Next in my quest for home-made snus was to try and make something along the lines of General Xtra Strong - given that this kind of snus is no longer available in the EU.
I made a batch using 200g tobacco flour which usually makes about 400-450g of los with my methods.
110g Burley Lamina Flour
90g Virginia bright leaf lamina flour
240ml water
14g sea salt
3 tsps xylitol
____________________
5 teaspoons lye water
3 liquorice roots
2 teaspoons salmiak (ammonium chloride)
21 drops food-grade bergamot essential oil
10 drops food-grade orange essential oil
4 drops food-grade nutmeg essential oil
The tobacco flour was mixed thoroughly. Then the salt was dissolved in the water which had been brought to the boil and mixed with the tobacco in a bowl with a fork until no dry powder remained. The snus mix was transferred to a glass kilner jar and placed in a water bath (crockpot method) at 84ºC for 24 hours.
The lye water was added and mixed in thoroughly and the mixture returned to the water bath for a further 12 hours at 70ºC. Then it was cooled.
Then the liquorice root was macerated and placed in a saucepan with the salmiak and about 200ml water. It was then brought to the boil and simmered until only 20ml of concentrated liquorice/salmiak extract remained and this was added to the mixture along with all the essential oils and thoroughly mixed with a fork until it was all blended through.
The mixture was transferred back to the kilner jar and put aside to age in a cold outbuilding.
That's the stage I'm at now. I have, of course tasted the snus in it's current state. But fresh from the cook it tastes of raw essential oils and lots of ammonia from the reaction with the lye water which is still finishing off - it's also unpleasantly strong at the moment which I know will calm down a lot in the next week. But on first testing it's a very promising recipe. I would guess that the bergamot and orange oil I'm using will make it a softer flavour than GES - something a bit closer to the taste of Gotlands Yellow but with a much richer, darker tobacco background flavour. It's also less salty than the GES is.
Here's hoping for a success in a week or so.
I made a batch using 200g tobacco flour which usually makes about 400-450g of los with my methods.
110g Burley Lamina Flour
90g Virginia bright leaf lamina flour
240ml water
14g sea salt
3 tsps xylitol
____________________
5 teaspoons lye water
3 liquorice roots
2 teaspoons salmiak (ammonium chloride)
21 drops food-grade bergamot essential oil
10 drops food-grade orange essential oil
4 drops food-grade nutmeg essential oil
The tobacco flour was mixed thoroughly. Then the salt was dissolved in the water which had been brought to the boil and mixed with the tobacco in a bowl with a fork until no dry powder remained. The snus mix was transferred to a glass kilner jar and placed in a water bath (crockpot method) at 84ºC for 24 hours.
The lye water was added and mixed in thoroughly and the mixture returned to the water bath for a further 12 hours at 70ºC. Then it was cooled.
Then the liquorice root was macerated and placed in a saucepan with the salmiak and about 200ml water. It was then brought to the boil and simmered until only 20ml of concentrated liquorice/salmiak extract remained and this was added to the mixture along with all the essential oils and thoroughly mixed with a fork until it was all blended through.
The mixture was transferred back to the kilner jar and put aside to age in a cold outbuilding.
That's the stage I'm at now. I have, of course tasted the snus in it's current state. But fresh from the cook it tastes of raw essential oils and lots of ammonia from the reaction with the lye water which is still finishing off - it's also unpleasantly strong at the moment which I know will calm down a lot in the next week. But on first testing it's a very promising recipe. I would guess that the bergamot and orange oil I'm using will make it a softer flavour than GES - something a bit closer to the taste of Gotlands Yellow but with a much richer, darker tobacco background flavour. It's also less salty than the GES is.
Here's hoping for a success in a week or so.
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