Drying tobacco....

[droy1958]

Has anyone noticed a difference in the taste of tobacco in air drying compared to quickly drying it? I have an old high intensity lamp on a boom and it's perfect for drying tobacco, but didn't know if it would dry the baccy too quickly or did it matter????....

[Emperor Zurg]

It may be all in my head but I'd say it definitely tastes better if allowed to dry slowly in room air. However, that is not always practical so I do force dry under low heat much of the time.

[LandonColby]

I definitely taste a difference. Exposing the leaf to any intense heat or light will rapidly evaporate moisture and oxidize those tasty oils, and the oil oxidation rate will increase with the temperature. Give it time to slowly give off moisture, but still keep the oils intact. Leaving you with a dry, but flavorful smoke.

how rapidly the moisture evaporates isn't really the issue, It's keeping as much of the oils intact as possible so you have a leaf free of excess water, but still supple and pliable with oils.




that's just my theory.

[Emperor Zurg]

I definitely taste a difference. Exposing the leaf to any intense heat or light will rapidly evaporate moisture and oxidize those tasty oils...

...that's just my theory.

It certainly makes sense. I've always thought I could taste quite a difference but like I said, I thought maybe it was all in my head.

[LandonColby]

It certainly makes sense. I've always thought I could taste quite a difference but like I said, I thought maybe it was all in my head.

Definitely not in your head. Same reason I don't believe in re-hydrating old tins that have been let to dry out for a long time. You might make it smokable again and it might be something you like, but there hasn't been a SINGLE blend that I've rehydrated and I thought "mmm this is delicious!". Once those oils oxidize, everything that defines a blend's flavor is long gone and they smoke harsh.

Speaking of...I have a tin of Kendall Cream that I accidentally let become Kendall Crackers...Any takers? Branzig?

[Aguineapig]

Speaking of...I have a tin of Kendall Cream that I accidentally let become Kendall Crackers...Any takers? Branzig?

Heck, I smoke plenty of D&R and C&D blends-- the latter fairly dry, and the former often bone dry. Not ideal to let things degrade, but I'm a meat and potatoes kinda smoker. cobs 90% of the time, and don't sweat nuance too much. Mostly I just hate to waste tobacco so even some of the stuff that I screwed the pooch on I need to use up anyway!