How do you prepare your plug tobacco?

explodingpenguin · Sep 23, 2010

I just got my first plug tobacco Peterson's perfect plug. I have done a bit of looking around online and there seems to be as many was to prepare plug tobacco as there are pipe smokers. Everything from rubbing it out to cutting a plug to fit the pipe and lighting up. Just wondering what others have tried and how it has worked for them.
Also any suggestions for other plugs or ropes to try would be greatly appreciated.

pstlpkr · Sep 23, 2010

This is a good question, there may be several different methods by the other members.

I generally use a very sharp knife and cut off a "slice about a 1/16" straight across the plug all the way through, and repeat until I have enough to fill one or two bowls. Then I break it up using my fingers until it is a consistency and size that seems to be right.
I Carefully pack the pipe I have decided to use.

Then of course the "Pizza" resistance.

I light that puppy up.

juni · Sep 23, 2010

I cut it into flakes and then prepare the flakes as any other flake tobacco.

unclearthur · Sep 23, 2010

Yup! Slice off some . Rub it out and SMOKE!!!

chuckw · Sep 23, 2010

My first try was peeling a thin wafer off and rubbing it out. It refused to rub out. Next I tried cutting the wafer into small 1/8" to 1/4" cubes and gravity filled the pipe. I couldn't keep it lit. I finally hit upon the way to smoke this stuff. I peeled it into wafers and dropped them in the blender. I turned it into a crumble. It smokes fine and has a nice flavor.

menckenite · Sep 23, 2010

So Chuck, I guess that would the Plugarita method.

nabottle · May 25, 2011

"Pizza" Resistance. I lie it!

python · May 25, 2011

Here is my article and video on how to do it:
How to Prepare Plug Pipe Tobacco

olderthandirt · Oct 7, 2011

3P's is the only plug I've tried so far, more in the future for sure cuz I likes it!
With the 3P's my most enjoyable bowls have been where I've cubed it, gravity feed, touch of flash on top and VERY spare with the tamper. Damn good smoke!
What did you get Paul?

romeowood · Oct 7, 2011

I've been revisiting the JackKnife Plug now that my tins are 6+ months, Paul. I'm finding that it smokes equally well as a folded flake, rubbed, cubed, shredded, even peeling it off layer by layer; each method will produce slightly different flavor profiles too. You simply can't go wrong with the stuff. For slicing you'll need a razor sharp knife. And definitely check out Bob's videos.

olderthandirt · Oct 7, 2011

Cool.

I've a tin of Triple Play in the wings waiting to be opened.
From what I've been told and read, however it ends up in the bowl, flake or cube or rubbed out, you want to start with a flake.

Some plugs, in particular GLP's, have the constituent tobaccos layered and then pressed into the plug. As such, if you peel off a layer rather than slice off a flake you will end up with an incomplete bit of the whole.
Have fun with it!!
ETA: How has the peeling a layer approach worked for ya romeowood?

olderthandirt · Oct 7, 2011

Woo hoo

+!!

romeowood · Oct 7, 2011

ETA: How has the peeling a layer approach worked for ya romeowood?

Wonderfully, actually. I've got enough of the stuff to experiment with, and I wanted to really get a fix on the constituent tobaccos, particularly the dark-fired Kentucky leaf. Incidentally, after playing with some of these layers, I recommended the d.f. Kentucky for addition to one of our NYPC blends--it's a brilliant tobacco with a lot of body, earthy bass notes, and a complexity that embraces and accentuates bright Virginia equally as well as Latakia. It's also fun peeling off a few layers, grouping them according to leaf (as best I can reckon), and tasting the individual instruments that make up this symphony.

nmbigfoot02 · Oct 7, 2011

I usually cut off a slice of the cake, cube up the slice, then run it through a kitchen grinder (the kind you use for grinding walnuts.) It produces a broken flake kind of cut that is fairly easy to keep lit.

romeowood · Oct 7, 2011

Yes and yes.

Peeling the layers back will separate the different tobaccos, as these were blended in a very specific "sandwiched" order. I did this specifically to sample the blend's components, layer by layer; this was mainly for reviewing purposes. While it does not release the "full flavor" of the intended blend, it allows for more clarified discernment of how the blend got to taste so damned good.

olderthandirt · Oct 7, 2011

That's what I outlined in my post above baskerville.

lol, Sounds as though romeowood has entirely too much time on his hands! (-;
ETA: hehe, and again romeo responds while I'm typing. It does sound as though you're enjoying yourself to the fullest romeo!

undecagon · Oct 7, 2011

Huge fan of Jack Knife. When i first open a tin I left the plug sit our for a few hours to dry out a bit, and find it still very moist until it's all gone. I'll normally cut close to 1/8 inches off at a time and treat it as a flake if the piece stays together, but it often crumbles into a broken flake before i finish cutting. Maybe it's because my knife isn't sharp enough, but I think it's because I've started drying them. I don't remember my flakes falling apart so much with my first tin which I never let sit out...but I DO REMEMBER that first tin being extremely difficult to keep lit. So I'm happy with a broken flake that stays lit! Depending on what pipe I'm using, if I have extra's from any cut they just go in the bottom of the tin, and once the plug is all chopped up, I rub out the pieces in the bottom and smoke away. Great Blend IMO!

olderthandirt · Oct 7, 2011

I found a very sharp knife is essential for slicing plug.

If my wife were to ever come into the kitchen while I'm using her boning knife to slice plug, well, it would probably be some time before I was heard from again (-;

whitebriar · Oct 7, 2011

i have a small pen knife, very sharp, that i use to cut fine but short portions from the plug that i later rub out--not full flake size, but cut at diagonals to obtain the length i prefer--probably lose something in that manner, but i like it--

romeowood · Oct 7, 2011

If your implements allow, I do recommend taking full-length slices at no greater a width than 1/16", for a fold and stuff preparation. Really remarkable commingling of bright and dark, particularly in a Dublin.
EDIT: and yes, I have *way* too much time on my hands of late :lol:

How do you prepare your plug tobacco?

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