Strength of Home-Made Snuff

Good evening! Once again, thank you all for the advice since I’ve joined and wealth of information posted on this site. 

     I have made some great snuff and masted the grind. However, from here I’m having some trouble; my snuff is just too strong! Now, it’s not too strong in the sense that I don’t like it, or that it burns bad, I love every aspect of it, but it doesn’t like me. I find when I’m using my snuffs all day my nose is so inflamed at night I’ve been having to use Afrin. I recently bought some American scotch snuff and only used that for a week and all my problems stopped. Once I got back on my snuff the problem returned after a few days. I do use a neti pot frequently but have directly noticed my problems are from my snuff. Now, I do a lot of snuff everyday! 

     I’m not using any fire cured tobacco and have adjusted potash, ammonium chloride from different levels including adding none. My grind does included some stems but almost all seem to be sieved off after grinding. I sieve incrementally smaller after each grind technique. The finished product feels like baby powder. Once made, I seal in canning jars for 2-3 months before opeing.

     One thought I had was to soak the flour in a lot of water for a few minutes, drain the liquid to remove some nicotine, then re-dry and grind again. Has this been done? I’d hate to lose any flavor along with the nicotine though. 

     Anyone know any other tricks for this? Higher salt, sugar, soaking, longer airtight storage time? Or, is it strictly about the leaves I’m using? 

Any tips appreciated! @Juxtaposer 

What type of leaves and what ratios are you using for the salt? 

Have you tried a more coarse grind?

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If you wash away the nicotine in just some and add it to the strong snuff you may find a happy medium . What ratio for your comfort level is experimental 

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@Cobguy per 100 grams dried flour I’m using 1.5 grams of salt, so 1.5%. I have tried a courser grind, really just since the beginning and it’s gotten finer as I increased my grinding methods. I’m a huge fan of toasts and scotch’s lately so my nose is pretty used to fine and dry. Think the salt is too low? I also did not add any sweetener at all.

     My last tobacco leaf purchase was one pound flue cured Virginia burly, one pound flue cured fronto, then one pound mixed scraps. I like getting the scraps because of the huge assortment mixed in there. I grind all three pounds together to make my base. 

@basement_shaman that’s a really good idea! That way I can pretty much wash out the nicotine from the base and add the strong until my liking. Interesting. Thanks!

     I’m starting to also think that maybe I need to get six months ahead and see if longer resting time in airtight jars will help. Washing some out may be what I need to have some for now.

Thanks for the replies!

If you brew some as a tea. Just hot water not full boil then let it steep , You can strain it, keep the water and toast the flour.  you can use the nicotine water to hydrate and add some of the lost nicotine back in. 

Of course it is easier to wash and strain  before it is a fine flour. 

If you have loads of water you can further cook it down to almost a paste and add coco to make Chimo 

Image result for Chimo 

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Great plan, thanks again. Why did you tell me about Chimo?? I’m making snuff, American dip, and snus. Now you just gave me another idea that I can’t resist! Lol! I’ve got a pound of whole leaf sitting here now, I’m going to try it. I loved the idea of having a washed out nicotine base and now you just sealed the deal with the Chimo.

It is true I am a BAD INFLUENCE   >:)  > You can flavor the Chimo any way you want, Brown sugar, Aniseed, Vanilla, The possibilities are limited to your imagination. It does require sodium bicarbonate and ash to regulate PH levels. I sure you will figure it out. Be interested on trying any tobacco product you create.

 I was just thinking on creating an entirely new Transdermal Nicotine Balm. That is also a sore muscle rub and a sunscreen with natural and organic oils, waxes, herbs, spices and minerals.  It will have moisturizing and lubrication properties for joints as well as skin. And some ingredients to repel biting insects. Shame I didn’t have my knowledge 40 yrs ago, I could had retired while I was young.      
:((

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Be careful with Chimo the recommended dose is the size of a match head. And don’t swallow the juices unless you have a cast iron stomach . Of course you will be able to use pea sized portion once you obtain a higher tolerance ,Last about 30 minutes and is very unsightly when you smile
https://youtu.be/D-B8hd7KlEs

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@Creator … 1.5% is on the low end of the scale (0-15%) so you could try increasing it to see if it helps.

@basement_shaman … Chimo??  That stuff sounds deadly!!   :-O  LOL

@Cobguy true is is not for light weigh tobacco fiends.    8-X 8-X 8-X 8-X 8-X 8-X

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@Cobguy Thanks. My original reasoning was to keep it close to 0.9 saline. I just kicked an old batch up to 10% for the hell of it to see how it goes. Unfortunately I thought I could grind the salt and directly add without dissolving but the snuffs too dry. I’ll have to add moisture and dry it again. @basement_shaman a transdermal balm sounds awesome! Let me know how it comes out. I’ve been reading more about the Chimo and definitely plan on making it soon. Once I get my snuff perfect I’ll send you some! I usually make about 1000 grams at a time anyway. I’m going to roll with my original recipe but cut the ammonium chloride and potash down a bit and make a weaker tobacco to cut it with and make a few thousand grams so I can let them age longer. Thanks again for all the help and tips.

I would recommend “aging” the tobacco rather than the snuff.

@juxtaposer thanks! Interesting enough, I had a bunch of really coarse ground snus that I made a few months ago and decided I was sick of it. I dried it out fully and turned it into snuff and it seemed to be much easier on the nose! Unfortunately I have about 2 pounds of tobacco already finely ground so I may experiment with aging that wet and not feel bad if I have to toss it. I’ve got some whole leaf aging now though. Thanks for the input.