Moisture level for long term storage of shredded leaf

[Wagner]

Transported over from another forum.......

FmGrowit suggested that I either drop the moisture content of my Virginia to 10% or add glycerin when cellaring in canning jars. A valuable piece of advice for a novice like myself, thanks again.

My preference would be not to add the glycerin so how do I accurately determine the moisture level before screwing on the lid?

Do I need a gizmo?

 

[BigBonner]

Moistur levels in commercial tobacco , burley and flue cured is 13% . The tobacco will feel almost dry to the touch it may bend and crack a little .
If you place tobacco in jars or plastic bags you will need to keep the cool out of sunlight for long term storage . Sun or heat will draw any moisture in the tobacco out just like condensation on a car window .

 

[Aaron]

I just judge my leaf by feel. If your tobacco is already shredded that may be harder to tell. I would guess you could use a moisture meter for testing also. Here's a link to a cheap one from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html That would probably get you in the ballpark a least.

 

[Wagner]

Thanks for the responses fellas.

I have a pretty good take on general cellaring protocol, the moisture level is something new to me though.

 

[FmGrowit]

I learned the hard way about reducing the moisture in Flue Cured. I lost about 400 lbs. to decomposing sugar. The matter was brought to my attention by another member (I still owe you Matty)who got a bad bag of whole leaf. He said it was unsmokable.

 

[Matty]

Seriously? That's what it is? I thought it was chlorophyly, dried green. I sorted a whole lb and took out everything that looked remotely green (a hard task 'cause I' slightly red/green colorblind) and had a few ozs. of what I would think was all yellow and orange. It smoked alright, sure not like some of it which is extremely bitter with lots of tongue bite. Don't worry 'bout me FM, sorry to hear of the loss.

 

[FmGrowit]

Long story short...

I was picking up leaf at a major manufacturing facility of chewing tobacco when I got into a conversation about "how are you keeping your Flue Cured for rotting?" Hours of research later, I understood the question.

I wish I could have talked about it here, but this site is monitored very closely by my competition. There are (have been) spies here in the past. They make no secret about it on their site. While we're on the subject...I can practically promise you, I will have the only toasted whole leaf Burley on the market withing 30 days.

Technology is a wondrous thing

 

[Boboro]

I didnt know you had any competion.

 

[FmGrowit]

I didnt know you had any competion.

There aren't many competitors now and I know this sounds self serving, but nobody conditions the leaf like I do and nobody puts it in the type of bags that I do.

There is going to be a lot of garbage hitting the market by people trying to make a quick buck and that's my biggest challenge...when someone is improperly introduced to whole leaf, they will likely not try it again.

BTW...spoke with ryo mag today. Article launch expected within the next week.

 

[BigBonner]

Matty
Sometimes you may notice a little green . This , most usually is from where the flue cured lays aginst the racks in the curing barns .
Its like a bruse when the leaf was green .This is normal .

Mold on flue cured is from the sugars ,will most of the time be a harry yellow or a harry green .

 

[Boboro]

I look forward to readin the article.

 

[BarG]

There aren't many competitors now and I know this sounds self serving, but nobody conditions the leaf like I do and nobody puts it in the type of bags that I do.

There is going to be a lot of garbage hitting the market by people trying to make a quick buck and that's my biggest challenge...when someone is improperly introduced to whole leaf, they will likely not try it again.

BTW...spoke with ryo mag today. Article launch expected within the next week.

I just found the site! There is some good reading there!

http://www.ryomagazine.com/

 

[Webby]

Great little mag. Some good quotable quotes. Tanx
Found this in there to, http://www.freshstor.com/
was tryin to nut out storage for this years, last years wasnt around long enough.

 

[Matty]

Matty
Sometimes you may notice a little green . This , most usually is from where the flue cured lays aginst the racks in the curing barns .
Its like a bruse when the leaf was green .This is normal .

Mold on flue cured is from the sugars ,will most of the time be a harry yellow or a harry green .

I didn't think flue cured would mold. I've seen every other type mold except flue and fire cured. In light of this new info on sugar decoposition I still haven't figured if green flue cured is any good or not.

 

[driftinmark]

There aren't many competitors now and I know this sounds self serving, but nobody conditions the leaf like I do and nobody puts it in the type of bags that I do.

There is going to be a lot of garbage hitting the market by people trying to make a quick buck and that's my biggest challenge...when someone is improperly introduced to whole leaf, they will likely not try it again.

BTW...spoke with ryo mag today. Article launch expected within the next week.

wow Don, thats pretty big time!!! expect your sales to grow through the roof!!! hope we can still get baccy when we are just the little guys, lol

 

[Boboro]

I store my leif as dry as I can keep it. My shreaded I Spray with a casein and a vodka distilled water mix very moist in storage bags.

 

[Matty]

If in flue cured the sugar decomposes causing it to be unpalatable, maybe there's a way to make it palatable again? I'm having a hard time finding info on the topic. So far all I know is sugar (white refined?) breaks down into carbon and water. Sounds harmless. But then I was reading something else about the decomposition of sacharides in tobacco and how they are responsible for formaldehyde in the smoke, I think that would be a product of the thermal breakdown of sugar in the tobacco. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Boboro]

I got nuttin.

 

[leverhead]

The range for sugars in flue-cured tobacco goes from 8 - 18%. I've tried to add invert sugar to some flue-cured, by the time I got to 5% all I had was a sticky mess. It won't take a sauce like Burleys will.

 

[Webby]

Off the sugar content etc. But I read somewhere on here that tobacco in a room at 60% rh will sit at 13% rh, these are not the exact figures I dont think. Cant remember. Was thinking though if I could get my kiln to that Rh and keep it stable I would have storage for me baccy. Means I would,nt be able to have my winter saunas though.