I just got a tin or Orlik Golden Sliced in the mail today, and I was so excited that I smoked it right out of the tin without drying it. It didn't burn wetter or hotter like I would've expected, but it didn't burn all the way to the far edge of the bowl. As it burned down, I would have to scrape an 1/8" edge of unburned tobacco down onto the ashes in the middle of the bowl. I've not seen wet ribbon cut do that before. Any suggestions? I light it with a pipe-insert Zippo, if that helps.
Flake Cut Troubleshooting
- Thread starter Paterfumeus
- Start date
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Perhaps the fold and stuff didn't stuff well enough allowing tobacco to touch each other? I usually rub out flakes to prevent. Drying is optional.
I’ve had little joy folding&stuffing flakes or coins
Best results from rubbing out well or cube cutting and gravity filling
AND drying well, of course
Best results from rubbing out well or cube cutting and gravity filling
AND drying well, of course
It's not abnormal. You need to manage your flake. Drying first is a very good idea. Not stuffing tight is also good idea. When it's dried and not packed tight, and has some loose bits of dried fines on top, it burns down more evenly. However, you still might have to scrap the side of the bowl.
Did you rub out the flake into a ribbon/broken flake before loading or use the fold and stuff method?
I personally don't like dealing with the fold and stuff method. I feel that maintaining it throughout the smoke turns into more work than rubbing out the flake
I personally don't like dealing with the fold and stuff method. I feel that maintaining it throughout the smoke turns into more work than rubbing out the flake
My first round with pipes back over a decade ago I was folding and stuffing. I didnt know guys who rubbed it out. This time around I always rub it out and it burns like a charm.
If you smoke it wet, you bend it and squeeze it. You might get a watertight mass of tobacco, where oxygen can't get through and you have to set fire to the whole pipe, turn it into a torch. As the other guys say here, and also if you load it, better by gravity, or if you pack something tight, that at least it is very dry.
I have extensive experience smoking Orlik Golden Sliced and this is exactly that I do:
Open the tin
Grab one flake of tobacco without letting it dry
Rub it out into very small pieces
Gravity feed the pipe
VERY gently nudge the tobacco into the chamber with my index finger or pinky
Gravity fill once more
Light and smoke
The pack should be very loose as it's a flake that will expand a bit as it's smoked.
Open the tin
Grab one flake of tobacco without letting it dry
Rub it out into very small pieces
Gravity feed the pipe
VERY gently nudge the tobacco into the chamber with my index finger or pinky
Gravity fill once more
Light and smoke
The pack should be very loose as it's a flake that will expand a bit as it's smoked.
The same thing happens to me when I smoke thick Gawith flakes that I fold and stuff. They smell so good to me out of the jar that they don't get enough drying time - I just can't wait sometimes. They tend to burn in a cone in the middle leaving the outsides unburned, so I have to fiddle with scraping and tamping and re-lighting, but it's worth it because the slower and wetter burn results in a very flavorful smoke session.
For flakes, I will fold it three times with the grain, tear it into three sections against the grain, then rub it out. Spread it on the leather and let it sit however long it takes me to make coffee and wipe out my meer bowl, probably 5-10 minutes I guess? That's all I do for drying.
Coins I fold in half then rub out, but otherwise is the same process.
Unless the flake comes out dry in which case I stuff it first then make my coffee.
Doing that, I've never had an issue with flake tobaccos no matter how wet or dry they were. Mostly if a tobacco is wetter, I just pack a little looser and/or smoke a little slower. I mostly smoke my tobacco wetter these days regardless of what the cut is. But the wetter it is, the less it burns down the sides, just scrape it over with the tamp.
Coins I fold in half then rub out, but otherwise is the same process.
Unless the flake comes out dry in which case I stuff it first then make my coffee.
Doing that, I've never had an issue with flake tobaccos no matter how wet or dry they were. Mostly if a tobacco is wetter, I just pack a little looser and/or smoke a little slower. I mostly smoke my tobacco wetter these days regardless of what the cut is. But the wetter it is, the less it burns down the sides, just scrape it over with the tamp.
I smoke OGS a couple times a day and this is pretty normal for me. When I open the tin I flatten it out and cut into sections the same depth as my pipes. I stack them up in an airtight Tupperware. Two slices rolled up fit perfectly into my bowl. Occasional/regular stragglers cling to bowl as I smoke. I scrape them off with my tamper and relight.