MECHANICS OF SNUFF MAKING
DRYING; your tobacco will grind much easier and more fine if dry but in some cases this is not absolutely necessary. Drying quickly is a good idea so that your tobacco does not remain exposed to uncontrolled environmental impacts. Warm temperatures and good ventilation will do the trick. In an oven on low is an extreme method but if done carefully works well and can even add a toasted flavor if wanted. In the microwave if you must, I have heard it done successfully but microwave ovens are usually smelly and controlling temperatures is difficult. In a crock pot with the lid off works well. I like to put a metal bowl over the crock so that it gently warms as a fan gently blows across the top. You can also just simply leave your tobacco out to dehydrate. Just be sure that it will not be exposed to unwanted materials such as anthrax dust or avian bird flu virus etc… Drying tobacco is called taking it out of case. It is not just done for grinding but also done when wanting to have casings or flavorings absorbed.
GRINDING; A mortar and pestle is the most useful tool I know for snuff making at home but for grinding up your tobacco you will want to use some kind of coffee grinder. Burr grinders are said to be the best if you get a good one. Burr grinders would be a good choice for a more consistent larger grind for making dip or snus or for snuff with an extremely gros grind. Although they do grind fine I do not find them as useful as blade grinders are because blade grinders can also be used for mixing. Also you can sharpen the blades if you want to. I suppose if you had to you could use a food processor or blender. Let us know how they work if you do. You would be ok with just using a mortar and pestle. Elbow grease and patience would be all you need. Some of the more difficult leaf parts can be tossed in the mortar for physical crushing. Another method of pulverizing tobacco is with a ball grinder. A ball grinder is a container containing ball bearings that is shaken and is said to be extremely effective at crushing tobacco.
SIEVING; This is done in order to achieve a consistent flour. Sieving after grinding while the tobacco is still dry is much easier than sieving moist tobacco. There are reasons to sieve moist snuff though one of which is to de-clump it. I like to use a metal kitchen strainer that has a handle I can hold while I bounce my fingers off the rim to dance the flour through the sieve. A popular method is to cover a jar full of flour with a panty hose and shake out the finer particles.There are professionally made sieves with specific sizes if you want to be serious about this. Most tobaccos will allow a percentage through the sieve immediately. I have found this to be the softest sort and keep it separate from the rest. This I consider my top shelf snuff which can sometimes be as little as fifty percent of the flour. Tobacco that does not easily go through the sieve gets reground and sieved into seconds. Here crushing action can help further break down the tobacco. But you will notice that seconds do have a more rough texture to them. There is some leftover if you have been vigilant. This is usually thrown out but does have some uses. You might be sieving tobacco that has already been fermented or has little stem or vein material and which breaks down easily leaving no seconds. You may for some snuff not want to use sieve at all.
HYDRATING; Snuff needs to be at a certain level of moisture for consumption. Not difficult at all since tobacco easily absorbs it. We can take advantage of this characteristic by including casings or toppings in the provided moisture. To bring your flour back into case for fermentation or curing you can simply stir in prescribed liquids. *Use only uncontaminated ingredients such as distilled water. Scent toppings can be done the same way but perhaps misting might be a better method for topping snuff that is already in case. Another good method would be to indirectly bring into case with a humidified environment. This can be as easy as putting a cover over a tin of snuff and a separate tin of water. This indirect method also works well for scenting snuff. Just replace the water with a scenting medium. Not all snuffs are the same when it comes to moisture levels and personal preference should play a major role.