Cobguy, thanks!
I'm quite happy with what I did, but it has some drawbacks.
1.Moisten the tobacco tot he point that it sticks together.
2.Pack into a half-pint jar with a caulk gun.
3.Heat to 110ºf for 1 hour (a-amylase trigger temp)
4.Raise to 200º for 1 hour
5.Raise to 330º for 40 minutes.(Malliard stage temp)
The idea was to run it through the a-amylase trigger point again, just in case any more conversion could be achieved. Not sure if this was effective or not, there may not be any active enzymes left, depending on how the tobacco had already been processed. Then since the jars are packed very densely, slowly raise the temp to the Malliard point. But by that time, the jars were steaming like crazy and then drying out quickly. At 30 minutes at 330º, I could start to smell smoke. The whole house smelled like a charring light, which was fantastic, but I suspect that a lot of flavor components were being lost. Well, I guess that Malliard temps can't be reached if moisture is present and the contents are under normal atmospheric pressure, correct?
A test smoke last night was very enjoyable. Smoother, richer, deeper than the pre-process blend.
I'll run some of the same blend through the pressure-cooker methodology next, and compare!
