Yesterday i got a spice mill from Mr Snuff so today i went ahead and made my own snuff for the first time. After reading some posts on this board, particularly a couple from @Juxtaposer, i decided to give it a try and instead of starting by asking a bunch of questions i just did it. Hopefully you guys and gals can give me some pointers in case i missed something essential. There will be a few questions at the end, but basically this post focuses on how i went about to make my first jars of snuff. The recipe is based upon http://snuffhouse.org/discussion/6032/snuff-making-101/ . — I started off with some coarsely ground Virginia-tobacco (this is sold in Sweden as a base for making Swedish snus) and ground 0.6 deciliter with the spice mill. It seemed the tobacco wasn’t as finely ground as the snuffs i have bought but hopefully it was fine enough. Then i took 0.5 milliliter sodium carbonate and 2.5 milliliter regular table salt and let that dissolve into 10 milliliters of distilled water. This is a little less sodium carbonate than in Juxtaposer’s recipe but i figured it would be better to start off by making a weak snuff that i could actually taste than something that was much to strong. When the water was thoroughly mixed i poured the tobacco into it and mixed it all up with a fork. After five minutes i figured it was enough and put the tobacco, pretty loosely, into two glass jars, each filled to about 80% of capacity. The plan was to use one jar but the small ones where the only ones available at the time, hopefully the five minutes of mixing ensures that the contents of both jars are identical. The moisture level seemed to be a bit on the dry side but since this is my first try i do not really know what to expect. The jars where put in a drawer in the living room. As i snuffed the remnants in the mixing bowl i was surprised at how pleasant it was even without any maturing process. The Virginia-tobaccos taste was of course dominating and i really think it has a wonderful smell. I also thought i picked up something similar to ammonia (is this the sodium carbonate?), very faintly. The burn was pretty mild. After just a short while my nose started running. Does anybody have any idea as to why this might have happened? It usually doesn’t with the commercial snuffs. — All that is left to do now is to ask a few questions and wait a week to check the matured snuff. All equipment used were either stainless steel (bowls and cutlery), aluminum (the mill) or glass (the jars). Does this matter at all? Is table salt “close enough” or should one use pure sodium chloride? Should the jars be put somewhere else as the snuff matures? — If this batch is snuffable the next step is to give it some taste and i guess i will be back with some more questions by then. //FaapOaid
Good idea using less sodium carbonate and table salt is just fine. The ammonia signifies that you did it right. It’s not to late to use a sieve if you would like to smooth it out. The extra runny nose is likely due mainly to the tobacco type. The irritating fresh grind may also be a factor. Either way age will surely help. I would fill one jar completely so less air is in that one jar. The other jar at 60% will be the one you use first and open the most, just a suggestion. Have fun and good luck.
Thanks for the input @Juxtaposer, it is much appreciated. The snuff has been transferred to fill one jar completely and the other jar will be used to try the snuff out while the whole jar can mature, for a longer period, in peace. Is there a specific reason to make the snuff smoother? The good thing, in my experience, with a bit coarser grind is that the snuff stays in the nose and wont reach the throat so easily. About the tobacco used; that was the tobacco i had at home. The plan is to order some Burley leaves (if someone knows where one can buy Perique leaves, please let me know) once i understand the basic methods, ratios, and maturing-times.
http://store.pipesandcigars.com/ sells perique, look in the blending tobacco section
Thanks @Mouse, i guess that will do just as well (maybe even better?) than whole leaves.
I don’t believe perique is available in whole leaf. They are de-stemmed prior to fermentation.
That might explain why i have not found it @Slide. 