My first attempt at cooking my own Snus via the crockpot

[billfrombyron]

I am using this recipie as a guide,

http://www.snuson.com/forum/showthre...s-Oven-Snusugn


I am however unable to obtain NH4CL anywhere within my budget so it will be left out. Will this affect the taste negatively? It is available, but at over $250 USD per pound its not within my budget. Would candies made with this IE salty liquorice crushed up work for a substitution, assuming that I can find them? Is this actually required? I know how to make it using ammonia and HCL acid, but I am unconvinced of its safety and or suitability for use in food after being made at home this way. Anyone make their own?

Id also love to find a source for the light citrus taste that General regular strength has.

I am using Iranian tobacco leaves and mixing in some Drum that I have laying around.

I used the volume vs weight method, so

1/2 cup of Iranian and 1/4 cup drum = about 100 grams ish. I used a coffee grinder to shred it up as its the only thing I have on hand at the moment.
I used 1 tea spoon of sea salt plus a pinch more for about 8g of salt.
I am lucky in that my cooker when placed on auto will hold a perfect 150 F and a perfect 195 F on low without any dimmers or additional controls needed. Its a large 6L Kenmore if anyone wants to know.

I boiled the water to sterilize it in an electric kettle mixed it all up into a nice foul smelling slop and into a pyrex bowl it went. I have the pyrex bowl placed into a stoneware bowl and the stoneware bowl is sitting in a water bath. 1/2 cup is 125 g of water. This allows me to maintain the perfect temp for a quick cook vs a longer slower cook.

Tomorrow night I will be pulling the snus out, and using Na2CO3 made from baking soda. Anyone tried making their own before? It seems pretty straight forward.

Any ideas for the flavoring on my simple snus cook? This is my first attempt so hopefully it will come out ok. Ill let ya know how it turns out if a few days.

As time goes by and funds permit I will be upgrading my cooking methods and apparatus. I would prefer to use a scale, but I can't find a good one here for under $100 bucks locally and shipping is brutal. I'm still shopping around, but things here ain't cheap like they are back home.

For flavor I was thinking of adding about 1/4 tsp of cyanne and some lime juice.

-Byron

[squeezyjohn]

Hi Byron,

Congratulations on your efforts!

I would say that you can safely leave out the ammonium chloride, it is not in every recipe and even without it the tobacco will release some ammonia compounds when you add the sodium carbonate (you'll smell it!).

As for flavourings - if you want a general flavour then the main ingredient you need to get your hands on is a little bottle of grade A bergamot essential oil - the lower quality ones may contain impurities such as traces of solvents. I'm sure general also contains small amounts of other flavouring oils - it also contains smoke flavouring (liquid smoke). With all these oils and flavourings be very sparing to start with, a couple of drops can sometimes overpower the whole thing and you can always add more if its not enough!

Finally - you can add ground spices / juices - but you'll have to guess with quantities. I think cayenne could be fine, but my experience of cinnamon showed that I needed a lot of powder to get a taste, and that made the flavour bitter after cooking with sodium carbonate - I use cinnamon essential oil now.

Anyway, best of luck. It's always great to see someone else experimenting here. The more knowledge we build up amongst SnusOn members, the more we can all learn from eachother!

Cheers

Squeezy

[billfrombyron]

Day 1 down, I removed it to stir it and check if it needed water added. I'm electing not to add anymore as it has the consistency of porridge. Smell is interesting, and I think that using lime oil will really shine with the odor its putting out right now. Tomorrow we shall see.

-Byron

[billfrombyron]

Mixed in the Sodium carbonate made via oven heating method.

Was it supposed to smoke? It was pretty cool, but now my whole downstairs smells like snus. Not a bad thing, but unexpected. I used 1.5 tea spoons.

-Byron

[billfrombyron]

Just to clarify the recipe, I don't add the flavoring until the end along with the glycerine correct?

I have settled on 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp cayenne and 1 table spoon of lime juice.

I have the mixed up juice and pepper and have compared the aromas and they smell like it should taste pretty kick ass. We shall see what happens.......more to follow.

-Byron

[squeezyjohn]

I'm afraid I don't have direct knowledge of this recipe and method, but generally you add most flavourings at the end of the procedure.

When you add the sodium carbonate, you tend to get the biggest reaction with the tobacco - I've never has it smoke, but it does release a lot of ammonia and other smells + the tobacco darkens pretty quickly.

I don't know what chemical action the lime juice will have, but snus needs to remain slightly alkaline to keep it's potency - this is also important in how long it keeps for. I hope the acidic lime juice doesn't swing the pH value back towards 7 for you.

Cheers

Squeezy

PS if the lime juice is a problem, why not try freshly grated lime zest next time. The zest is very strongly flavoured and isn't acidic.

[Snusdog]

Great post guys!!

I can't wait to see how it turns out

[squeezyjohn]

Sounds delicious eh Dog?

[voodooman]

i'm always really interested to hear about people doing this, and would really like to try it myself. will definitely follow this thread. pictures would be awesome if possible. also interested in the specifics of the tobacco. where did you get it, and how was it cured? anyone know a good source for air-cured, un-fermented bulk tobacco?

[squeezyjohn]

anyone know a good source for air-cured, un-fermented bulk tobacco?

www.wholeleaftobacco.com

Cheers

Squeezy

[billfrombyron]

The camera is with the ex wife..........and somehow Im happy about that

The other camera I have is living in its magic case for my dive photos. Im eagerly awaiting the big brown truck to bring me my new G12 cannon.

I used the oil/juice that you get from smashing the hell out of the rind with a heavy object on a saucer.

First pinch going in............will update after a few hours.


-Byron

[billfrombyron]

...........And its soup......

I am cooking it now longer at a lower temp without the lid to remove some of it.

-Byron

[squeezyjohn]

Yes that can happen quite easily! Don't be disheartened - it can normally be saved by a combination of letting it dry out naturally and blotting with paper towels. I'd always err on the side of a little too dry if I'm making these days.

Cheers

Squeezy

[squeezyjohn]

Also the finished snus needs to be allowed to sit in the fridge for about a week before it starts to taste right.

[billfrombyron]

I forgot to mention that it tasted fantastic! The mud slide was almost instant though.

The aroma is pretty doggone good too.

I'm reheating it until the morning. Ill update tomorrow.

Next attempt I'm going to add the lime rind after the cook for an additional 8 hrs to allow the oils to sweat from the peel.

-Byron