Tobacco fermentation / curing chamber for cigars

Step 5 Aromatic stages...

During the fermentation, there are several aromatic stages:

-Week 1-2 smells like wet grass.
-Week 3 smells very strongly like raisins.
-Week 4 the tobacco chamber should have the sweet smell of a walk in humidor. The tobacco color should also change to a much darker hue of brown.

-An extra week or two of fermentation beyond the 4th week wouldn't hurt.

Comments

[andybuda]

when air curing has happened with my plants there are vast diffrents in colour between the diffrent leafs some are dark brown - light brown but some are a very dark green.. they are cured they just seem to hold there colour..? mayb to much nitrogen locked in the leaf... what do you think

[Surf Monkey Coconut]

sounds like the uneven curing is due to inconsistent humidity and too dry of an environment. If parts of the leaf remain green, it has dried too fast. Did you dry indoors? This is typically the culprit. The best time of year to dry outdoors is during the harvest season, end of Summer, before the first frost, humidity is typically perfect in most areas of the USA. Simply hang in a sheltered area and let nature take its course.

[andybuda]

im in manchester uk.. i have tried drying in about 4 diffrent places now over 2 years .. i dried that lot in the loft so there was temp fluctuation. and all so i listened to my mums idea of putting it between news paper which was silly thing to do, it stuck to the sheets of paper and when mouldy! proberly down to the paper.. the best way i found was hung up in a garrage. it was cold and had good air flow. i will try outside next year just abit worrie about things eatting them .. the slugs around here seem to have a nicotine addiction.
this pic is just a couple of late bloomers that iv put in a pot outside if you notice on the dried leaf there is type of mould when cured outside have you had this proble befor or has this happened because its still attached to the plant?
has not been a good year for growing this year but the other plants were about 5ft with broard leafs what was left after the slugs

[andybuda]

i hope this works because all my tobacco is in there.. iv got a brewing heat pad about 30 watts put a storage box on top will 2 lt of water. some plastic corks to keep the purple basket out of the water - filled the purple basket with the tobacco and put quite a thick bit of plastic over the top the plastic has been stretched and taped in place.. it has all been cleaned because this sort of condition breeds mold.

[andybuda]

this is a couple of hours later.. its a little sweaty box now

[andybuda]

this methored did not work the tobacco turned to compost in a few weeks.. to much humidity.. the way i would change it is having the inside tray highter and only puting a cloth over the top so air can escape.. i only put a small hole in the top and this was not enough.

[Surf Monkey Coconut]

Hey thanks for all these follow up posts and pictures! I didn't realize you had all these messages! Good job documenting your work! Yes I agree that there was too much moisture. The biggest difference is that the plastic box did too good of a job sealing in the moisture, and perhaps there was too much to begin with. Also without an insulator, there would be a lot of heat loss, you would need higher temps than a psudo greenhouse.

The cooler method traps in heat, but because the seals are not air tight there seems to be a lot of air exchange going on. In the cooler situation, I am fighting to keep things moist enough...in your case it looked like it was the opposite effect! It was a good shot at it though! And it sounds like you will be able to modify your system for next year!

Just one note! From your pictures, your plants were very immature, their growth stunted mostly due to the small pot size. Remember these are monstrous plants that are supposed to reach 7' tall, if you can provide a minimum 5 gallon pot, lots of full direct sun and water, your plants will flourish! You will also have healthier, more mature/thicker leaves that will respond better to air curing and fermentation...a little more meat to chew so-to-speak.

[sibbac.co]

Built a box frame 2'6" sq. x3' high lined with 1 1/2" styrofoam 3 100w heaters in bottom controlled by cookerstat,fed in moist air from a humidifier.Humidity 80% temp 120/130.Cured leaf for 4 weeks. smokes well,mild,smells a bit like cigar.