Recipe for Ettan snus
- Thread starter squeezyjohn
- Start date
POGreen
Well-Known Member
I used to have 50 gr salt in a kilo of flour , but have changed my way of making the snus and have had no problems what so ever with it being too salty.
Now I make it over a week at around 200 F with just flour salt and water and add the potash or sodium after the heating process , makes a real dark coloured and good smelly snus.
Have read from old recepies that they used to do it that way with the potash around 1850.Doesn't smell as much when u make it in the owen.....
Let it rest in the fridge for about 2 weeks or more before I use it , it is more corrosive if u use it straight away , after 2 weeks it has all come to a good balance with the ph and all other things as well.
Now I make it over a week at around 200 F with just flour salt and water and add the potash or sodium after the heating process , makes a real dark coloured and good smelly snus.
Have read from old recepies that they used to do it that way with the potash around 1850.Doesn't smell as much when u make it in the owen.....
Let it rest in the fridge for about 2 weeks or more before I use it , it is more corrosive if u use it straight away , after 2 weeks it has all come to a good balance with the ph and all other things as well.
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
My basic method is very similar to that PO - I like the taste of 70-80g salt per kilo of flour and mine normally comes out a nice dark smelly snus too ... once you get the taste for that ammonia it is delicious! Like good Salmiak.
jekylnz
Well-Known Member
This thread is making me want to try snuss or dip??
Here's a recipe for making lye..its also useful for everything else. .
http://www.endtimesreport.com/making_lye.html
Here's a recipe for making lye..its also useful for everything else. .
http://www.endtimesreport.com/making_lye.html
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Yes - lye used to be a total household essential and was a great use for old wood ashes. Fantastic for making soap too!
May be raising the dead a little, but this entire thread is fantastic reading. Really appreciate all the contributors here. Love Ettan and will be doing this one up for sure. May add a splash of liquid smoke to emulate Grov too. Might be a silly question, but reading that the fire-cured leaf did not work when put through the entire process made me wonder about adding it in after the first heating cycle or possible after the second... only issue could be contamination, but maybe some toasting first would help? Spritz with star-san? Idk...
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Yes - you can add a spice amount (start with less than a teaspoon per 100g) AFTER the whole process is finished and it's cooled down. But the warning is that most modern snus uses no fire cured tobacco for health reasons (and apparently Ettan never had it) .. instead they use a very mild liquid smoke sparingly ... so if you are aiming for a flavour similar to the commercial stuff then you should not really use fire cured.
If you get the correct blend of tobacco then you can achieve the chocolatey flavour of Ettan without any added cocoa powder - it's possible to get that flavour from the tobacco alone.
If you get the correct blend of tobacco then you can achieve the chocolatey flavour of Ettan without any added cocoa powder - it's possible to get that flavour from the tobacco alone.
I've tasted that dark chocolate before in a homemade cigar I made (that flavor) by mistake, sensible to use some cocoa with a stronger less expensive leaf though imo. Although it's cool that tobacco can be such a chameleon, it allows master blenders to really show their stuff.
I have an initial batch with the fire cured that was made before John's warning. It has the burnt rubber taste. I gave it a second bake and decided to just lay it in the frig and see what happens over time. It tastes like if that one sharp unpleasant flavor were muted, it would be pleasant.
Don't worry, this thread will live on until the stars all wink out one by one, as more people discover snus and want to control costs it'll be pinged again and again... This one makes 13500
I have an initial batch with the fire cured that was made before John's warning. It has the burnt rubber taste. I gave it a second bake and decided to just lay it in the frig and see what happens over time. It tastes like if that one sharp unpleasant flavor were muted, it would be pleasant.
Don't worry, this thread will live on until the stars all wink out one by one, as more people discover snus and want to control costs it'll be pinged again and again... This one makes 13500
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear that Smokes ... but at least you know what I was talking about now! Experience is better than hearsay to make sure you don't repeat the mistake!
Historically a lot of snus was made with a large proportion of fire cured ... but it was cooked at far lower temperatures for much longer before adding the alkali (50ºC for 7 days) back then. From my own experiments this gives a much more delicious flavour with any leaf ... but it makes a far less healthy product to use. I have tried this with non-fire cured leaf and it really works for flavour ... maybe it would work for fire-cured if you're not too bothered about keeping the product as healthy as possible.
One of things I enjoyed most about snus was not having any real health concerns, but have relaxed on that a bit. Have missed Ettan very much since I also developed wallet concerns after a few years of bulk ordering.
I may let health concerns slide a little here and try a 50/50 split batch. That way, if it stinks, I will be able to pop in a pris whilst I shed a tear for the leaf that went down in the name of science.
I may let health concerns slide a little here and try a 50/50 split batch. That way, if it stinks, I will be able to pop in a pris whilst I shed a tear for the leaf that went down in the name of science.
I think I might be on to something, but do want to state I probably won't use fire cured with this process again but I also want to try to save this batch.
I gave it another cook then aged it a bit in the frig. Next I added sucralose, anise, cherry, almond and vanilla. Have a little in now, not bad. I could easily use this up, but it is still needing additional aging to incorporate the additions.
As of now I'd not make it again though, will post again if father time turns this magically into a gem, or more likely just a palatable way to use up the batch
Eta, really better than before, I popped out the little one I had in and put in a larger one, flavor is growing on me, forget what leaf I used in this batch exactly but I don't think I'll be able to try another one for a bit, a tad strong. No complaints there though, snus is my go to in the evening so my nose is clean for bed hehe.
I gave it another cook then aged it a bit in the frig. Next I added sucralose, anise, cherry, almond and vanilla. Have a little in now, not bad. I could easily use this up, but it is still needing additional aging to incorporate the additions.
As of now I'd not make it again though, will post again if father time turns this magically into a gem, or more likely just a palatable way to use up the batch
Eta, really better than before, I popped out the little one I had in and put in a larger one, flavor is growing on me, forget what leaf I used in this batch exactly but I don't think I'll be able to try another one for a bit, a tad strong. No complaints there though, snus is my go to in the evening so my nose is clean for bed hehe.
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My latest batch was 40%red tip, 60 VA red, it's good. Only used a low % of the tips because I ran out hehe, feel free to use more they're good too.
Lye water goes in tonight. The very nice clerk at the Asian Market seemed quite amused at my answer to he question of what I use lye water for. 
I didn't notice till I got home that the lye water is a carbonate/bi-carbonate mixture. Hope this is ok...
Stoked for this batch to be ready! Again, all the info here is greatly appreciated.
I didn't notice till I got home that the lye water is a carbonate/bi-carbonate mixture. Hope this is ok...Stoked for this batch to be ready! Again, all the info here is greatly appreciated.
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
Lye water goes in tonight. The very nice clerk at the Asian Market seemed quite amused at my answer to he question of what I use lye water for.
Stoked for this batch to be ready! Again, all the info here is greatly appreciated.
Sounds like a different brand to mine. You may have to adapt the recipe. My bottle states that it is a 47% Potassium Carbonate solution and it is food grade and I do know that sodium bicarbonate is a far weaker alkali than sodium carbonate - as in it isn't really an effective chemical to free-base the nicotine in tobacco.
But I'm very glad that the recipe has been yielding good results for you guys.
I'm currently in the middle of cooking up a 100% home grown Bolivian Criollo Black batch with no flavourings to test the flavour profile of this very productive variety ... all my fingers and toes are crossed that it will make a good snus!
I found my 2 year old bcb a tad young, and have it still hanging, I'm curious if the snus cook matures it quicker, all my current batches have been with well aged commercial whole leaf thus far.
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
I think if you go for a long cook at a lower temperature then snus making is basically a forced ageing process to some degree. But to be fair I haven't had a great deal of success making snus from my own grown stuff yet so maybe I need to factor a few years in ... doh!
squeezyjohn
Well-Known Member
I did my BCB single strain snus at 75ºC rather than my usual 85ºC for 3 days cooking time and although it still needs to be aged to know for sure ... I think last years Bolivian Criollo Black makes a fine snus on it's own ... which is a great thing given how productive the plants are!
I'll let you know how it goes in a week or so of letting it de-gas
I'll let you know how it goes in a week or so of letting it de-gas
