To prep the leaves I misted/sprayed the plant down with distilled water. After they were nice and pliable, I inspected each leaf for little black bugs (stuck on there from when the leaves were alive and green) and dog hairs. If any of you plan on growing and processing tobacco, let me warn you, keep your hairy dog away from the growing and processing site. It's a bitch to find and remove all the damned hairs and I'm sure I don't need to tell you how it could ruin an otherwise tasty bowl of baccy. Then I stripped the stems and roughly cut the leaves to fit and layered them into the press as evenly as possible. I clamped the press block down. After 3 days, I opened it up to inspect and smoke a sample.
The whole top 1/3rd of a large plant ended up only being less than 1/2" thick, 3" wide, approx. 6" long. So I figure it would take 2 full plants to get 1-1/2" to 2" thick flake.
To cut the flake, I just pull the plug forward, place the block on top with the desired width of ribbon exposed and slice with a sharp knife. The Virginia sure changed after being in the press for only 3 days. It's now spicier/peppery and a little less sweet, very smooth, still strong in nicotine, but no hint of greeness.
I put the plug back in the press and clamped it down. I've been checking on the tobacco every few days to make sure it isn't getting moldy. I then remove the plug and set the wood on the heater for a bit to dry it out and then reinsert the plug and clamp again. Next weekend will be almost 2 weeks in the press and I will try another smoke sample to see if I can detect any improvement. Once the plug is dry but still pliable, I'll chop half of it up and cellar the rest in a mason jar for future sampling.
I'll continue the post if there are any new developments or refinements of the process.
