Fold and Stuff Always Fails For Me

[panamacharlie]

I've only smoked Peter Stokkebye flakes, and always fold and stuff. But this works for me only with pipes with tall narrow bowls, in pipes with wide bowls the burn goes mostly down the middle like you said.

 

[cranseiron]

+1 panamacharlie-- a tall conical bowl is essential.

 

[toobfreak]

Lightmybriar, the advantage of flake is the flake form, it smolders, burns cooler, so has more flavor. When you rub it out, you partly destroy some of these advantages! Getting more oxygen in there burns it at a higher temp.
The key first step is recognizing when the flake is sufficiently dry for proper burning. Putting the fold at the bottom just blocks off the air flow which makes it harder to light and keep lit. With the right dryness, when you twist and stuff the flake, it will crack and break a lot allowing enough ingress at the crease for the flame to take hold and get a good false light. Once you get that top layer burning, like a fuse, it will take a slow burn, coolly, and feed the flame and smoke down to the layers below. As it smokes down, pull the flake away from the side wall so that air can get behind it.
You can easily have a tobacco that is too moist but it is hard to get one that is too dry. The thing about flake is that it is very deceptive because while the exterior may look and feel dry, the inside may still be wet. When it is dry all the way through, it will crack and splinter when bent rather than just fold over. It takes a lot of experimentation in how you fold and stuff to know when it is right. Your technique will vary depending on the dryness of the flake, the thickness of the flake and the diameter and height of the bowl. But once you experience a slow, cool and dry smoldering flake, the flavor is simply sublime.

 

[sallow]

I fold and stuff the thinner softer flakes like orlik golden sliced and luxury navy flake.

 

[mso489]

I rub it out. I've tried fold and stuff, but by the time I want a pipe, I don't have the patience for it. Hasn't worked well for me. Some love it. Ok.

 

[didimauw]

I have to rub it out. I was not meant to fold and stuff...

 

[ophiuchus]

Most of my suggestions have been covered. Find a tall, narrow bowl (roughly .75 inch across, 1.5 inch deep). Fold and roll the flake like a sleeping bag. Twist said roll crease-side up (thank you toobfreak), tamp the top. Leave this pre-packed pipe in the ashtray overnight to dry some more (the tobacco on top will dry faster ... this will facilitate more even burning). Though the "pre-char" light is not always in my smoking routine, a pre-char and initial tamping will also encourage more even burning. Be ready to use a pick along with the tamp, to stab through any slow-burning occlusions. I also find myself more actively "choking" the chamber (cupping over the bowl or covering the opening with a couple sacrificial fingers to create negative pressure while drawing) when smoking folded flakes. When relighting, don't suck the flame into the tobacco; rather, draw the heat down without drawing down the flame. Dump excess ash, and remember the little twist when tamping.
That said, when I'm in the mood for some "impulse" flake, I just rub it out like everyone else. :lol:

 

[ssjones]

My experience was like MSO's, I didn't have the patience so I basically stopped smoking flakes. Once I figured out that rubbed out was the way to go, I've stuck with that method.

 

[lightmybriar]

Toobfreak, you will forever go down in my personal history as the man who saved the Flake for me. I followed instructions with a perfectly dry Dunhill Flake last night and it was a perfect smoke! Many thanks for all the future excellent smokes to come, sir! Very grateful

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I don't like how flakes burn, leaving little shards of unburned flake sticking up amongst the ashes. I always seem to have to fiddle with the bowl when smoking folded and stuffed. But, even though I enjoy them better rubbed or cube but, I still will torture myself by folding and stuff occasionally. I guess I keep thinking that I must be missing something. But... ::

 

[crashthegrey]

I only smoke them folded and stuffed for the most part. I'll agree with the above that you need the right narrow bowl, conical possibly. If you want to fold and stuff, buy a flake pipe from Tim Thorpe. Changed my whole world. He makes them all for me now.

 

[shutterbugg]

I'd describe my flake packing technique as "scrunch and go". The folding business seems a bit too ritualistic and analretentive to me, and rubbing-out a flake between my hands...well, not sure what my palm-sweat and skin oil would add to the taste of the smoke but I'd rather not find out :D (I could wash my hands with soap or sanitizer first I suppose, but I'm not a fan of Lakeland essence so...)

 

[cossackjack]

+1 ophiuchus!
Also, do not over-pack the the folded flake(s); better slightly underloaded than overloaded.
For wider, shallow bowls, the Z-fold method works well.

 

[tinsel]

I'd describe my flake packing technique as "scrunch and go"

Same here ... but I like to think of it as "wad and stuff".
With the nice rectangular flakes like Dunhill Flake, I also put the crease at the top as toobfreak said.
Fold long ways twice. Then fold short ways. Twist and wiggle a bit to loosen the strands, and then stuff it in with the crease at the top. Works great for me. It's much faster than rubbing or cube cutting and I get a good burn most of the time. Occasionally I suffer from the "burns down the middle" problem. When that happens, if you catch it before it's burned down too far, you can just use a pipe tool to kinda fold the edges down towards the center and relight. But, if you get the fold and stuff down properly it seems to be a lot more rare for that to happen.
$.02 ...

 

[aimlesswanderer]

Nice to hear that so many of the experienced pipers are also of the mindset that rubbing it out is the way to go. Not that I'm unappreciative of the great insights from the successful folders and stuffers. Although I think I'll be mainly sticking to what works for me, I'm certainly listening closely to the rest of you, and will no doubt try again with your suggestions at some point in time. However, my rubbing out of flake is so half-arsed it's probably not too dissimilar to shutterbugg's scrunch and go technique, as I like to leave the broken flake as dense as possible for the cool slow smoke. I'm less concerned about the skin oils though, and I'd expect more influence on the smoke to come from the cake in the bowl than anything that may be wicked from my hand.

 

[Perique]

I smoke a lot of flakes. Or, rather, there are a few flakes that I smoke a lot of.
Meh. Fold and stuff was never an optimal method for me. So if you don't like it, don't sweat it. Rub that sucker out and enjoy.

 

[murica]

Never figured it out. I just rub and stuff. And smoke more flakes than anything else. Always worked for me.

 

[paulfg]

@toobfreak

just wanted to say thank you.I have been fighting gawith & hoggath flakes for quite some time and yesterday i read your above post re always put the fold in the flake uppermost in the chamber,I had been putting it in first ie downwards.

I have just finished my second bowl of the day of Ennerdale flake and loading it uppermost both bowls smoked down with minimal relights.

thank you very much for that piece of advice