]

Here is my update. After three weeks in the press there are positive signs of fermentation: CO2 bubbles and a not too unpleasant aroma. I have opened up the press two times now. Here us what it looked like after a week:


And again after two more weeks:


The first inspection showed little fermentation, and the smell was somewhat insipid; still smelled a bit like green tobacco. The second time(today) was much more interesting. I am smelling molasses, ripe fruit, and CO2. Back into the press for a few more weeks.

With my press relying on me torquing down the piston to maintain pressure, I have made tightening it a part of my daily routine.

 

[slouch]

Here is my update. After three weeks in the press there are positive signs of fermentation: CO2 bubbles and a not too unpleasant aroma. I have opened up the press two times now. Here us what it looked like after a week:
View attachment 52638
View attachment 52639
And again after two more weeks:
View attachment 52640

The first inspection showed little fermentation, and the smell was somewhat insipid; still smelled a bit like green tobacco. The second time(today) was much more interesting. I am smelling molasses, ripe fruit, and CO2. Back into the press for a few more weeks.

With my press relying on me torquing down the piston to maintain pressure, I have made tightening it a part of my daily routine.

Juicy

 

[PressuredLeaf]

Here is my update. After three weeks in the press there are positive signs of fermentation: CO2 bubbles and a not too unpleasant aroma. I have opened up the press two times now. Here us what it looked like after a week:
View attachment 52638
View attachment 52639
And again after two more weeks:
View attachment 52640

The first inspection showed little fermentation, and the smell was somewhat insipid; still smelled a bit like green tobacco. The second time(today) was much more interesting. I am smelling molasses, ripe fruit, and CO2. Back into the press for a few more weeks.

With my press relying on me torquing down the piston to maintain pressure, I have made tightening it a part of my daily routine.

That’s pretty cool, and sounds like you are on the right track. All the perique I’ve ever smelled is similar to how you describe - overripe fruit, molasses, etc. and usually some good funk to tie it all together.

 

[highgrave]

After a few weeks of daily, enthusiastic tightening of the press, I opened it up.



I was surprised at how little progress was made. I think I squeezed too hard. The lamina was surprisingly dry, but the liquid expressed was definitely fermented; it smelled and tasted boozy, and there was CO2 dissolved. Smelled good and Perique-like. Black like Russian Imperial Stout.



I decided to air the leaf out for a couple hours before returning to the press, along with the liquid. I tightened the press down hard, once. Haven't tightened it since. I theorize that the fermentation was not progressing in the leaf lamina, but was in the surrounding liquid matrix, so I am hoping that a looser mix will encourage fermentation in the lamina.

I wonder if the initial pressure is beneficial, by helping to extract liquid from the lamina, and break it down a bit, but that it is less necessary later. We shall see.

I will report again in a month or so.

 

[deluxestogie]

I always return all liquid to the perique press. Most important for the anaerobic process is that the leaf be sealed beneath the expressed liquid, and not simply pressed. Any liquid lost during the many weeks of pressing and then airing the leaf is part of the final leaf's character (aromas and nicotine) that is gone for good.

Bob

 

[highgrave]

All the liquid was returned to the press, so it is now just holding the less-compressed leaf mass under the liquid. Very little pressure now.