Curing Chamber idea + questions

[Thunderhorse]

Ok so Im thinking of a curing chamber arangement, Im thinking about taking an old deep freeze cleaning it out, setting it on end and drilling two holes in it, One in the bottom and one in the top then putting an oil heater in it or possibly a fan heater, would this be considered a flue type curing arangment? would it work even?

One thing Im a little confused about is the drying process, I have read a little bit about these chambers (an insullated box essentially, with a heater and a humidifier) set up but no where does it say that you put green, or previously dried toby in them. If you only put previously dried toby in them would it work as a drying chamber if you didnt turn on the humidifier and added a pipe out the top and moved warm air through the chamber and upon drying the toby, closed the hole in the pipe so it was smaller and then turned on the humidifier, would that sweat the tobacco?

Also what would be the easiest way to cure / ferment my tobacco, it snows around september here and the last frost is in may some time could i just hang it in my basement for the winter to dry? and is there an easier way to ferment or sweat the tobacco than a chamber the size of the deep freeze. One of the major problems here is how dry it is upon winter hitting, the air is so low in humidity dry skin and nose bleeds are common occurances so im worried it may dry out to quickly in my house. any ideas

 

[Lakota]

Hi Thunderhorse I am from Alberta. This will be my 4th year growing. I have not had any problems color curing my tobacco hung in an unheated shed. I prime all my plants and hang each leaf as they yellow. Sometimes I have to spray my leaves if it looks like they are going to dry green. A good air flow on the leaves helps in the process Russ

 

[Tom_in_TN]

Hey, Lakota. How do you keep your leaf from freezing up during the curing.

Thunderhorse, I think you're on the right track with color curing the leaf. Who knows if the old deep freeze method you described would work? If you keep the humidity up and the heat low it should work faster and/or better than air curing in an unheated shed. No doubt you have a bit of time to research the idea at this point.

 

[wazzappenning]

thunderhorse, i started rolling my own a month? ago. still using the store bought tobacco, but the first things i noticed was it took 2 days to not cough anymore in the mornings, also no more bloody nose blows. i think that fsc paper in tailor mades is the culprit. what are you smoking now?

 

[Thunderhorse]

I smoke a pipe and cigars

 

[Thunderhorse]

thunderhorse, i started rolling my own a month? ago. still using the store bought tobacco, but the first things i noticed was it took 2 days to not cough anymore in the mornings, also no more bloody nose blows. i think that fsc paper in tailor mades is the culprit. what are you smoking now?

Ok sweet! Ill give it a try perhaps! I just wonder will the freezer smell like stale ice? i could always try a little and see how it goes! haha

 

[Thunderhorse]

Hi Thunderhorse I am from Alberta. This will be my 4th year growing. I have not had any problems color curing my tobacco hung in an unheated shed. I prime all my plants and hang each leaf as they yellow. Sometimes I have to spray my leaves if it looks like they are going to dry green. A good air flow on the leaves helps in the process Russ

They dont freeze solid? lol

 

[Lakota]

No the averge temp in Edmonton is Sept is high 18 low 4, 0ct high 11 low -2 c.

http://www.livingin-canada.com/climate-edmonton.html

http://www.livingin-canada.com/climate-calgary.html

 

[Daniel]

I think the freezer will make a fine container to flue cure in provided a few things are given attention to.
You need a way to keep the air moving between the leaves. In flue curing the leaf is put in the kiln while it is green. it is the fast yellowing and drying of the elaf that makes it flue cured. Expect 7 days from loading the kiln to removing dried leaf. IF you can imagine how much water that is goign to release from the elaf you can imagine how important ventilation is going to be. Load the leaf in the container evenly. As you can imagein air will tend to pass through gaps if it is easier than squeezing between leaves. leave no gaps. Force the air to pass between leaves.

Temperature control. I am looking for something that will control the temperature in a 20 cubic foot refrigerator up to 160 170 degrees myself. let me know if you come across anything.

 

[wazzappenning]

thats pretty hot. what about an old oven instead of old freezer?

 

[wazzappenning]

I smoke a pipe and cigars

hmm, i wonder if they use fsc/some other chem in cigars/pipe tobacco? to make it burn slower??

 

[Lakota]

Daniel I think the freezer would work great on a small scale, but this year I will be growing 300 plants. That would be a lot of freezers full. Our temperatures where I am run similar to yours thru the summer , 80 t0 90 days and 50's at night. I usually plant around June 1. With the 65 to 90 days for the plants to mature, that still leaves me 6 to 8 weeks to hang my leaves before a heavy frost. If I have any plants still in the ground I watch the temperature and stock hang if necessary. So far this has worked for me, but I guess it would depend on where you are in Alberta.

I am testing a new kiln, I won't call it a "solar kiln" Maybe "solar assisted kiln". In 2 hours in a south facing window with full sun it raises the temperature by 30 F. I also have a crockpot for the main heat source.

On an off topic I found another use for your seed bags. I made some pear wine and did not know what to strain it thru before final fermenting. The bag worked great, took out all the coarse pulp . Russ

 

[DrBob]

The best controller I have seen is the ranco etc-111000-000 it can be purchased prewired for easy installation expect to pay about $75.00 for it. It is easy to program and use. It has a max temp range of 220 f making it quite suitable for flue curing
bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Temperature control. I am looking for something that will control the temperature in a 20 cubic foot refrigerator up to 160 170 degrees myself. let me know if you come across anything.

I've used water heater thermostats in the past. They will fluctuate about 15 degrees or so. I now use a Ranco controller as Dr Bob mentioned. It will keep the kiln with 1 degree of what I set it to. The water heater thermostats work fine. I do not think its a big deal if the temp fluctuates so much. I bought a Ranco because I like being in control ....

Randy B

ps.. If you do buy a Ranco there is no need to spend the extra 25-50 dollars for a pre-wired one, they are easy enough to wire by yourself.

 

[wazzappenning]

Daniel I think the freezer would work great on a small scale, but this year I will be growing 300 plants. That would be a lot of freezers full. Our temperatures where I am run similar to yours thru the summer , 80 t0 90 days and 50's at night. I usually plant around June 1. With the 65 to 90 days for the plants to mature, that still leaves me 6 to 8 weeks to hang my leaves before a heavy frost. If I have any plants still in the ground I watch the temperature and stock hang if necessary. So far this has worked for me, but I guess it would depend on where you are in Alberta.

I am testing a new kiln, I won't call it a "solar kiln" Maybe "solar assisted kiln". In 2 hours in a south facing window with full sun it raises the temperature by 30 F. I also have a crockpot for the main heat source.

On an off topic I found another use for your seed bags. I made some pear wine and did not know what to strain it thru before final fermenting. The bag worked great, took out all the coarse pulp . Russ

thats funny, i as just thinking about solar assisted myself. either just painting the box black, or something along the lines of a pop can heater to circulate heat through. this is one example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNViUsRCVU

 

[wazzappenning]

would an element be a big no no for the heat source? i dont think i would need anything as big as a fridge, (dont want to lug it around either). then i got to thinking, what about an old dishwasher. they are insulated (outside), and have a heating element built in.

 

[deluxestogie]

All hot water heater thermostats in the US used to be capable of reaching 180ºF before the circuit breaker would throw. Federal regulations now require residential water heater thermostats to be capped at 150ºF. HOWEVER, for "industrial use," you can still buy a simple water heater thermostat that goes up to 180ºF here:

www.PlumbingSupply.com

Water Heater Electric Thermostat for commercial use only - #08314 - Lower Thermostat Therm-O-Disc $11.67

I bought one last September from them.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

would an element be a big no no for the heat source? i dont think i would need anything as big as a fridge, (dont want to lug it around either). then i got to thinking, what about an old dishwasher. they are insulated (outside), and have a heating element built in.

That's not a bad idea but I wonder about the durability of the heating element. I'm not too confident that it could take the long daily on/off cycles that a kiln requires. I'm about to replace my dishwasher (no, not the wife) in a few weeks as part of a kitchen renovation. I should save it and experiment but I have soooooooo much stuff now that it would probably be 2030 before I touched it. I am going to take a gander at that heating element though before I throw it away.

 

[Thunderhorse]

No the averge temp in Edmonton is Sept is high 18 low 4, 0ct high 11 low -2 c.

http://www.livingin-canada.com/climate-edmonton.html

http://www.livingin-canada.com/climate-calgary.html

OH ok I understand now your curing while its still not freezing cold out, so pretty much when everyone is combining! that makes sense!

 

[Thunderhorse]

hmm, i wonder if they use fsc/some other chem in cigars/pipe tobacco? to make it burn slower??

Umm the only chemical they use in cigars and pipe tobacco that I know Of is PG to keep it moist but I smoke the expensive pipe tobacco that doesnt have that in it, or so they say... Im sure the stuff I grow will be much better for me