Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
I'm letting it rest and mellow , will try to case it and see what actually results.
Freeze/Thaw-Sun Cure Experiment
- Thread starter ChinaVoodoo
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ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
I found a couple Costello leaves on the ground. I am going to pin one back on the plant for the rest of the winter because it's still got a fair amount of green, and I'm smoking the other one which is mottled all kind of colors, but not green. You know, at -18C, you'd think the leaf would be crispy but it's still pliable.
So, mid smoke here. This tobacco didn't look great at all, but geeze, it tastes pretty good and rich. It tastes fully cured. It has a spicy, kinda harsh, but not tongue bitey edge to it like the bursa I grew with broad spacing in a greenhouse. The nicotine is high. I think I'll live.
So, mid smoke here. This tobacco didn't look great at all, but geeze, it tastes pretty good and rich. It tastes fully cured. It has a spicy, kinda harsh, but not tongue bitey edge to it like the bursa I grew with broad spacing in a greenhouse. The nicotine is high. I think I'll live.
That black mottling is likely Aspergillus niger, which is okay to smoke, but not safe for oral tobacco.
Bob
Bob
Once we start talking aspergillus I start thinking of my other hobby
mmm rice wine, I've read a. niger is safe to use, and was going to harvest it from onions but m. purpureus and a. oryzae have the operation down pat, 1 gallon finished product completing every week on a continuous cycle.
mmm rice wine, I've read a. niger is safe to use, and was going to harvest it from onions but m. purpureus and a. oryzae have the operation down pat, 1 gallon finished product completing every week on a continuous cycle.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
This is good to know. Thank you, sir.
Times like this, I either feel like a man or a baby. No in between. At least it was a couple weeks later than usual. Winter starts in a couple weeks. It should start warming up, right?
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
Once we start talking aspergillus I start thinking of my other hobby
This sounds like a very interesting hobby Smokes Ahoy. I'd definitely read a thread you started on it if you had the time.
Pretty cold! That's why Phil Currie finds all those dead dinosaurs around there.
Bob
Bob
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
the other day I was doing a lot of tobacco processing. I had brought in the metal cups I had started some experimental perique in , one in particular was the freeze /thaw blended leaf from the garden less than 3 weeks ago.Some of it I had smoked like a short term fire cure. The rest I put in the cup , under pressure. It has been in the garage where the temperatures outside have been steadily in the 20's and I'm sure whatever enzyme activity was at its lowest point. I brought it into my little project room/man cave/ rolling room/den to warm up and I had forgotten about it for a couple days. Last night I saw it on the cabinet and just peeking inside to see how it was doing...I saw the beautiful dark brown liquid and it was bubbling. I haven't yet pulled that leaf out but last time I saw it , it was still very much green like limp spinach.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
Just pulled it and shuffled the leaf then back under pressure. The leaf is much more brown to look at . Once under light ,though it still has a green color to it, like deep olive green. Smells a bit raw yet ...Lots of time left .
I have some plants that are still light green, and some that are browning. I think the freeze actually helps the browning. Frost was late this year and didn't kill them quick but the plants that had leaves that froze solid in one encounter sun bleached in the freeze spots rapidly over a few days and have the best brown color now.
Not sure how it smokes but color wise it might be good to know if it freezes crispy to just let it ride.
Not sure how it smokes but color wise it might be good to know if it freezes crispy to just let it ride.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
I planned on waiting all winter before trying any of the experimental tobacco, but I tried the Costello. The other three varieties haven't lost any leaves, but the Costello has lost at least 4 big ones. Odd woody aroma-I've smoked those, and they are as good as if I had air cured and kilned them.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
sorry , I posted that in the wrong thread...should have been "the periqueing" ..my freeze thaw leaves are still in the garden...covered in snow and ice at the moment. But looking brown and sun bleached as far as I can see from the warmth of the house. . Today got up to a balmy 4 degrees . Don't think I'll be going out to pick it any time soon. The walk to the mailbox was too long.
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
This is my Comstock Spanish. Pulled it a minute ago. Now you'll notice that there are parts of it that are very light like CT shade .the rest is green .the green part was covered in snow. Not sure quite what to do with it from here.
I've got some that is chocolatey brown. Some green tinted. Likewise I'll get it in the spring, although when I was clearing snow by it earlier I got a real close look at the better looking plant and had to resist the urge to smoke it.
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
You gotta try it for the sake of science.
Blech!
Bob
Bob
Smokin Harley
Well-Known Member
yep , that was my first thought too, Bob. But, on a positive note and lesson learned...I didn't waste much doing this and I know what NOT to do . Onward.
If it flash freezes could that be the explanation why it bleaches so well? Ice crystals rupturing the cells to let the chlorophyll out?
Because those that died and dried without freezing seem to be doing worse than those that died from freezing
Because those that died and dried without freezing seem to be doing worse than those that died from freezing
DistillingJim
Well-Known Member
Perique or Cav it?
ChinaVoodoo
Moderator
I think you're on to something, because what I've seen before in harsh falls was much more thorough of a cure than what I'm seeing this year where Autumn was mild and prolonged.
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