Proper sun curing

[Jonesy]

Ok I have light-moderate growing experience. I am getting ready to do my first tobacco crop/s next spring. One thing I have read is that Turkish is best sun cured. But how in the world do you PROPERLY do this? Lay them on the ground? Hang them just above the ground? I live in east tx. Should I rotate them around pre watered areas so they can get humidity and not dry out to quick?Please someone with experience enlighten me!


Also. What varieties are higher in nicotine without compromising flavor? I hear basama/xanthi (are they the same?) have the best flavor.


As well. Are there any good seed sites that are fairly turkish specific? I've found many seeds sight but not very turkish specific.


Finally. Anyone out there feel like donating/contributing/gracing/blessing me with some seeds?




God bless and
Happy smoking

 

[DonH]

Ok I have light-moderate growing experience. I am getting ready to do my first tobacco crop/s next spring. One thing I have read is that Turkish is best sun cured. But how in the world do you PROPERLY do this? Lay them on the ground? Hang them just above the ground? I live in east tx. Should I rotate them around pre watered areas so they can get humidity and not dry out to quick?Please someone with experience enlighten me!


Also. What varieties are higher in nicotine without compromising flavor? I hear basama/xanthi (are they the same?) have the best flavor.


As well. Are there any good seed sites that are fairly turkish specific? I've found many seeds sight but not very turkish specific.


Finally. Anyone out there feel like donating/contributing/gracing/blessing me with some seeds?




God bless and
Happy smoking

By this winter there will seeds available for lots of Turkish varieties. I haven't tried sun curing yet, but you seem to be on the right track to keep them from drying green. Some people put plastic sheeting over them for parts of the day (night, I think) to keep them from drying too fast.

 

[Chicken]

i grow bursa, which is a turkish bacca,

and i air cure it, and its just fine,

all bacca can be sun cured, if you got enough sunshine,

 

[Michibacy]

I take a handful of leaves and screwed the wire from my hanging sticks ( http://wholeleaftobaccollc.com/foru...i-Plant-Services&p=49336&viewfull=1#post49336 ) and then lean the sticks on a saw horse in the sun. Don't put the leaves on the ground if possible, dirt bugs animals urinating on them etc makes them yucky. If you want to purchase some let me know.

 

[Jonesy]

So you air cure? AND it stays flavorful? Not to be an ass but have you compared yours to sun cured?

 

[Jonesy]

i grow bursa, which is a turkish bacca,

and i air cure it, and its just fine,

all bacca can be sun cured, if you got enough sunshine,

Re: Proper sun curing
So you air cure? AND it stays flavorful? Not to be an ass but have you compared yours to sun cured?

 

[Michibacy]

I air cure mine and sun cure it technically. In my opinion it's more flavorful being sun cured!

 

[DonH]

Re: Proper sun curing
So you air cure? AND it stays flavorful? Not to be an ass but have you compared yours to sun cured?

It may be more flavorful sun cured, but I'm with Chicken, air cured Turkish tastes amazing. One of these years I'll try sun curing but it's definitely not necessary. I haven't compared the same grow side by side but I prefer my air cured Turkish to the sun cured Turkish I buy (which is damn good). Deluxestogie says sun curing works like flue curing so the smoke is a little sweeter. But the flavors are definitely there with air curing.

 

[ne3go]

I didn't sun-cured my Izmir because afraid of dry green. So i air-cured it, and smell really good.
The best aromatic variety in Greece is Xanthi Basma. Maybe i can find some seeds this year, happy to sent you.
If you want to sun-cure, just hang them some inches above ground in the full sun and sometimes put a plastic sheet above. See photos of professional sun curing in Greece:



_____

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I usually air cure my Turkish. This year I air cured and flue cured some Tekekoy. Flue curing is essentially the same as sun curing, you are locking in the sugars. Although the flue cured tasted good, the air cured had much more flavor. I am not sure which varieties have more nicotine other than to say that Canik has more nicotine than Samsun Maden. If you want to increase the nicotine content of your leaf just add copious amounts of nitrogen to your soil.

 

[Rickey60]

I usually air cure my Turkish. This year I air cured and flue cured some Tekekoy. Flue curing is essentially the same as sun curing, you are locking in the sugars. Although the flue cured tasted good, the air cured had much more flavor. I am not sure which varieties have more nicotine other than to say that Canik has more nicotine than Samsun Maden. If you want to increase the nicotine content of your leaf just add copious amounts of nitrogen to your soil.

I did not know that nitrogen had an effect on the nicotine level of tobacco. Is it just on Turkish types, or does it apply to all tobaccos? Please
explain how this works.
Rick

 

[NRustica]

When you sun/air cure, do you use an additional fermentation process?

 

[johnlee1933]

When you sun/air cure, do you use an additional fermentation process?

Generally yes. Kiln or prolonged hanging is a controlled or monitored area.

Generally speaking air/sun curing are broadly defined as color curing. To get the leaf to change from green to an acceptable color --, yellow, tan, various shades of brown, generally not green.

John

 

[deluxestogie]

Easy Sun-Curing

• Hang the leaf in shade (or in a shed) until it has mostly yellowed. This will take a few days.
• Hang the leaf in direct sun (bringing it indoors again if rain threatens). Continue the sun-curing until the stems are cured.

By yellowing the leaf before exposure to the sun, you eliminate the worry over flash-curing it green, and don't have to worry about keeping up the humidity. After yellowing, the faster it browns, the lighter the color will be. Just don't allow it to get wet, once it begins to brown.

The final color is lighter than with air-curing. Only some Orientals lend themselves to flue-curing--a trial and error process.

Bob

 

[istanbulin]

I usually air cure my Turkish. This year I air cured and flue cured some Tekekoy. ...

Ok, I must confess that this variety has really a hard name to write "Tekkeköy".

I noticed a similar flavor in Tekkeköy with Xanthi Yaka but Tekkeköy has more dominant taste and flavor and more nicotine than Xanthi Yaka.

 

[istanbulin]

Easy Sun-Curing

• Hang the leaf in shade (or in a shed) until it has mostly yellowed. This will take a few days.
• Hang the leaf in direct sun (bringing it indoors again if rain threatens). Continue the sun-curing until the stems are cured.

By yellowing the leaf before exposure to the sun, you eliminate the worry over flash-curing it green, and don't have to worry about keeping up the humidity. After yellowing, the faster it browns, the lighter the color will be. Just don't allow it to get wet, once it begins to brown.

The final color is lighter than with air-curing. Only some Orientals lend themselves to flue-curing--a trial and error process.

Bob

Actually this easy sun-curing guide is not sufficient. Because for the yellowing stage leaves need heat so it shouldn't be in shade this is why people using plastic coverings on tobacco. But for the first day it's right to keep them in shade and wilt a little before leaving them direct sun. So there should be sun on the leaves everyday except the first day (sometimes less).

 

[Knucklehead]

Actually this easy sun-curing guide is not sufficient. Because for the yellowing stage leaves need heat so it shouldn't be in shade this is why people using plastic coverings on tobacco. But for the first day it's right to keep them in shade and wilt a little before leaving them direct sun. So there should be sun on the leaves everyday except the first day (sometimes less).

Are you saying they should go to full sun while still green, only wilted for a day?

 

[deluxestogie]

Istanbulin,
Have you sun-cured in the manner you describe? Did you get much green leaf?

My shed temp averages 85-90ºF during the day in August and early September, and the humidity in the shed is stabilized by the large quantity of hanging leaf. That's already up in the range of flue-cure yellowing temps, so I believe that the warmth together with better humidity control in the shed is preferable to attempting to sun-cure green leaf. Over 104ºF will fix the green.

It is my impression that some Oriental varieties (though not many that I've tried) will easily go from green to yellow in direct sun. Most failures of sun-cure attempts among US home growers results from immediately placing the green leaf in direct sun (in a low humidity environment).

I also believe that the plastic covering is an expedience to avoid having to bring strings of leaf back into the shed when the weather turns.

These are just my observations. Much of tobacco lore seems to arise out of expedience (e.g. string vs. wire), and later acquires the patina of correctness that perpetuates it as the only "correct" way to accomplish the task.

I may have my head on backward, but the method I've described for sun-curing Oriental leaf has yielded some lovely product for me, without the degree of dried green common in commercial, imported Turkish leaf.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

I've been yellowing first also. I've had some green leaf mixed in the bunch and a good portion of the green leaf has turned a black color. My yellowed leaf is turning crispy, crispy brown on the edges while still yellow in the middle of each leaf. I've been putting them on the porch at night and the crispy part is pliable the next morning when I put them back out into the sun. I rotate the leaf around each morning while I can still handle it. It's not "fixing" the yellow but all turning an even light brown. Does this sound right?

 

[deluxestogie]

Does this sound right?

Yes.

Bob