Do You Dry Your Tobacco Before Smoking? Why or Why Not?

[Sobrbiker]

I’m fairly new to this (<2yrs smoking like I mean it), and I’ve yet to open a tin and smoke it through exclusively. That means everything most everything gets jarred.
If I know the blend enough (and have now learned better what kind of moisture will burn as I like it), I will do my moisture adjustment between the tin and the jar. As many mentioned I am too impatient (and sometimes too indecisive) to “put out” a smoke’s worth to dry.
Bulk blends I buy usually go “as received” into larger jars, and are then used to fill a smaller jar for use and are adjusted as needed/desired then. Blends I know will benefit from some time are set back of course, but I don’t by anything that needs years in my hands before I will like them.

What I found more interesting was the information about how bulk leaves are often dried to the point of crispy and rehydrated them for handling/processing. This puts an interesting angle on the “but if it gets dry it’ll never taste the same” camp, yet GLP also makes a case for that that statement as well after explaining the former.

 

[Sigmund]

Ive been using my tobacco pretty directly from the jars. Its not super wet to begin with and opening and closing dries it more.

Lately I have been smoking some of my older non filter pipes. I learned really fast that its easy to scorch yourself when you go from 9mm AC filters to no filter. The steam is a killer so I have been drying more when I use those pipes.

 

[dottlejockey]

I'm with the smoke it as it is group here. Drying tobacco is something i did years ago with certain blends, but after learning how to make adjustments in the actual smoking of the pipe itself, it has become a moot point. That being said, i don't buy PG'd blends, i rarely smoke aros and due to the large assortment of open/jarred items, they tend to naturally dry slightly as the jar is opened and closed over time and my smoking style/cadence adjusts naturally to whatever moisture level is giving me in terms of heat in the pipe.

The most recent example i can think of is popping a new tin of 1792. I noted that it was wetter than anything i've smoked for a while and i simply slowed down a bit with it and had no issues.

 

[kcghost]

Well, I don't smoke aromatics, so I don't have to deal with things that are dripping moisture. I know most aromatics aren't that wet, but a few are. Greg's point on how to put moisture I believe to right on point. Having said that I never jar my tobaccos and when get ready to smoke them I open the tin up and fill the bowl and lit her up. Do that for two or three weeks and the tin is consumed. This system works for me.

 

[FLDRD]

Nice to see the ENVIRONMENT mentioned as a significant factor. Why some great recommendations sometimes simply won't work for another person in another location......

 

[captpat]

Depends, some need drying, especially SG flakes.