Virginia curing advice

[buck]

Been reading up on curing Virginia but I do have some questions. I think it would be easier for me to air cure the leaf until it turns yellow (less risk of drying green) and then kiln it at higher temp 130f for a couple of days to dry the leaf and stop the process.
Then crank it the heat up higher to dry the stems at 160f .. Also, wouldn't be just simpler to remove the stems first and not have to do that final stem drying step 3 ? I have also read to gradually increase the temperature every few hours at the drying stage (step 2) through this entire process , is that really required ?

 

[deluxestogie]

The standard flue-curing regimen works. Routinely air-curing to the yellow stage is much slower than with the flue-cure schedule, and likely results in a lower retained sugar level in the leaf. The point of the yellowing phase in flue-curing is to bring it about rapidly. Raising the temperature of unwilted, yellow leaf too rapidly results in what has been described as red puffing of the lamina. The stems themselves are how I hang the leaf in my chamber. You can't flue-cure in a pile.

Bob

 

[buck]

The standard flue-curing regimen works. Routinely air-curing to the yellow stage is much slower than with the flue-cure schedule, and likely results in a lower retained sugar level in the leaf. The point of the yellowing phase in flue-curing is to bring it about rapidly. Raising the temperature of unwilted, yellow leaf too rapidly results in what has been described as red puffing of the lamina. The stems themselves are how I hang the leaf in my chamber. You can't flue-cure in a pile.

Bob

<The stems themselves are how I hang the leaf in my chamber. You can't flue-cure in a pile.>

Darn that wasn't obvious in my research, my kiln doesn't have room to hang a whole plant. I only have 10 or so leaves, if I spread them out would that work ?

 

[deluxestogie]

What is required is adequate air circulation for each leaf.

Bob

 

[buck]

What is required is adequate air circulation for each leaf.

Bob

Okay well I'll do what I can not sure how it'll all turn out and its no biggie I only grew two plants of this type.

 

[buck]

Okay well I'll do what I can not sure how it'll all turn out and its no biggie I only grew two plants of this type.

I have a fridge/kiln 11-13cu ft. with 3 shelves in it that can't be removed unless I cut them off so I just created three bunch of 5 -6 leaves tied them up and hung them as best I could from the top shelf. Some leaves are resting on a lower shelf, shelves are wired shelves so there is air flow. I have a crock pot and computer fan running in it. I'll need to keep my eye on humidity and make sure they don't dry up too quickly.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've found that it is perfectly safe to have some water in the Crockpot during the yellowing phase. But that needs to be removed or allowed to evaporate when you move into leaf wilt.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

This is a very quick down and dirty post by Bob that I saved for later use. It is flue curing boiled down to the barest essentials but I found it very helpful and cleared up some things about it in my mind. Perhaps you will find it as helpful. I’ve also included the flue cure chart.

Robcars flue curing thread

I could use some clarification on wet/dry bulb thermometer. I'm getting some mixed results searching for them

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[deluxestogie]

In that chart, consider the "Relative Humidity" line as merely informative, rather than something you need to control.

Bob

 

[buck]

This one was a total fail I don't think it should look like this ..Although I have to admit that I had the leaves yellow outside the kiln a few days prior.

 

[buck]

This is from earlier today just checking up on it.

 

[buck]

Question, after the leaf yellows and I'm at the drying stage , how do I get rid of the humidity from the leaves without opening up the kiln. I read one of Bob's post where he mentioned that the yellow stage is the only time the kiln can be opened or did I misunderstand that ? I don't have any vents but I do have 2x2" holes at the top and bottom where my cables enter for fan power, and sensors, currently taped off if I need to let out some humidity.

 

[Knucklehead]

How ripe was the leaf when harvested? Don posted a photo of a ripe leaf here.

Ripe tobacco leaf

Probably the best available example of a "Ripe" tobacco leaf. This picture is all over the internet and I can't find who to give credit to. This is a Bright Leaf plant which is a Flue cured type. The leaf is allowed to get what I call "ripe ripe" due to the manner in which it is cured. For...

fairtradetobacco.com

A deluxe post on venting

2015 Knucklehead Grow Blog

What did you think about the K326 you grew? I'm growing some this year that I got from Larry, but I don't know anything about it other than it is a flue cure Bright leaf. It was okay, but I air cured it. I've sun cured all my flue cure varieties for the past two years and prefer that method. I...

fairtradetobacco.com

 

[deluxestogie]

I am not clear about the flue-curing schedule that you used to produce the dark leaf shown. Venting can be done by slightly opening the top hole.

Bob

 

[buck]

I am not clear about the flue-curing schedule that you used to produce the dark leaf shown. Venting can be done by slightly opening the top hole.

Bob

Dark leaf is a write off, I put it in on low temperature instead of high for one day and that was the result so I know what I did wrong there. It was pretty yellow already before going in the kiln.

This is my last Virginia plant and just about at the same ripeness as the leaf in the kiln right now.
I'll wait longer for this one until it yellows

This is what the leaf looks like now in the kiln

 

[buck]

The kiln dried out and so did the leaf, it dried to a crisp. I re-hydrate it and see how it smokes, not expecting much.

 

[buck]

Is it time to increase temp to drying stage ? Three days in kiln at 35c , issues with temp controller but fixed that so I would say 2 full days in kiln.

 

[deluxestogie]

That looks sufficiently yellow to move out of the yellowing stage.

Bob

 

[buck]

That looks sufficiently yellow to move out of the yellowing stage.

Bob

Excellent !! Thanks

 

[Radagast]

That dark leaf looks interesting to me, I mean I'd smoke it.. might make a neat addition to a very unique pipe blend. Have you sampled it yet?