Smoking homemade cigars

[longashes]

Has anyone ever ran into this? The homemade cigars you made will not stay lit? I have to constantly keep lighting it. I don't know if I'm rolling them wrong, they are too resinated, or too moist, or something else? I let them sit out of the humidor for two days drying out and they seemed to be almost to a crisp to the touch on the outside of the cigar, not sure about the inside. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[johnlee1933]

Has anyone ever ran into this? The homemade cigars you made will not stay lit? I have to constantly keep lighting it. I don't know if I'm rolling them wrong, they are too resinated, or too moist, or something else? I let them sit out of the humidor for two days drying out and they seemed to be almost to a crisp to the touch on the outside of the cigar, not sure about the inside. Any help would be appreciated.

I have exactly the same situation and I don't know why either. One guess is that I have no added flame accelerators. Another might be the variety of tobacco I choose to smoke (Havana 142).

John

 

[deluxestogie]

There are several possibilities that might explain poor burning in a home-rolled cigar.

1. The filler leaf may have been grown with too much chloride in the soil. Blend with combustible leaf.
2. The filler may not be fully finished. Kilning or a year of age remedies this.
3. The filler may be in too high a case. Filler should be dry, but barely flexible when you roll the cigar.
4. A binder that is too wet may have been used to bunch dry filler.
5. Some varieties of tobacco burn better than others. Test burn a well dried leaf section, testing several varieties for comparison. Ignite with an ember or a flame.

A cigar rolled with filler that is too damp may require very slow drying over several weeks. Mold is a risk. If you attempt to dry it faster, the wrapper and binder will dry faster than the filler, and likely split. Drying of a cigar proceeds from the cut foot toward the head.

Bob

 

[johnlee1933]

What do you consider a "combustible leaf"? Is it the variety or the processing?

J

 

[deluxestogie]

I just mean that if a particular batch of leaf won't burn, you can blend it with leaf that you know does burn, rather than just tossing it out.

Bob

 

[Jitterbugdude]

Has anyone ever ran into this? The homemade cigars you made will not stay lit? .

Question: When you say it will not stay lit do you mean that if you light it and take a puff is out as soon as you puff on it? If so you probably rolled it way too tight. Or, do you mean you light it and are able to take a few puffs before it goes out?

 

[johnlee1933]

I just mean that if a particular batch of leaf won't burn, you can blend it with leaf that you know does burn, rather than just tossing it out.

Bob

Thanks,

J

 

[longashes]

I mean, it seems like I can only get smoke if I hold the flame to the tobacco. I may be able to get one hit after that but it then goes out. I had one cigar that did not do that. We actually have been rolling with we tobacco as it was easier to work with. I guess this is a no no? So, are the cigars we rolled screwed (over 40), or do we just have to let them dry for a long time?

 

[Jitterbugdude]

If you rolled with wet tobacco you probably are screwed. When I first started rolling I did the same thing and gave out many cigars to friends. They are thought it was some kind of joke becasue no one could draw and air through the cigar. When you roll, you should only rool a few at a time, that way if you screw up you;ve only screwed up a few cigars.

I've never done this but you might be able to salvage the cigars by taking them apart and letting the leaf dry. For your filler you want it to be very dry.

 

[longashes]

I read about someone putting them in the microwave? It somewhat makes sense, since microwaves heat from the inside out.

 

[Jitterbugdude]

I read about someone putting them in the microwave? It somewhat makes sense, since microwaves heat from the inside out.

The problem is that if you rolled them wet then you packed them waaaaay to tight. No amount of drying is going to "unpack" them.
You might try putting a tiny rod through your cigar and create an air hole.

 

[johnlee1933]

The problem is that if you rolled them wet then you packed them waaaaay to tight. No amount of drying is going to "unpack" them.
You might try putting a tiny rod through your cigar and create an air hole.

You're right. I did the microwave thing and it did dry the cigar. It DID NOT improve the draw. I also tried the "sharp wire down the middle" trick without much success. After all these years I am beginning to understand guys squeezing a cigar when they buy it as part of the quality test. If it's too hard it probably won't draw well.

John

 

[BigBonner]

You're right. I did the microwave thing and it did dry the cigar. It DID NOT improve the draw. I also tried the "sharp wire down the middle" trick without much success. After all these years I am beginning to understand guys squeezing a cigar when they buy it as part of the quality test. If it's too hard it probably won't draw well.

John

John

I see nothing wrong with your cigars . They burn and taste great !!!

 

[ne3go]

I've rolled my first 9-10 cigars, as this was my first year of growing tobacco. Tried to smoke 2-3 of them but they couldn't stay lit. So i did a little experiment.

I bought a cheap proffesional cigar and unwrap it.Did the same with one of my own.
Try to find differences between the leaves.The pro looked very thin, darker color, good texture.They had better "feeling" than mine. Both leaves had about same dry.

Try to light them. The pro leaves (wrapper,binder & filler) burned evenly,to all directions with nice flow of the burn and a grey ash. Mine...was awful...some small blisters following the flame,black ash,not a spreading fire...Like burning a soaked paper.
If you have leaves burning so badly, how to make a descent cigar?
So,i think it's not the rolling or even the humidity of the leaf, but the processing. Maybe my fermentation wasn't long enough or in ideal conditions...

 

[Knucklehead]

What was your fermentation process ne3go? Conditions?

 

[Randy]

I just tried the microwave thing myself..was ok but different result

 

[Randy]

question I have..when rolling cigars does it matter if the filler is flat and smooth or wrinkled??

 

[deluxestogie]

Filler seems to draw better if you scrunch it. With flat filler, you'll need to acordio-pleat it, so that there are linear air passages along the axis if the cigar.

Bob

 

[Randy]

uhuhh ..lol. sorry bob whas thinmking else were acruch?? all my leaves are wrinkled liked tryed to flat-out but came that way

 

[ne3go]

What was your fermentation process ne3go? Conditions?

My leaves was air-cured until light brown (about a month)
Then I've made a small kiln of styrofoam, put in there a heating pad, a 60W lamp and a big vessel with water.Also put a thermometer-hygrometer.
My temperature was about 100-122 F, and humidity around 60-70. The temperature was monitoring by hand. I turned the lamp on and off 2-3 times a day. Sometimes the humidity was low (40-50) and then I sprayed the leaves with water, but not distilled water! Maybe the water used for spraying had chlorine...
I left the leaves hanging in there about 4-5 weeks.