Drying Your Tobacco

[timelord]

I thought I'd got it sussed and then I bought a tin of Samuel Gawith Navy Flake...

How long does this need to be dried before it will even light? I've resorted to cube cutting a flake and even then it needs 3-4 days drying!?

 

[CallMeSangy]

With flakes, I like to load a pipe or two and leave them for a day or so to dry in the chamber. Drying them outside the pipe just creates dust when you crumble and pack. If I'm drying a quantity, I prefer faintly leathery to crispy, but it does vary with the blend.

I've been moving towards this habit recently. Still trying to figure out a good time to let it sit in the chamber, a day being a tad too much for my own impatience, but a lot better than my usual habit of letting everything air dry in a small bowl.

 

[didimauw]

this is me to a T. It is also how i found the microwave tech. My impatient come more from life then myself alone. I dont always have time to sit and chill.

Yes, this is why I dry out more then one bowl at a time. Usually I try to dry enough for the week, sometimes 2oz sometimes 6 or so

 

[solideogloria86]

Any measure of time is going to be completely subjective to your environment. What takes 15 minutes in a Nevada summer may take 6 hours in a Western North Carolina summer. It may take a coffee cup warmer if you're in 1200% humidity like @cosmicfolklore

The way I dry my tobacco out, is to spread it out evenly in a single layer on a flat surface. I check on it every 10-15 minutes or so. I pinch it between my fingers for about 3 seconds and then drop it. What I want to see is the tobacco falling apart in separate pieces and not sticking together or to my fingers. It should also feel about room temperature. If it still feels cool to the touch, it's usually still too moist for my preference.

The goal is still pliable, while not completely crunchy.

That's how I do it.

 

[AJL67]

Short answer, dry it more than you think you should and dry enough for at least a few bowls if it's something that dries slowly, i dry a couple different blends at a time and enough to smoke all day.

 

[sablebrush52]

Experiment with different moisture levels to find what offers you the most flavors with the blends you like to smoke.

For me, since I primarily smoke Virginias, Va/Pers, and Va/Burs, that moisture level is just shy of bone dry. That means dry to the touch when squeezed, no sensation of moisture welling up in the compressed tobacco, while the tobacco is still basically pliant, even if the ends are getting crispy.

It also helps to open a tin a few days to a week before smoking, so that the fresh oxygen wakes up the blend. However, with really ancient blends, 20 years old or older, you may do better to smoke it as soon as you've opened that tin. I've had 40 to 50 year old blends turn to crap in a couple of days after opening.

 

[hyperstar]

I keep my empty tobacco tins. Then I fill it with tobacco for about 3 days quantity. (I smoke one pipe per day.)

I smoke from it everyday. Feel the change of tastes for each day.

You can fill you tins with more tobacco. Find out for how long you should dry your tobacco by yourself.

 

[ChonkyTonks]

With flakes, I like to load a pipe or two and leave them for a day or so to dry in the chamber. Drying them outside the pipe just creates dust when you crumble and pack. If I'm drying a quantity, I prefer faintly leathery to crispy, but it does vary with the blend.

This is my method. I pack two pipes before I go to bed so they are ready for my 5:00 coffee and smoke. Works the best for me. Drying on a plate makes it too dry for me. I like some moisture in my tobacco.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

It may take a coffee cup warmer if you're in 1200% humidity like @cosmicfolklore

The problem with pipesmoking at the bottom of the ocean... even when you get it dry...

 

[Zeno Marx]

You'll most likely get 20 replies with 20 different takes...lol

It's one of the many fantastic things about pipe smoking. This is a hobby you highly tailor to your preferences, and there's no substitute for experimentation and experience. And then you'll find yourself re-writing your own rules. This is a hobby that is neither static nor rigid. Play with it. You can't get to find your optimum experience by following the rules of others. And phooey on rules anyway. What fun are they?

I prefer Englishes and burleys on the drier side, but virginias and VaPers on the slightly moist side. I like a couple % points of higher humidity to tone down perique, leaving it less peppery, which I prefer. The pinch test is a good way to learn how to gauge moisture. Too moist, and it stays clumped. Too dry, and it doesn't want to clump much at all. You're in that range when the tobacco wants to spring a little. If I have to leave a tobacco out, I feel I made an error in over-humidifying (or the factory did).

 

[MacMarty89]

I open most tins for 3 days to a week before smoking it. This allows the tobacco to breathe and dry out a bit. I mostly smoke flake, ideal dryness is where it's just about ready to crack when folded. Or is just to the point of cracking. This level of dryness burns the best and allows the flavors to come through. It also minimizes the amount the tobacco expands when heated and the moisture that forms in the pipe from condensation. I've found no reason to smoke the tobacco with any more moisture than that.

When pressed for time, I've used the microwave. However, that seems to take a bit away from the tobacco flavor, at least to me. At any given time, I will have around 6 tins open that are in the queue and drying. Once you get over the "has to be moist" mind block, you can error a bit on the dry side and you'll see this maximizes your smoking pleasure.

Ma man. I echo these sentiments.

 

[coys]

I’ve been trying to rub the tobacco out or just set it out for a half hour or an hour before smoking; just a bowl’s worth, I leave the rest of whatever tin I have open in a mason jar. This way I only dry what I need.