Good day fellow snuffers, Anyone grind their own snuff? I made some from cigarette tobacco, which was pretty good.
Pieter Claassen, snuffgrinder, stitch (that’s just off the top of my head). I won’t bother since cigarettes and cigars are more expensive than buying commercial snuff. If you’re using cigarettes, I’d be sure to use something without any additives like American Spirit, or Nat Sherman Naturals. American Spirit is available as bulk rolling tobacco, which will save you some money.
Cigarette tobacco is no good for snuff. The tobacco is treated with chemicals which is not desired in one’s nose!!! Either use pipe tobacco or go to your tobacconist and ask him/her to let you have their damaged cigars. I buy large havana handrolled cigars for very cheap and they make excellent snuff. Making ones own snuff is a nice hobby. And, of course, your snuff is unique in the sense that only YOU have got it even if it’s not very good!! Go for it.
The user and all related content has been deleted.
I forgot to mention, I’m going to try rolled (chewing) tobacco next. I’ve ordered some from a co-op in Oudtshoorn where it’s still rolled by hand. I don’t know how to treat or “cure” it and any advice will be appreciated. @ Industro, do you have any experience in this way? PS Spoke to the lady who bought the chew for me just now. She got 5kg of this stuff and it’s all mine!!! What will I do with such a lot of tobacco!!!
Pieter, I would unroll it and throw it in the oven at 125-150f for an hour or so, that usually dries it out pretty good. Or just buy a dehydrator.
The user and all related content has been deleted.
I very much enjoy grinding my own snuff. Cigars are good, but can sometimes overpower whatever flavor you are trying to impart on the snuff. I did just get a whole leaf from Stoker’s but have not ground any of it yet. @ Pieter - Regarding chewing tobacco, I have tried it a few times with mixed results. I don’t know if your chewing tobacco is the same as mine, but mine was very high in sugar/molasses which made it very difficult to get the grind and moisture I was looking for. One way to remedy this is to put the tobacco in a food processor with a bit of water. Then take the soupy mix and roll it out with a rolling pin, or just press it. The water will take some of the sugar out with it. Then let it dry and grind.
Yeah its fun to grind your own.
What methods are there to grind it?
mortar and pestle? coffee bean girnder? lots of creative minds here. There really have been a ton of past posts on this, with quite a few methods.
tom502, elecric coffee grinder for the initial grind, mortar and pestle for the crumbs which remain after the first sieve. Sieve in my case is a coffee jar with a piece of pantyhose stretched over the “mouth” of the jar. I use a rubber band to keep the nylon in place. Shake the jar and out comes the snuff!!! Easy as pie.
1 Like
I bought a Vita-Mixer blender about 10 years ago. They are a lifetime appliance, excellent machines. It came with 2 containers, one for juicing, and the other for dry goods. The dry container works excellent for everything from dried peppers, tobacco, you name it. It will grind anything into a very fine powder if you wish, no need to sieve.
Thanks all. I tried the coffee grinder today, and it worked pretty good. Didn’t make it a powder, but did give it a grind similar to TAXI ROCK. I am gonna stick it in a ziplock bag with some mint leaves too.
I have been using just the mortar and pestle, which is VERY time consuming. Especially if you are making large volumes of snuff. The pantyhose method works very well. The tighter you stretch it, the coarser the grind you will end up with. Which makes it easy to get the grind you want. I do plan to get a grinder since I am planning to make lots of snuff, and grinding just by hand will take too long.
I don’t have a mortar and pestle, but the grinder didn’t do too bad. I’m just messing around, you know how it is when one gets an idea. I have some mint growing in the back yard, and I took some of that, made cuts in the leaves, and stuck it in a ziplock baggy with the coffee grinder snuff. I’ll let it stay in the bag for a week before I check it. I have no idea if it’ll work well or not. I also have some more of this snuff I made I am attempting to mentholate with some Vapor Rub, where I put the snuff in a small container, and took a plastic baggy, and rubbed the Vapor rub on the baggy, and then took the baggy over the container and put a rubber band on it. Again, I have no idea if this will work or not.
tom502, I would check it before a week. I would check it daily. The snuff will dry the leaves out within a day and you need to add fresh leaves. And f you have too many leaves in there it can get too moist in a sealed bag and actually create problems. And make sure to keep stirring/agitating/shaking the snuff a few times a day. You will most likely have a strong mint scented snuff after just 2 days. Also on ebay you can purchase menthol crystals very very cheap. I’ve bought some and they work great for adding to snuff. A little goes a long long way.
trout- Thanks, I’ll check it later today. I did notice the leaves are dried out looking.
I have today received the chew from Oudtshoorn. Does not look like something I will ever stick in my mouth!! I’ve unrolled some leafs and have it in water at the moment. Some are dark and others light brown in colour. I will stick in the oven tomorrow while my wife is away playing ten pin bowling! I trust it will be dry enough for grinding by tomorrow night. If I come through this without to much pain, I will report back on Friday.
Good luck Pieter. I had to wait for my wife to be out of the house before I could stick tobacco in the oven too! 