I have shared before my method of pressing whole leaf into plugs. There’s plenty of information about that on my KZfaq channel. But I wanted to share something that I have tried more recently. I got the idea from someone else, though sadly, I cannot remember who. Basically, I left the tobacco in its press outdoors for two weeks when the weather was constantly between 95 and 105°F.
visually, the difference was automatically noticeable. The tobacco is significantly darker than it was after a single overnight press at 75°.
more details: after pressing the tobacco overnight, and wrapping it in foil to retain moisture, I returned to the press, but with just enough pressure to hold the form. Otherwise it becomes so dense that you can’t cut through it then I left the press outside in direct sunlight, for two weeks, day and night. here in the southwest, the temperature was always between 95 and 105°F. The press itself probably reached 120° because it was sitting in direct sunlight absorbing heat. As a result, the tobacco was, you might say, gently stoved, if you came much darker. It is also noticeably sweeter from the press than otherwise. No sweetener has been added to the tobacco, but it is already considerably smoother and sweeter than it would have been on the first night when I pressed it.