Cutting cake?

[HRPufnstuf]

My last shipment came with 4oz of Plum Pudding Special Reserve, pressed cake is a new experience for me.

I set myself up a cutting table nicely but my first attempt was too fine a cut and consequently smoked hot and fast. The cake is quite dry, any recommendations on how thick I should be cutting or is this YMMV territory?

This is my second cut and it is more consistant with the coarseness of Plum Pudding crumble cake.

 

[PaulRVA]

I just slice a piece off about a 1/4 inch thick and crumble it up between my fingers.
That is crumble it up enough to loosen it not a fine mashing.

 

[upnorth1]

I finger crumble cakes. It takes a bit longer but I find I get to feel when it’s just right. I’m a big fan of Redburn and I find that finger crumbling it is not only satisfying but I can smell the odors the tobacco releases.

 

[HRPufnstuf]

I finger crumble cakes. It takes a bit longer but I find I get to feel when it’s just right. I’m a big fan of Redburn and I find that finger crumbling it is not only satisfying but I can smell the odors the tobacco releases.

I'll give that a try with the other half of the cake. I had to divide it to get it in the jar. Thanks!

 

[sardonicus87]

Not all cakes/plugs are made the same. C&D made plugs seem to easily pull apart by finger..

SPC Plum Pudding, at least not mine (Special Reserve) doesn't pull apart so easy. I tried slicing with a very sharp knife, razor blade, etc and it's difficult to get a slice off. It always has to basically be sawn off and breaks into a huge mess. I don't even try to get it cut off into a slice.

Luckily, the Special Reserve version is also available in flake form.

My plug has been open like a year and is still pretty moist, at least on the inside. Whenever I cut mine, it looks like what's in your bowl. It didn't smoke too hot or fast for me.

 

[HRPufnstuf]

Not all cakes/plugs are made the same. C&D made plugs seem to easily pull apart by finger..

SPC Plum Pudding, at least not mine (Special Reserve) doesn't pull apart so easy. I tried slicing with a very sharp knife, razor blade, etc and it's difficult to get a slice off. It always has to basically be sawn off and breaks into a huge mess. I don't even try to get it cut off into a slice.

Luckily, the Special Reserve version is also available in flake form.

My plug has been open like a year and is still pretty moist, at least on the inside. Whenever I cut mine, it looks like what's in your bowl. It didn't smoke too hot or fast for me.

The image above is of my second cut, about 1/4 inch, and it crumbled nicely. My first was about 1/8 inch and it crumble into fine crumbs and tobacco "dust", so it burned hotter than I'd like. The tobacco in the bowl image above smoked as expected, very enjoyable. The cake is a tougher cut than I expected but my "tobacco" knife is actually a Japanese carpentry knife, very sharp if somewhat thicker than optimal, a very good tool. Thanks for the feedback, I will be trying flake tobacco in the future, several members have extolled the improved quality of their smokes relative to cake or loose.

 

[proteus]

I personally break up the entire cake. Only for cakes. For plugs I cut into flake, rub out the flakes and use as needed. Mainly because cakes are just usually ribbon cuts that are compressed where as plugs are based upon whole leaf compression as I understand. To break up a plug like a cake is much more difficult. Maybe impossible.

 

[Sobrbiker]

I use a razor blade, and cut ~5/8” strip off cake, then cut that into ~5/8” “cubes. These slide back into jar until time to use.
Cubes are plucked from jar and rubbed out.
This is one cube of War Horse Green rubbed out and ready to load up.

 

[HRPufnstuf]

I use a razor blade, and cut ~5/8” strip off cake, then cut that into ~5/8” “cubes. These slide back into jar until time to use.
Cubes are plucked from jar and rubbed out.
This is one cube of War Horse Green rubbed out and ready to load up.View attachment 259510

Interesting process, I like its efficiency and the ease of storage.

 

[Winnipeger]

I use a sharp cleaver and cut flakes, though some cakes are definitely more crumbly than others.

(this is a picture of GLP Temple Bar cut into flakes)

 

[Sobrbiker]

Interesting process, I like its efficiency and the ease of storage.

Works for me. Partial cake and a cube in the jar:
Almost time to replenish

 

[bullet08]

Typically, I just slice them and rub them out. Too hard for me to cut them in uniform slices for fold and stuff. Been awhile since I had PP to remember what it was like. If the plug is much like crumble cake, I just pinch them off in small pieces and use like cubes.