home grown pipe tobacco- needs help

The previous post about 'appalacian? how do ya spell it? got me to ask this. Anyway, I grew some Conneticutt valley wrapper leaf plants last summer, babies in the flat a farmer gave me, all survived, grew huge, came out good, now I want to start smoking it, a big rice bag full, so plenty to experiment with. It was too dry and cigar tasting off the rack, so I put a sliced apple and some vanilla syrup on some, tasted better, but doesn't stay lit. Tried another batch with an orange peel, stays lit longer, still tastes too much cigar. anyone else do this? I am going thru more money in bic lighters than I am saving on good cherry blend.. thanks in advance, tony

You are finding out that modern pipe and cigarette tobacco is a blend of up to seven types of tobacco. The best of that tobacco is aged five to seven years. Your wrapper leaf tobacco should have been pretty dark, also pretty bitter. I used to raise some burly tobacco my BIL gave me. I could not get it to cure correctly in Iowas fall weather. Good tobacco is a involved proceed. Good luck with your growing some more.

7 years?!?! According to the other post, we might be eating tobacco by then. These leaves dried to a pale green then tan, they ripened early, so they started drying under cover, one mature leaf cut off at a time, then they hung near the hot water heated till now, very crispy, too crispy, the farmer said i will have to dampen it with - something flavored, then dry again, the biggest drag is the way it keeps going out,,, like a Coneticutt cigar, for some strange reason huh? I suppose I should hunt for some proper burley or cavendish seeds and do it right this time, hey it was just a lark, I mentioned it when buying early tomatoes, and got a new hobby- or chore. I'll just keep experimenting till a batch tastes good and stays lit, and write the recipe on the wall. good luck with yours too!

I'll bet up your way that you can find somebody to give you some seeds for whacky tobacky that would work better. LOL

after working for cigarette manufacturing for 40 years . the way they process the tobacco is quite unique . first the moisten it up to 15% using steam. then start adding there flavors , some of the ingredients are cocoa , liquorish, rum and others all of which are highly kept secrets for the formulation . it's sprayed on the tobacco while tumbling in a cylinder. they maintain the 15%. it will burn and not stain the paper at this moisture.

You might be able to find some useful info here.
http://www.howtogrowtobacco.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1863

When I smoked I liked a cigar called Dover Crooks ,They were soaked in rum.Really dry tobacco is nasty.One fellow who worked in a store where they sold tobacco said it was his job to sprinkle water on the tobacco every morning.He thought it was to gain weight as it was sold by weight.google jlhudsondeeds.net He as seed and books. chobiesgold .com sells seed.I started some seeds for a friend but he didnt take care of them.Tobacco carrys disease that bother tomatoes.An old vermont recipe was this.Bore a large hole in a piece of beech wood, pack in leaf tobacco pour in maple syrup and plug the hole age for 6 months.I expect this was chewing tobacco.Tobacco barns need a lot of ventilation.I would give up smoking at todays prices.I quit around 1960.From old books I see that farmers smoked a pipe after supper,never smoked during the day.A 10 cent pouch of Model pipe tobacco used to last me a week and you could roll two packs of cigaretts from a 10 cent pouch of Bugler. papers came with it.You have to be rich and crazy to smoke now.

Sprinkle some high proof rum on the tobacco right before smoking.There are many kinds of tobacco.

It is my understanding that just curing the tobacco so it won't mold results in a very hot, harsh smoke... The remedy is to ferment it which is a process of adding moisture and heat for a period after it is cured.

FWIW, I am a non smoking life long Yankee... I may be totally wrong... But I will be starting seedlings and growing a few plants this summer...

Wow! you guys are a wealth of information here.... next time I'll ask how to make gold out of lead pipes... I will check out all the websites you all mentioned, and I am slowly teaching myself those basics, the fermenting with a piece of fruit, yep, maple syrup will be the flavor of choice, once I know I'm not wasting it. No one believed the transplants would even survive, never mind come to the point of using it.... without buying a box of lighters... maybe some of you guys know how to make your own strike anywhere matches....thanks again guys!

Home grown pipe tobacco is healthy in our bloodline.. i can take it or leave it . along with soothing relaxation,,. it aids in digestion, sometimes creates a thirst for more water which in turn helps clear the kidneys of toxins , and i can smell it in the urine .. i can feel it working ,,however factory cigarettes are addicting and will hurt you ..

Aging certainly helps. It both mellows the flavors and improves the taste. Also, air cured tobaccos need to go through 'seasons'. The hanging leaves take up air moisture from rain and fog, then dry back out to the crisp dry that yours is. The seasoning adds to the mellow and complexity of flavor.

Correct air curing has two distinct phases. Keeping the tobacco too moist or too dry will interfere with this. First is yellowing where the leaves turn from green to pale yellow. Then browning. Both of these are influences by the above mentioned 'seasons'. Too dry a cure results in going from green to brown. When it cures fast it cures bitter.

As to burning, the most common problem is chlorine from potash fertilizer. Thats why in Kentucky, and most tobacco producing states it is illegal to apply any potash fertilizers containing chlorine after December 1 to tobacco fields. Sulfate of potash or potassioum nitrate being the most readily available sources of chlorine and chloride free potassium. The second considerating in burning is the blend. If I read your post correctly you are using a wrapper variety. Wrapper is just that. For filler a lighter milder tobacco is called for, with better buring characteristics. Thats where flue cured and burley tobaccos come in. In a typical blend you will find half or more flue cured and a forth to a third burley as the fill with small amounts of other tobaccos added to balalnce the flavor and burn rate. In cigars the wrapper slows the burn, the filler speeds it. The blend half and half is a mix of half flue cured and half burley for example.

A good tobacco or tobacco blend is like a fine wine. It is unique to the plant and the curing process and season. Its aging caries and preserves its story. We then share the story of the plant when we smoke or chew it. To me, flavorings just detract from the experience. Kind of like ruining good coffee with cream and sugar or good bourbon with a mixer.

Ive lit many cigaretts over a kerosene lamp.My mother showed me how to wind news paper into tapers that were used to take fire from the kitchen stove to light kerosene lamps.People who lived thru the 30s depression know a lot about doing without.A friend told me his dad split big kitchen matches lengthwise.He saved enough on matches to buy a pouch of pipe tobacco.Why buy lighters, candles from a salvage are cheap.I bought a case of plumbers candles for 15 cents a candle.My mother took a piece of cardboard and put it in to a shallow tin can as a wick.Candle stubs and parafine that was used to seal jelly jars was melted into the can.I have cooked over one while camping.She said kerosene was a dime a gallon but most people didnt have a dime.Kerosene is 4.00 a gallon at the corner store but I have a dollar in change.We are in a depression now.

Yes Mr Hayman, this is wrapper leaf country, shade cloth and barns with warped boards confuse the tourist in leaf season. So I guess my slow burn isn't going to happen without blending with a filler, so I guess I will buy a bag of cavendish or burly, and mix it in, then experiment with my flavoring if needed huh? I need milk in my coffee too, and straight firewater will get me eating these leaves like a toss salad. I will order some burley seeds, and see what happens next fall, cause I sure as heck can't let this stuff hang in the cellar till the 2020's. If I had known this earlier, I would have left them stretched out like a skinned beaver, and bought a few cans of prince albert, but the reason I keep with the pipes is the last time I smoked a cigar, I set the upholstry of the car on fire.... and that brings to mind what you say about the wrapper burning slower to keep the filler from falling, gosh we are learning alot on this thread! thank you!

(quoted from post at 00:38:14 03/02/11) Yes Mr Hayman, this is wrapper leaf country, shade cloth and barns with warped boards confuse the tourist in leaf season. So I guess my slow burn isn't going to happen without blending with a filler, so I guess I will buy a bag of cavendish or burly, and mix it in, then experiment with my flavoring if needed huh? I need milk in my coffee too, and straight firewater will get me eating these leaves like a toss salad. I will order some burley seeds, and see what happens next fall, cause I sure as heck can't let this stuff hang in the cellar till the 2020's. If I had known this earlier, I would have left them stretched out like a skinned beaver, and bought a few cans of prince albert, but the reason I keep with the pipes is the last time I smoked a cigar, I set the upholstry of the car on fire.... and that brings to mind what you say about the wrapper burning slower to keep the filler from falling, gosh we are learning alot on this thread! thank you!

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The USDA will give you seed, for free, for research purposes... Big thread about it on the tobacco site link above.