Adventures in home rolling

[CaptainRon]

Home rolled numbers 3 through 6, from left to right. The little one was rolled by my 6 year old son, with a little help from Dad He was pretty excited to roll it and wanted me to smoke it right away!

Unfortunately, I made the filler a little too moist I think. I think it may be rolled *too* tight! We'll see what happens when it dries out.

The next one, the giant, was rolled with all dry filler. I got it tighter than yesterday's cigars, but it still felt a little loose.

The final two, I used a mix of wet and dry filler. They're definately tighter, and maybe too tight again. I'm going to give these at least a week, I think, to see what happens. I'll let them sit out overnight and put them in a small humidor tomorrow so I can monitor them. I'll probably hold off on making anymore until I can smoke a couple of these and see what's going on with my roll.

So without further ado, here they are! I hope they smoke half way decent because I'm very happy with how they look!

 

[CaptainRon]

Oh yeah, one more thing - I also tried to roll these with the entubado method. First two were rolled just by stacking them up and rolling the stack of filler.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I dry box my sticks for 3 days after rolling before putting in the humidor. After a week they smoke pretty well, after a few months they get pretty damn good

 

[CaptainRon]

The humidor I'm going to put them is was previously at 65%, but I took all the other cigars out of it and it currently has no humidification in it and just the one cigar I rolled last night.

Is that the definition of dry boxing? Haven't ready about it yet so not too sure what it is really! I'll look it up.

 

[CVAC085]

Those cigars look amazing!!! And your son didn't do so bad either!! Young torcedor in the making!?

 

[BrewinHooligan]

The humidor I'm going to put them is was previously at 65%, but I took all the other cigars out of it and it currently has no humidification in it and just the one cigar I rolled last night.

Is that the definition of dry boxing? Haven't ready about it yet so not too sure what it is really! I'll look it up.

Pretty much. I just use an empty cigar box that sits on top of one of my humidors. I put some paper towel in there too to try and help absorb moisture. It's takes quite a while for a wet cigar to evenly come down to a reasonable rh I've found. Even living in the desert.

Keep up the excellent work! There was a big improvement over last nights sticks, I can see you got the wrapper stretched quite a bit more tonight. I think I need to teach my son to start rolling too so I can enjoy the smoke and let him do the work!

 

[Jan Bynens]

You guys gave me a good idea about letting you son roll !!!
Nice looking sticks Captain !!
Remenber that that the sticks you buy rest at least 2 months in the factory.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Slow day at work has me browsing videos. Found this one amazing after being frustrated with large veins in the broadleaf I use for wrapping

 

[CaptainRon]

I just watched this one! pretty amazing - not sure I'll ever be that brave.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

I imagine I would destroy a few wrappers trying but I think I may give it a shot one of these days.

 

[HIM*]

The stems have all the same good stuff the leaf has though. Its pretty cool but rolling the veins out with a beer bottle or small piece of pipe is pretty easy and works well.


Like this...

 

[Mikenice81]

The stems have all the same good stuff the leaf has though. Its pretty cool but rolling the veins out with a beer bottle or small piece of pipe is pretty easy and works well.


Like this...

I saw a video of somebody using a rolling pin to flatten out the smaller veins. Can you do it with the larger ones?

 

[HIM*]

I saw a video of somebody using a rolling pin to flatten out the smaller veins. Can you do it with the larger ones?

Probably but the thing is your supposed to cut those out. The "filet" you want is the outer part of the leaf where the veins aren't as thick and are much easier to roll out.

 

[CaptainRon]

I used a rolling pin on my cigars 3-6. Seemed to help me keep the wrapper a little smoother.

 

[HIM*]

I used a rolling pin on my cigars 3-6. Seemed to help me keep the wrapper a little smoother.

It definitely helps. How long are you giving the wrapper to come up to case?

 

[CaptainRon]

It definitely helps. How long are you giving the wrapper to come up to case?

I don't remember how long it was. Maybe 30 minutes? I sprayed it down. Spread it out a little and sprayed some of the nooks and crannies. I let it sit for a bit until it was more pliable then spread it out more and started cutting out the stem. I think all of that took at least 30 minutes. But i may have given it a spray before diner so could have been over an hour.

Not a very useful answer!

 

[HIM*]

I don't remember how long it was. Maybe 30 minutes? I sprayed it down. Spread it out a little and sprayed some of the nooks and crannies. I let it sit for a bit until it was more pliable then spread it out more and started cutting out the stem. I think all of that took at least 30 minutes. But i may have given it a spray before diner so could have been over an hour.

Not a very useful answer!

Try wetting it down then leaving it in a ziploc overnight. The moisture will be nice and even and I think its a lot easier to work with. Wet and stretchy without being too soggy. Works well with binder too you just spray less DW in the bag.

 

[BrewinHooligan]

Try wetting it down then leaving it in a ziploc overnight. The moisture will be nice and even and I think its a lot easier to work with. Wet and stretchy without being too soggy. Works well with binder too you just spray less DW in the bag.

Exactly this. It makes a night and day difference.

 

[ascrivner]

What's also neat about this vid is that is Sam Leccia rolling..

 

[CaptainRon]

I guess it was a useful answer since the time was no where near enough! I'll give that a shot next time.

Funny conversation with my son last night - I told him I was going to smoke one of the home rolled cigars soon and I asked him if I should smoke the one he rolled. He immediately said no and pointed to the giant one. I asked him why and if he wanted me to save the one he rolled until he was old enough. He gave me a confident smile and said yes lol

Its funny. He knows he's too young And he hates cigarettes (hoping he does better with those than I did. 20+ years of 2+ packs a day was a tough habit to break), but he still wants me to save certain pipe or cigar related things for him. Silly kid

Thanks for the advice about casing the wrapper guys. Looking forward to trying it out!