Ever wonder how to make your own chewing tobacco? Well, maybe not, but here's how anyway.
1. Dry and cure your tobacco. This process can range from moderately difficult to extremely complex. For my purposes I a. harvest the leaves, b. tie into bundles, c. hang in the sun for three weeks, d. hang inside for another month. I would suggest looking for further reading on this subject.
2. Strip off the tobacco from the stems and put in a food processor. Give it a few quick spins to shred it to your desired cut. (Long, short, snuff)
3. Take 2 cups of apple juice and simmer them in a stainless saucepan. Reduce by half until thickening and tacky.
4. Stir in a tablespoon or two of blackstrap molasses.
5. Promptly stir in tobacco and turn off heat.
6. Stir until all tobacco is coated and tacky.
7. Bag, or better yet place in an oak cask to cure further.
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how long do you need to cure after its all said and done
ReplyDeleteThat is a really good question. I let it sit for a couple of weeks in the fridge in a bag. It is very hard to find good information. I would say it tasted similar to "Red Man." A lot depends on the tobacco and its growing and handling up to that point.
ReplyDeleteI don't have access to fresh tobacco leaves. Can I use store bought natural pipe tobacco instead
ReplyDeleteI used pipe tobacco, it works well for me.
DeleteYou can buy the tobacco leaves on line.
DeleteTry leaf only
I don't know for sure, but I would suspect not. It probably has been cured or processed in some other way already to prepare it for smoking. Although I couldn't say for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks I think I'll look into it some more and if you want I can let you know what I find out
ReplyDeleteafter curing for a few months the leaves are still a little moist.shall i dry it completely before i run it through food processor? or just go ahead and start makeing snuff?
ReplyDeleteYa, I would say definitely cut it and try it. good luck.
ReplyDeleteIm currently using cherry skoal so Im looking to make something similar in taste? If I was to use a cherry or raspberry juice instead of apple juice would that enable me to do that?
ReplyDeleteI would think cherry juice or raspberry juice would work great. Maybe I'll try that. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteHow about how to make the wintergreen flavor of Kodiak?
ReplyDeleteI haven't made any in about 2 years so I'm not an expert. Using my imagination though, I would say trying to find a mint extract at a health food store? And experimenting on small batches. Or even adding mint leaves to the mix. Maybe I'll try to grow tobacco again this year. I have to start it well in advance of the season indoors. Good luck
Deleteif your leaves is smoke cure how do you get the smoke taste out of it
DeleteTry buying wintergreen extract online and mixing it with molasses.
DeleteI chew Grizzly Green, which is a wintergreen flavor, and the extract works well.
do you leave the bag open? as ni a open zip-loc or a paper bag. my trouble in the past with 'sugar' recipes in a closed bag...caused it to ferment.
ReplyDeleteOk Pipe tobacco will work because almost all chew tobacco is of the dark fire cured type. Pipe tobacco is dark fire cured. Also you will never get youur homemade chew to taste anything like redman or skoal. Anyways once you try your own you will never want to chew commercial again !!!. If you are looking for a good recepie look on most of the tobacco growing forums. There are many to chose from pepsi flavored to choclate :).... So have fun trying many flavores and dont try to make chew like a store bought ones it will never happen ;)
ReplyDeleteWhile your waiting for your own tobacco to grow and cure check out LeafOnly.com. Good selection, nice blog, and friendly people. Tell them I sent you.
ReplyDeleteRon
What type of tobacco is best to grow to make chew? Is there any better types of tobacco plants for chew than others?
ReplyDeletewhat about whiskey blend? use whiskey instead?
ReplyDeleteWhiskey blend is essentially the same as what you do with the flavor by adding in a skim amount boiling it off adding more boiling adding more lol
ReplyDeletePipe tobacco can be chewed or dipped straight out its bag,horrendous taste you can also boil in your flavor of choice skim amount in saucepan adding more as it boils off
Concerning fermentation ... It is caused by yeasts converting sugar to alcohol ... Most flavorings for chaw have a lot of sugars ... However the rendering process creates enough heat which SHOULD kill off just about any yeasts that are present at the time ... Another good reason to make sure your workplace is clean ... Fresh squeezed orange juice and a few crushed mint leaves sounds really good ... You might try storing in a small whiskey keg ... Something around a gallon size or so ... I think a barrel would be too big ...
ReplyDeleteDo u Necessarily have to hve the black strap molasses??
ReplyDeleteI used an apple juice reduction with honey, chai tea and cinnamon.
DeleteIt is delightful!
Get on FairTradetobacco Forum. There is a lot of "real" info on making your own chew. You can also buy whole leaf from "Whole Leaf Tobacco".
ReplyDeletebigbonnerb@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteall varieties of whole leaf tobacco and the cheapest prices around and grown on the farm not bought or trade tobacco
what would be the best kind of tobacco seed like the name of the seed? if i wanted to make the kind of chew that you would pack in between your lip and gum?
ReplyDeleteIts very easy to make with just molasses and flavored pipe tobacco just mix the desired amounts in a bag and let it dry some should take the flavor of the bacco
ReplyDeleteJust made some habanero rum chewing tobacco. I grew ten LC 90 "low carcinogen" tobacco plants from sustainable seeds. I waited till leaves turn yellow, washed the bugs off and bound and hung in complete shade for a week then hung in full sun a month. This I called turkish curing. Fire curing creates more carcinogens. I used 2 1/2 cups apple juice 4Tbs molases generous squirt of honey one fatalli habanero 6 trinidad perfume peppers that have all flavor and no heat splash of rum and a pinch of salt. It helps to humidify your tobacco put in clean bucket or Tupperware container with a ill water over night but get your tobacco soggy. Pull leaves off stems and lay lengthwise on counter stack leaves and cut with scissors. Boil Apple juice and reduce to 1/4 add honey mosses and salt taste as you go that's what I do and if you want to try start with a couple habaneros while you reduce your juice. The sweetness overides the heat. My fatallis are 6 or 7 times hotter than a regular habanero but just under a ghost chilli.
ReplyDeleteDon't get your tobacco soggy! And use a lid to seal in moister. Tobacco is much easier to work humidified. It crumbles into unusable pieces if to dry. Sorry everyone I need to review what I've written before submitting.
DeleteCan you just use molasses? And not cook it?
ReplyDeletei make a similar thing, but no molasses or sugar added, and i include baking soda as a liming/alkalizing substance. Ash from certain plants can serve this purpose i believe too. I also grind in trinidad scorpion chilis for sting and circulatory stimulation. I added powdered coca leaf once when that was available. then a nice natural toothpaste to help make it formable with my fingers, and to add more baking soda, and nice herbal flavors. probably more like "snus" than dip but i don't call it either, just my attempt at an effective oral tobacco preparation. Fermentation might be important in "freeing" the nicotine in the leaf, so i make this mixture and don't necessarily refrigerate it. If you use tobacco that is already cured, nicotine should be available, otherwise this preparation (with moisture from toothpaste and water if needed) might become more active on its own. and i think from the chilis, baking soda, & the toothpaste, it is protected from bad or "off" microbial development. i think i add salt sometimes too.
ReplyDeleteCan I turn pipe tabacco into snuff dip
ReplyDeleteInformative and helpful article. I'll keep reading more. Appreciate it. But might be looking for ORIGINAL Natural Whole Leaf
ReplyDelete