Does Moist Tobacco Make You Have to Relight More Often?
- Thread starter mrmachado
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Just be patient and let the tobacco breating the fresh air, hence drying it. Putting those tobacco on paper towel somewhat helps
Excess moisture is tops in a list of why you have many relights, followed by packing and tamping (too much or too little) and how fast or slow you smoke. Also factors in tongue burn.
I opened a tin of Full Virginia Flake last week. It still isn't dry enough. I just leave a tin I want to smoke open for as long as it takes. I have never seen tobacco get too dry.
Bone dry is how I smoke it, but in a pinch damp tobacco can be successfully smoked when packed lighter.
The common feeling is that tobacco straight from the tin is perfect for shipping and storage, but not for smoking. Letting it air dry for at least 30 minutes, maybe longer, is one of the factors affecting relights.
If your tobacco is too wet it will create a lot of steam and burn your tongue as well.
If your tobacco is too wet it will create a lot of steam and burn your tongue as well.
I think it's important to mention one thing here.
When we talk about wet tobacco creating steam and not burning well, we are referring to actual water in the tobacco. There are many blends that have humectants or other ingredients added and they feel wet, but in fact burn well.
A couple of examples I can think of right now is Molto Dolce. It feels really wet and sticky, does not really ever dry out, even after days of being out in the open, but burns well right down to the bottom of the bowl. Another one is Lane 1Q, its very moist and yet burns nicely.
When we talk about wet tobacco creating steam and not burning well, we are referring to actual water in the tobacco. There are many blends that have humectants or other ingredients added and they feel wet, but in fact burn well.
A couple of examples I can think of right now is Molto Dolce. It feels really wet and sticky, does not really ever dry out, even after days of being out in the open, but burns well right down to the bottom of the bowl. Another one is Lane 1Q, its very moist and yet burns nicely.
Well lets see... in one week, you have upgraded your pipe from a gurgler to a corncob, if I remember correctly. Then it was your soggy house. You were looking for drier tobacco. Then technique? I saw an other thread about using a torch lighter. All of these issues seem to culminate from moisture.
Is moisture level important, yes, in every aspect. When I first started I loaded up with soggy Captain Black, and puffed like a freight train till I steamed my tongue severely. Then in continuing to try to keep my pipe going, I just kept trying to smoke and trying, till my tongue was a bloody mess.
Where I live is also a swamp-like zone of humidity. Moisture s a big deal. While I read about guys frantically trying to keep their open tins dry, I am setting my tobaccos out, only to find them more moist than when I opened them.
If you can get wet tobacco lit, you are stirring together poor technique, making the tobacco burn hotter, adding steam to that, and you've got disaster.
Dry the hell out of the tobacco. All of the talk about tins drying out and tobacco going stale is something those of us in humid zones will never see. I pop my tins and dry the hell out of them. In fact, I avoid S&G tobaccos when I can, because if I leave them out overnight, they will suck all of the water out of the room and get even more wet. I save those for winter smoking, when it is dryer.
Dry dry dry. Dry you tobacco. It cannot get too dry. This seems to be the stem of all of your problems.
Is moisture level important, yes, in every aspect. When I first started I loaded up with soggy Captain Black, and puffed like a freight train till I steamed my tongue severely. Then in continuing to try to keep my pipe going, I just kept trying to smoke and trying, till my tongue was a bloody mess.
Where I live is also a swamp-like zone of humidity. Moisture s a big deal. While I read about guys frantically trying to keep their open tins dry, I am setting my tobaccos out, only to find them more moist than when I opened them.
If you can get wet tobacco lit, you are stirring together poor technique, making the tobacco burn hotter, adding steam to that, and you've got disaster.
Dry the hell out of the tobacco. All of the talk about tins drying out and tobacco going stale is something those of us in humid zones will never see. I pop my tins and dry the hell out of them. In fact, I avoid S&G tobaccos when I can, because if I leave them out overnight, they will suck all of the water out of the room and get even more wet. I save those for winter smoking, when it is dryer.
Dry dry dry. Dry you tobacco. It cannot get too dry. This seems to be the stem of all of your problems.
Relights are not a big deal...to me anyway. The other day I opened a tin of C&D Corn Cob Pipe (Button Nose) loaded up a pipe and had 4-5 relights. It didn't diminish my smoking experience at all. I have had smokes with no relights and smokes with 5-6 relights. I'm still a newbie...8 months smoking. I know part of my problem is still technique...tobacco drying, loading, tamping...it's a continual learning experience.
Javan put it quite succinctly with his comparison to trying to burn wet wood.
Too much moisture in anything carbon based is going to hinder its ability to take to the flame.
There are a multitude of ways to reduce the moisture content in tobacco, air drying is the most common (provided you don't live in Swampland AKA Alabama) and my preferred method.
Regards,
Jay.
Too much moisture in anything carbon based is going to hinder its ability to take to the flame.
There are a multitude of ways to reduce the moisture content in tobacco, air drying is the most common (provided you don't live in Swampland AKA Alabama) and my preferred method.
Regards,
Jay.
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