Drying tobacco

[BigIrish1]

I’m not new to pipe smoking but I am still learning. Discussion about preparing to smoke tobacco usually involve drying the tobacco.

Question: How dry is too dry before you start losing flavor? I’m really trying to find a balance, but I think I’m missing the mark. Any sage advise.

 

[reloader]

Its all going to be very personal and each blend may be different. I usually dry until I can pinch the tobacco and it doesn't stick together. Some blends I like dry to the point it feels as though it may crumble. If it breaks apart then I know I went too dry. I have an aromatic that I can dry for hours and it still seems too moist. Best is to keep a piece of paper and a log of how long you dry it each time then decide what is best for you. @cosmicfolklore gave me a great idea to buy a coffee cup warmer and use that to dry an entire tin at once then I don't have to dry it before packing. It will always be ready when I open the jar. Just waiting for the package to be delivered.

 

[Casual]

Trial and error. Some I’ve found great almost crispy. Others lose something unless I smoke them right out of the tin.

 

[onestrangeone]

I’m not sure that there’s one definitive answer to that question!
For me most tobacco’s do well ‘just shy of crunchy’ however some need to be drier and some need less, it’s really just personal preference.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I’m not new to pipe smoking but I am still learning. Discussion about preparing to smoke tobacco usually involve drying the tobacco.

Question: How dry is too dry before you start losing flavor? I’m really trying to find a balance, but I think I’m missing the mark. Any sage advise.

How dry amd how much flavor loss is completely subjective. I smoke really slow, like never puffing slow, so I get way more flavor from most tobaccos when bone dry. But, some I prefer with just a tad bit of pliability. Trial and error is the only real way to find out for your tastes and style.

 

[peregrinus]

Its all going to be very personal

How dry amd how much flavor loss is completely subjective.

I’m not sure that there’s one definitive answer

Trial and error.

All this^^^

 

[dPero]

I found out that for me best works no drying at all, exception very moist tobacco. What works best for you is best don’t think to much

 

[anotherbob]

How dry amd how much flavor loss is completely subjective. I smoke really slow, like never puffing slow, so I get way more flavor from most tobaccos when bone dry. But, some I prefer with just a tad bit of pliability. Trial and error is the only real way to find out for your tastes and style.

I found the same. That more then an issue of flavor loss is that drier just needs to be smoked more gently and slow. And it seems even at pretty dry it still has more flavor. I found even most aros seems to work like this but also have the benefit of the tobacco having more flavor and not just the topping. My guess is that is just like snuff where lose of water doesn't have negative effects on the scent and flavor but the oils drying out does. And the oils still stay when it's barely holding on. Of course your mileage will vary.

 

[PipeIT]

You really have to experiment, because this is a personal preference.

Also, yes, some tabac might not taste as flavorful dry, and some will.

Various blends you might enjoy moister, and some drier, you just have to test it for yourself.

But the overall consensus seems to be, to dry tabac out, by giving it a pinch between your index and thumb, should feel little to no moisture, the tabac barely clumps together, or not at all.

Some even like their tabac crispy!

Just play and see what works for you, of course to moist is not a good thing...

 

[fireground_piper]

My Virginias I will put under a heat lamp to just shy of crisp.

My topped blends I only give like 5 minutes but then be sure to just gravity fill since they are still rather moist.

 

[Grangerous]

I’ve experimented and despite many saying tobacco’s don’t come alive until dry, I don’t find that true in my case.

 

[Morrison Jeremiah]

If I get distracted and accidentally leave tobacco to dry for half an hour or more, I never enjoy it.
A degree of moisture is what works best for me.

 

[cigrmaster]

I live in Sarasota Florida where it is quite humid most of the year. I have a whole house de humidifier and I keep my place at 73-74 year round. It normally takes about 3-4 hours to dry out my Samuel Gawith Flakes. Once they have dried that amount, I have no problems folding and stuffing my flakes. Other flakes like Capstan Blue Flake need no extra drying and I can fold and stuff those right out of an aged tin.

 

[clynch]

Pensacola is always humid. How dry can it really get when the humidity, right now, is 87%. I do know new containers are always too moist for me. If I let it dry out for 30 minutes I need less relights and thats a step in the right direction.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

All of the above and you'll get a feel for how "too wet" tobacco feels to you, IMO. I've erred on the side of crispy-ish lately and all has been wonderful. Relatively new to pipe smoking and this topic seems to come up constantly . . . it seems to be most questioned part of the activity for new folks (like me) and so it should come up a lot. I still enjoy reading all the answers.

I received some samples of some different tobaccos from a very generous forum member a couple of days ago, so yesterday at noon, tried one of them right out of the ziplock - it seemed dry enough between my fingers and thumb and it was! So today I decided to try one of the others - checked it before leaving this morning, it seemed a little moist so I let it sit out the morning packed in the pipe, and at lunchtime - it was perfect!

 

[sablebrush52]

About the only time tobacco can definitively be called too dry is when it's turned into mummy dust.

I experiment with every new blend. My goal is to extract the most flavor from the blend, so that's what I'm focused on when trying different moisture levels. Too much moisture masks flavors, so I'm looking for that point at which the blend pops.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Anyone can dry down a bunch of tobacco at once, and store it in a Mason jar, so you'll have plenty ready to smoke, You don't need any special equipment.

I use small hygrometers to check the RH, which I like between 55% and 70% depending on the blend and cut.