Dorkfood sous vide and latakia

[moogjuke]

I am a longtime Swedish snus lover, as well as smoker of fine cigars and non-aromatic pipe tobacco. This is my first post.

I'm just getting started with making my own snus. I have purchased a large crockpot and a temperature controller called the "Dorkfood Sous Vide" ("DSV"). The DSV is extremely accurate and is intended for those who want to cook food in the sous vide manner (low temperature water bath). I believe it will be a great way to carefully cook snus and wanted to share this fact with the good people here.

I have learned a great deal by reading this forum. I do believe that the snus community should publish a book of snus recipes, as it is very difficult to find a consolidated source of recipes and information on the subject. I end up reading four or five forums to even get the basic outline of how to make my own snus.

I look forward to learning more from this august body and also being a regular contributor.

My question for the group is if anyone has tried to use latakia tobacco in their snus recipe??? I was specifically wondering if it might be a good "spice" tobacco to add in small (say, 10%) quantities. I believe it could be used similarly to dark fire-cured tobacco in snus. I believe that the new GN Islay Snus uses some dark fire cured and I have seen discussion by, I believe, squeezyjohn, regarding its sparing use in a snus recipe.

Kind Regards,
moogjuke

[moogjuke]

Dorkfood link

Here is a link to the dorkfood: http://www.dorkfood.com/

Here is a link to a review of a number of low-cost sous vide circulators that I believe would also be great for snusmaking: http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/12/s...iku-anova.html

[whalen]

Precise control is a great advantage..

[squeezyjohn]

While i agree that you have to be fairly consistent with your cooking temps to get consistent results. I don't believe it is necessary for the home snus maker to have water bath temps within a 0.2 degree Farenheit error margin. My $75 solution with crockpot and PID unit keeps the cooking snus within a 1 degree Celsius margin - and my tests have shown me that 5 degrees either way makes very little difference indeed. So these circulators would have to come down in price some more for me to be interested in them.

My gut reaction is that using Latakia in a snus recipe might end up as a waste of valuable Latakia! However - it's all about experimenting and it might be brilliant. My experiences using fire cured tobacco flour have not been great - all tobacco flavours change greatly in the process and very few keep any of their raw characteristics after a day at 85 degrees C and adding the carbonate. For me fire cured often gives off a kind of burnt rubber/plastic taste after processing which doesn't fade with ageing at all. This seems slightly less of a problem with lower temps around 70 degrees C - but is still there nonetheless. Also my only source of fire cured tobacco is pretty heavy duty stuff!

[moogjuke]

I sincerely appreciate the advice and experience. I am currently cooking my first batch in an old toaster over and am able to keep the temp within about 10-15 degrees F. Agree that the circulators are pricey for the intended purpose. My thinking was that if you wanted to cook sous vide AND make snus, they are not a bad buy compared to the much more expensive options on the market from, say, Polyscience.

I shall try some latakia and let this group know how it goes.

While i agree that you have to be fairly consistent with your cooking temps to get consistent results. I don't believe it is necessary for the home snus maker to have water bath temps within a 0.2 degree Farenheit error margin. My $75 solution with crockpot and PID unit keeps the cooking snus within a 1 degree Celsius margin - and my tests have shown me that 5 degrees either way makes very little difference indeed. So these circulators would have to come down in price some more for me to be interested in them.

My gut reaction is that using Latakia in a snus recipe might end up as a waste of valuable Latakia! However - it's all about experimenting and it might be brilliant. My experiences using fire cured tobacco flour have not been great - all tobacco flavours change greatly in the process and very few keep any of their raw characteristics after a day at 85 degrees C and adding the carbonate. For me fire cured often gives off a kind of burnt rubber/plastic taste after processing which doesn't fade with ageing at all. This seems slightly less of a problem with lower temps around 70 degrees C - but is still there nonetheless. Also my only source of fire cured tobacco is pretty heavy duty stuff!

[squeezyjohn]

You're making snus in a toaster??????

[moogjuke]

Fear not. It is a mini electric oven. This may be a difference between English English and American English. I call a mini electric oven a "toaster oven." The thing that's used for browning bread I call a "toaster."

You're making snus in a toaster??????

[whalen]

English english? What other kind is there? ( Posted on behalf of all our Brit members)...

[Snusdog]

English english? What other kind is there? ( Posted on behalf of all our Brit members)...

well lets see....there is Gangsta english...shiiiiiiiit.....there is spanish english...(Amigo ..do you wan cheaps an salza).......Northern english....."Yo" = hey...or stop....or F*ch you....or nice ass......or.... bro that's my grandma
......and finally there is Southern english where ya'll = any one who is not from the north