Burley plug
Being irritated that the Mac Baren HH line is going away I decided to try and make a mellow burley flake substitute. Probably won't even be close but all that matters is it is enjoyable smoke.
So HH Burley Flake is burley, Kentucky and Virginia with burley being the main feature. I bought some burley and dark fired Kentucky from LeafOnly. Great quality leaves but I will warn you they do not vac seal the tobacco. I think I will go with the molasses/cacao hull casing for the burley and the tonka casing for the Virginia. The dark fired Kentucky does not need casing.
Tonka casing is made by adding 100g water by weight to 100g of sugar by weight and dissolve. Next put in a sauce pan with a cap full of white vinegar to invert the sugar and add a whole tonka bean. Bring to a boil for a few minutes and then let cool.
Molasses casing is 100g of molasses to 100g of water by weight. Add to sauce pan with a cap full of white vinegar and bring to a boil. I add a handful of cacao hulls I got from the a beer brewer's site.
165g plug would be:
- 90g burley
- 45g Virginia
- 30g Dark fired
Going to go and make 4 plugs so 400g burley, 180g Virginia and 120g Dark fired Kentucky. So go ahead and de-stem about a 1lb of burley and 1/2 lb of Virginia.
Warm up 1oz of molasses casing and use a small misting bottle to case the 400g burley and a 1/2 oz of tonka casing to mist 180g of Virginia. Put in separate bags and seal to let sit over night.
Mix each plug and stuff in the tube with spacer. May need to plunger it down to fit all 4 plugs. Press and then keep in place either with the frame press or take off the frame press and use a clamp to keep the plugs from expanding. After a week I did stove it for just 2 hours at 200F.
I should let the plugs rest but I couldn't resist taking a slice off and trying it. It is definitely burley! Big bold burley taste with nutty and some chocolate notes. Nice round smoke, nothing harsh even at this young age. Guess I need a name for it or simply just keep the name Burley Plug.
