Fire Curing
Production & CuringEnglish
Definition
Curing over smoldering hardwood fires laid on the barn floor, which dries the leaf while depositing smoke phenols in it. The process runs from several days to several weeks depending on the intensity wanted.
Why it matters
The smoke character it produces cannot be replicated by flavoring or aging, so any genuinely smoky cigar leaf almost certainly went through a fire barn.
In context
"The fire-cured leaf came out of the barn smelling like a smokehouse."