Stoved Virginia

[Haebar]

I had the day off yesterday and started working up some whole leaf tobacco that I recently bought. Shredded up a small amount of bright leaf Virginia and loaded up a bowl of it to taste. It was kind of brash (first word that came to mind) and bitey, as Virginias can be. I'd heard of stoving and decided to give it a try. I sprayed the shredded tobacco very lightly with deionized water and let it sit for about an hour, turning it by hand to distribute the moisture and let it soak in. Put about 2 ounces of shredded bright leaf in a one pint Mason jar and closed the lid tight. Placed the jar on a cookie sheet and put it in the oven at 200°F for two hours. Took it out and checked it... no discernible change. So I left it in another hour with the same results. The I left it in for two more hours and smoked some. It was a little better, but not a dramatic change, so I put it back in the oven and let it go overnight. Turned off the oven this morning and let the jar cool slowly. After work, I opened the jar and the tobacco was noticeably darker and smelled of stewed fruit and/or tomatoes. Not necessarily a pleasant smell, but not bad either. I smoked a bowl of it and it was much more appealing than it was before. It was sweeter and more mellow. I think I'm going to start doing this with all my "raw" whole leaf bright Virginia from now on.

[Bruck]

Interesting, Tab. Hope you don't mind but I have a couple questions:

What is deionized water? Do you suppose distilled water would work?

Did you get the leaves from Larry the Tobacco Butcher? I'm pretty sure his bright VA is air cured, but if not, do you know how it was cured?

How moist was the tobacco after you cooked it all night?

Why did you seal the lid tight? Seems like that might be dangerous, but perhaps not at such a low temperature.

Did your wife use the same jar for canning stewed tomatoes previously? :)

Thanks!

[Haebar]

Interesting, Tab. Hope you don't mind but I have a couple questions:

What is deionized water? Do you suppose distilled water would work?

Did you get the leaves from Larry the Tobacco Butcher? I'm pretty sure his bright VA is air cured, but if not, do you know how it was cured?

How moist was the tobacco after you cooked it all night?

Why did you seal the lid tight? Seems like that might be dangerous, but perhaps not at such a low temperature.

Did your wife use the same jar for canning stewed tomatoes previously? :)

Thanks!

Deionized water (DI water, DIW or de-ionized water), often synonymous with demineralized water / DM water, is water that has had almost all of its mineral ions removed, such as cations like sodium, calcium, iron, and copper, and anions such as chloride and sulfate. I get it from where I work for free. Distilled water will work for you as well.

Yes, I got the tobacco from Larry Butcher. This batch was from 2016.

The tobacco was slightly moist when you open the jar, so it is important that you keep the jar sealed and let it cool for a day or so for the moisture to go back into the leaf.

You HAVE to seal the lid or the tobacco will dry out. I was skeptical about this too; afraid that the jar would break open from the pressure of the expanding air. But it won't.

No, the jar was a new jar, never used for anything else.

Klint Kinden stoves whole leaf in vacuum-sealed bags by putting the bags in a water bath in the oven. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJD0OuQBiiyyeoRxbTYq2YA/videos

[GWBowman]

What is your take on this versus cavendish?

[Haebar]

What is your take on this versus cavendish?

Good question. With stoving you have one half of the equation to make a Cavendish - heat; making Cavendish also requires pressure. The coloration of the stoved tobacco does look more (darker) like cavendish tobacco does, but still retains Virginia's characteristic flavor, it just takes away some of the raw edges (harshness and heat) of the smoke. I think it is slightly sweeter too. Stoving is a way to artificially hasten the process that occurs over time - aging.

[Bruck]

I think I've told y'all about the psuedo-cavendish I've made in the past - basically I just steam tobacco for several hours till it gets dark, then (mostly) dry it back out.

The result is a lighter, somewhat blander tobacco that tastes vaguely of toast. It doesn't have enough flavor to smoke by itself but I use it for blending and pressed flakes to provide body and balance. Also, I make psuedo-cav from cigar rolling scraps, so it retains a little of that flavor.

Sounds like your stoving is a similar concept that doesn't dilute the flavor - will have to give that a try. I've got a fair amount of Larry's bright leaf in the file cabinet.

[BryGuySC]

Tab, what was your total stoving time?
I've stoved some by simmering the mason jar in a crock pot for several hours, but it wasn't whole leaf. (See my "Stoneiversity" post).
I definitely like stoved virginia much better.

[Haebar]

Tab, what was your total stoving time?
I've stoved some by simmering the mason jar in a crock pot for several hours, but it wasn't whole leaf. (See my "Stoneiversity" post).
I definitely like stoved virginia much better.

Hi Bryan,

I stoved mine about 12 hours (overnight and then some). Came out darker with a curious consistency - slightly gummy/sticky. Even after letting it sit out overnight to dry, it still retained it's resiliency and didn't shatter when handled. It smokes much better than what I started with. Mine wasn't whole leaf when I stoved it - I had destemmed it and shredded it.