not pasteurising snus

[Ansel]

i might be completely wrong as i have no scientific knowledge but... if the tobacco leaf is very dry then will it not rot? and if it will not rot does that mean you don't neccessarily need to pasteurise it if you were to turn it into snus?

forgive my ignorance.

[lxskllr]

Adding moisture creates an environment for bacteria. I also think the heating process changes the flavor of the tobacco, but Squeezy would probably be able to give better insight on that.

[rickcharles606]

I'd ask Conny or jimmy...this is something that they'd know for certain. I tend to agree that once water is added, the conditions for bacterial or microbial growth are improved.

[whalen]

Bacterial growth starts with the green leaf turning ripe, Then is subject to curing where it is encouraged and then slowed. A leaf in case, that is with sufficient moisture to remain pliant, has enough moisture to support bacterial growth at a much slower rate. This is the part within the Gothiatek Standard, where the leaf is tested to determine its TSNA content, If it is within norms it undergoes the snus process which accelerates biological growth, and then pasteurized to stop the growth. The process continues at a greatly slowed rate while the snus are kept cold.

Your question of rot in dry leaf is a good one, the bacteria are dry and not particularly active, but when dehydrated the process continues again.

[Ansel]

ok thanks guys

the reason i'm asking is there's a chance i can visit a place where they grow burley and i was wondering if i could just chew the leaf right up instead of having to cook it in the kitchen.

[squeezyjohn]

They're good questions ... and I found out through learning to cure that tobacco leaves certainly go mouldy - and they make compost just fine!

I think as with any dehydrated thing - fully dry tobacco is preserved, but as Whalen says the re-hydration of the leaves to make snus will render it susceptible to moulding and bacteria as with any fresh food item. I would think that the cooking process and the addition of fairly high salt levels are a historical attempt to stop the natural actions of spoiling agents.

But if you get some cured, dried burley ... as long as you keep it dry you should be able to just chew it provided it's sound to start with. If you want to make sure it stays in the state you got it you could try putting the leaves in large, dry Kilner jars on a day where there is very little moisture in the atmosphere and the leaves are in a very low case (crispy and dry so they shatter when bent) ... the air-tight seal would mean they stay fully dehydrated and less likely to have any kind of bacteria or fungi working on them.

What Whalen said is absolutely true about snus. The bacteria etc. work for you as well as against you and essentially they ARE the ageing and curing process.

[Ansel]

thanks Squeezy, i'm thinking this burley would be ok to try if they don't treat the plants with any chemicals.

[whalen]

Pesticide use is high with tobacco. I grow my own to get around it.

[GoVegan]

ok thanks guys

the reason i'm asking is there's a chance i can visit a place where they grow burley and i was wondering if i could just chew the leaf right up instead of having to cook it in the kitchen.

I like your style!

[squeezyjohn]

As far as I can tell, Burley tobacco chewed straight is pretty bitter - in fact most tobacco that's got any strength to it can be (apart from rustica which seems to retain it's sweetness).

A lot of the reasoning behind the snus procedure is to develop the flavour although I am still battling with the varieties of tobacco I possess to get rid of the bitterness in a snus despite cooking at different temperatures for different times and tweaking the recipes. I think having it ground to snus/snuff size releases the bitterness more than for whole leaf too.

As for pasteurisation - the cooking process brings the snus up to the kind of temperatures that will kill bacteria/mould - for home bottling of apple juice - the recommended temperature is 80ºC for 40 minutes and 70-80º is what I use for my 2 day cook temperature. But once it is cooled down and ageing it is susceptible to spoilage from all sorts of things. The salt content and alkalinity of snus will doubtless slow this down, but I still try and maintain a high level of hygiene in every step. I use the same kind of chemicals that I do for home-brewing to sterilise the equipment and containers that will touch the snus and try and keep it fairly air-tight except for the stage where it needs to breathe before usage. Unfortunately there is no way to home-test for TSNAs that I know of.

In short - try the burley straight - but give a thought to snus - it can be done in the oven - especially if your partner is away for a few days heh-heh! Keep the batches small and use it fresh or put it straight in the freezer in order to not have to worry about pasteurisation.

[Ansel]

Thanks John that's helpful. I'm now thinking the burley tobacco place will use pesticides to grow the tobacco as they make cigarettes. So i'm going to have to have a rethink.

[lxskllr]

Thanks John that's helpful. I'm now thinking the burley tobacco place will use pesticides to grow the tobacco as they make cigarettes. So i'm going to have to have a rethink.

Most companies use pesticide tobacco. If it doesn't explicitly say they don't, they most likely do.

[squeezyjohn]

I wouldn't worry about it too much Ansel, unless you eat exclusively organically, you'll probably have already eaten worse on fruit & veg.

[Ansel]

This is the tobacco place: http://www.snpl.com.np/tobacco_dev.htm

[squeezyjohn]

Are you getting it direct? Very hard to tell from the website the methods of farming used - but at least there's a website for the grower which is more than I have - although I know my home-grown tobacco is 100% organic (haven't got very much of that though!)

Cheers

Squeezy