How dry should it be?

[HeadMisfit]

And
Considering the use of humectants, most things can't get dry to touch no matter what

 

[sablebrush52]

Folding and stuffing has never worked for me.

The guys on my weekly zoom, all of them veteran pipe smokers, don't do stuff and fold because it produces an inferior result for them. They literally grind their flakes then pack. I've tried it, and yep, better flavors for me than stuff and fold.

 

[sablebrush52]

10% relative humidity is desert dry, probably equates to 0% water by weight. Water content in tobacco can’t be measured directly by relative humidity, since RH measures moisture in the air, not water in a product. Instead, moisture content in tobacco (and many other things like grain, beans, etc) is measured as “water by weight”, how much of the weight of a sample is actually water. That involves using an instument that heats a sample of the goods slowly until all water evaporates and the sample stops reducing in weight.

Not a cheap device, so people sometimes mistakenly try putting a sample in a sealed container and measuring the moisture in the enclosed air space. That’s fraught with variables and other problems and doesn’t give an accurate, repeatable result. Example: In measuring RH, you are measuring the water that has evaporated from the sample and is no longer in the sample. Also, most cheap hygrometers are woefully inaccurate.

Somewhere I have a chart based on what Mr. Pease actually said, but the best thing to do is to ask @glpease directly. He probably has a better answer than I can cobble together before coffee.

Thank for this. Like I wrote, I never understood how that RH percentage translated to actual moisture content, and it sounds like I'm not the only one, especially since there were people here who used those cheap hydrometers to inform them.

I just go by touch and feel, and that works well for me, and has for many years.

 

[HeadMisfit]

The guys on my weekly zoom, all of them veteran pipe smokers, don't do stuff and fold because it produces an inferior result for them. They literally grind their flakes then pack. I've tried it, and yep, better flavors for me than stuff and fold.

Lol must not be smoking good stuff. Or very simple blend?

 

[sablebrush52]

Lol must not be smoking good stuff. Or very simple blend?

Considering that some of them are very highly regarded blenders who have produced some very popular blends and have cellars going back 30 to 40 years, they're smoking MUCH better stuff than you can imagine. LOL on you.

 

[Pypkė]

They literally grind their flakes then pack. I've tried it, and yep, better flavors for me than stuff and fold.

Dry and grind, or out-of-the-tin and grind?

 

[sablebrush52]

Dry and grind, or out-of-the-tin and grind?

Grind, or just break up into tiny bits and then dry, since drying is sped up by breaking down the flake.
Again, the amount of drying may vary depending on what works best for the individual smoker.

 

[huntertrw]

The guys on my weekly zoom, all of them veteran pipe smokers, don't do stuff and fold because it produces an inferior result for them. They literally grind their flakes then pack. I've tried it, and yep, better flavors for me than stuff and fold.

By "grind" do you mean with something like this?:



This is a Black & Decker HC306 miniature 1.5-cup food-processor. I purchased mine several years upon the recommendation of our Pipestud, and use it to tame flakes and to improve the burning characteristics of chunky blends. It's small, easy to use, works VERY well, and can typically be had for around $20.00.

 

[Pypkė]

Grind, or just break up into tiny bits and then dry, since drying is sped up by breaking down the flake.
Again, the amount of drying may vary depending on what works best for the individual smoker.

I "grind" just using my fingers. I wouldn't want to use a coffee bean grinder to make tobacco dust.

 

[OzPiper]

The guys on my weekly zoom, all of them veteran pipe smokers, don't do stuff and fold because it produces an inferior result for them. They literally grind their flakes then pack. I've tried it, and yep, better flavors for me than stuff and fold.

I’m pleased it’s not just relative novices like me whom have problems folding and stuffing.

I find that folding and stuffing requires (for me) too many relights.
And that has a huge impact on flavours.

I recall Steve Fallon (Pipestud) saying that he’d use a coffee grinder with longer strands of shag

 

[sablebrush52]

By "grind" do you mean with something like this?:

View attachment 425575

This is a Black & Decker HC306 miniature 1.5-cup food-processor. I purchased mine several years upon the recommendation of our Pipestud, and use it to tame flakes and to improve the burning characteristics of chunky blends. It's small, easy to use, works VERY well, and can typically be had for around $20.00.

That, or a vegetable chopper. Whatever works for you.

 

[sablebrush52]

I’m pleased it’s not just relative novices like me whom have problems folding and stuffing.

I find that folding and stuffing requires (for me) too many relights.
And that has a huge impact on flavours.

I recall Steve Fallon (Pipestud) saying that he’d use a coffee grinder with longer strands of shag

Yes he does. I thought it a bit extreme until I tried breaking down the flakes.

 

[RL Bucktails]

The tobacco I smoke is usually not dry enough. I need to put more effort into drying it out.

 

[HeadMisfit]

Only flakes i have in any supply is orlik. Fold n stuff is wonderful. Fully rubbed and it tastes like an orange cleaner for sinks.

And I discovered that it i rub out old gowrie dry an hour and smoke, it's wonderful. But if I rub it out, put it into the storage container and let it be the taste gets a wet burnt hair taste.

 

[Christos D. Tsatsaronis]

Overnight dry is good. Two nights better...

 

[Pypkė]

I wounder how dry the tobacco should be to have its full taste and flavor?

 

[Pipeandapencil]

I never realized how wet my tobacco was until I got some daughters and ryan. feeling three sails for the first time was a bit of a light bulb moment for me in terms of dryness and that I was wayyyy to concerned about my tobacco getting "too dry."

 

[Jo L.S.]

Dry tobacco doesn't bother me.

 

[Pypkė]

Try some semois - the Five Brothers of Belgium.

 

[sablebrush52]

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