After 4 years of trying to make a clone of my favourite snus after it was discontinued I've come up with a recipe that is as close to my memory of it's taste and tastes very similar to my personal stash in the freezer although that snus has gone downhill after 4 years of deep-freeze. The only difference is that my preference is for a stark nicotine content so I have made this a strong one.
My main hurdle was the blend of tobacco used for the base which has a massive bearing on the flavour of the final product - my blend is a mixture of bought tobacco and homegrown and I'm sure it's different to the tobaccos used by Gotlandssnus for the original ... however the outcome is very similar.
So here's the recipe for anyone interested.
Makes about 500g of finished snus - the same as an old-fashioned roll.
80g Dark Air Cured Tobacco Flour
20g Rustica Tobacco Flour (homegrown)
40g Silver River Tobacco Flour (homegrown)
20g Yellow Twist Bud Tobacco Flour (homegrown)
40g Flue Cured Virginia Tobacco Flour
16g Rock Salt
220ml bottled mineral water
5tsps Lye water (dilute potassium carbonate)
20 drops bergamot essential oil
20 drops sweet orange essential oil
The tobacco flour was a mix of finely ground with some coarser ground varieties to give a good texture. The flour was mixed thoroughly and combined with the water that had already had the salt diluted in it. This mixture was combined well and then placed in a water bath (sous vide machine) and cooked at 80ºC for 2 days. After 2 days the snus was cooled and combined with the lye water, mixed well and set back to cook for a further 12 hours at 70ºC in the sous-vide machine. After cooling the essential oils were added and mixed in well and the snus was left to age in the fridge for a further 5 days.
This is a very close copy of Gotlandssnus Gul with a stronger kick than the original ... I'm very happy with it.
My main hurdle was the blend of tobacco used for the base which has a massive bearing on the flavour of the final product - my blend is a mixture of bought tobacco and homegrown and I'm sure it's different to the tobaccos used by Gotlandssnus for the original ... however the outcome is very similar.
So here's the recipe for anyone interested.
Makes about 500g of finished snus - the same as an old-fashioned roll.
80g Dark Air Cured Tobacco Flour
20g Rustica Tobacco Flour (homegrown)
40g Silver River Tobacco Flour (homegrown)
20g Yellow Twist Bud Tobacco Flour (homegrown)
40g Flue Cured Virginia Tobacco Flour
16g Rock Salt
220ml bottled mineral water
5tsps Lye water (dilute potassium carbonate)
20 drops bergamot essential oil
20 drops sweet orange essential oil
The tobacco flour was a mix of finely ground with some coarser ground varieties to give a good texture. The flour was mixed thoroughly and combined with the water that had already had the salt diluted in it. This mixture was combined well and then placed in a water bath (sous vide machine) and cooked at 80ºC for 2 days. After 2 days the snus was cooled and combined with the lye water, mixed well and set back to cook for a further 12 hours at 70ºC in the sous-vide machine. After cooling the essential oils were added and mixed in well and the snus was left to age in the fridge for a further 5 days.
This is a very close copy of Gotlandssnus Gul with a stronger kick than the original ... I'm very happy with it.
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