Thoughts on Moldy Snus

[HappyHawaiian]

I'm new to making homemade snus and just got my first case of mold on my snus. I found two white balls of mold on the snus in my bowl, they were about the size of a normal prilla, one was smaller than the other. When pulled apart it was like pulling apart a cotton ball or cotton candy.

I'm wondering if my snus is safe to use? It was just on one part of the snus and I scooped the mold balls out.

It's my fault because I didn't refrigerate the snus, I left it out for over a week and it's hot and humid in my room. I figured it would be ok because the store bought General Loose snus I never put in the fridge and it's fine for several weeks.

I'm asking if it's ok to use because I have no other snus, and I'm making a new batch now which will take 5 hours to cook in my instant pot. I read you could microwave the moldy snus for 15 seconds or so to kill the mold, but that doesn't kill any toxic compounds created by the mold. ???

 

[deluxestogie]

My recommendation for tobacco with mold is

• if it will be combusted (ignited and smoked), it is relatively safe to use
• if it will be held within the mouth (or snorted into the nose), it can present a hazard

Sufficient heat will kill the mold, but the risk is the potential for absorbing aflatoxin that may have leached into the snus. Microwave exposure will not break down aflatoxin. That can be toxic to your liver. So, in your situation, I would suggest discarding all the snus within that container, and sterilizing the container prior to further use.

Bob

 

[HappyHawaiian]

My recommendation for tobacco with mold is

• if it will be combusted (ignited and smoked), it is relatively safe to use
• if it will be held within the mouth (or snorted into the nose), it can present a hazard

Sufficient heat will kill the mold, but the risk is the potential for absorbing aflatoxin that may have leached into the snus. Microwave exposure will not break down aflatoxin. That can be toxic to your liver. So, in your situation, I would suggest discarding all the snus within that container, and sterilizing the container prior to further use.

Bob

Thanks Bob. Ok, I'll toss it. Better safe than sorry.

Any idea why my homemade snus got moldy when commercial Swedish snus, doesn't mold under the same conditions? I'd keep fresh cans of General Loose in my room for over a month without issue.

My recipe is just water, salt, washing soda, burley, virginia, and some bergamot essential oil. Cooked at high pressure in Instant Pot for 4 hours. Are they putting some kind of preservative into the commercial Swedish snus or anti mold agent??

 

[deluxestogie]

Are they putting some kind of preservative into the commercial Swedish snus or anti mold agent??

Of course. Could be glycerin or propylene glycol or something else.

Bob

 

[HappyHawaiian]

Thanks Bob, I'll try some propylene glycol. Just got to figure out how much.

 

[deluxestogie]

Scan through the Snuff, Snus and Chew book for suggestions.

Bob

 

[HappyHawaiian]

Scan through the Snuff, Snus and Chew book for suggestions.

Bob

Thanks, yeah I searched the whole thing for Propylene Glycol. The amounts vary, along with measurement units. Not very definitive or overly helpful. I'm going to guess and try 3% of total batch weight.

Snusathome suggested 1 tablespoon/100 grams in one of his videos, tried that once and it was way too much. Oh well, time for some trial and error. Trying to eliminate the error part as much as possible.

I used to work in a lab so I'm the type that follows recipes or instructions to the letter and measures everything precisely. Winging it, I tend to go off the rails a bit. I think anywhere from 3 to 5% should be ok. We shall see. Thanks for the help.

 

[HappyHawaiian]

I just made 2 separate 100 gram batches. One with 3% propylene glycol and the other with none, yet. 3% seems ok, not overly wet or sticky. I tend to pick up extra water from steaming in the instant pot, I use an open top bowl. But it's ok. Both batches when straight in the fridge, no more mold for me. And the can I'm using, I just filled halfway so that should be out of the fridge for just a day or two at max.

When I saw that mold growing, I felt kinda violated. Like the seed pods from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Side note, that Nutri Bullet blender is amazing. I ground up a bunch of stems. They weren't all fully dry and some were thick and pretty tough. But that blender just blended them into dust like a champ. I half expected the blender to struggle or even break, but nope, didn't even blink. Added 30% stems to my snus for the first time to try and make up for the snus I lost to the mold.