GB1065527A - Tobacco manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

A process of manufacturing a coherent tobacco product for smoking comprises steeping tobacco in water, the major portion by weight of the tobacco being retained on a 60-mesh screen, maintaining the aqueous suspension of tobacco at a temperature in the range of 140-200 DEG F. for a period of at least two hours, wet-grinding the thus treated aqueous suspension of tobacco until the particles thereof retained on a 100-mesh screen of a Clark Classifier are not more than 17% by weight but not less than 9% by weight of the tobacco on a dry basis, and converting the resulting wet-ground tobacco pulp into a coherent tobacco product. Preferably the temperature of the aqueous suspension of tobacco is maintained in the range of 160-180 DEG F. for a period of 4-20 hours, the major portion by weight of the tobacco is retained on a 40-mesh screen, and the particles of the wet-ground tobacco pulp which are retained on the 100-mesh screen are not more than 15% by weight of the tobacco on a dry basis. The tobacco is a blend of cigarette tobacco including a substantial portion of flue-cured tobacco. The particles of the wet-ground tobacco pulp which pass through a 100-mesh screen but are retained on a 150-mesh screen of a Clark Classifier are preferably approximately 2% by weight of the tobacco on a dry basis, and the particles of the pulp which pass through the 150-mesh screen but are retained on a 200-mesh screen total 2 to 3 1/2 times the 2% fraction of coarser particles. Quantitative examples are given.