I Cannot Smoke Peterson University Flake, Little Help?
- Thread starter Ryan
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
40% relative humidity is pretty dry, so you shouldn't need to dry any tobacco more than two, three hours. If I were you, I'd just set the U Flake aside and turn to something else. There are just too many other blends to explore.
Yes, that is what I should do, but this has become a personal thing now that I have to see through. I WILL smoke that Uni-Flake! At least one bowl after wasting the other six. I have had some out for about 2.5 hours right now and it is still not very dry. This tobacco is wet. Most tobacco I let dry for an hour at most in these conditions and it is ready to go. In the meantime I will smoke another tobacco that will accept flame.
I’ve never smoked it yet!
Take a pair of scissors and cut across the flakes in 1/16" to 1/8" width strips over a paper plate, then lightly toss those pieces with your fingers till they break up into little cubes. This is known as cube cutting. Put the plate into the microwave for no more than 15 seconds. After it comes out of the microwave toss it gently a few more times with your fingers. Pour into your pipe and tap pipe lightly to settle. Light the tobacco while puffing fairly aggressively. If you don't puff hard enough the tobacco will never light correctly. Many beginners don't want to puff hard because they've been warned not to, so they puff too lightly when first lighting the pipe. You need to see that thing get cherry red. Now relax a bit and start puffing gently. Voila !
I’ve tried the aggressive lighting to create a ember, but it immediately goes out when the flame is removed. It is almost unbelievable if you were to watch me doing this. Lol Of course, I didn’t do the other things you mentioned but I will try them tomorrow. The rest of tonight’s smoking will be with any other tobacco. Haha
Don't worry, it will happen in time. The only tobacco I hated trying to smoke was Dark Star. I'm sure the government actually classified it as asbestos.
In case this isn’t obvious, this is something I HAVE to do now. I won’t be defeated by an inanimate pile of leaves!!!! I will smoke at least one bowl of this tobacco. I may trade the other tin away after I do, but I will try this tobacco. However, I am not going to try to conquer it tonight.
Not all of us can do this.............
I fold and stuff too. LOL
I had a similar problem with a tin of SG Lakeland Dark. It was a bugger to light and keep lit no matter what I tried. Never bought it again.
A lot of people on this forum, myself included, could take a fresh moist flake of that Peterson from a new tin, fold and stuff or rub it out, and smoke it no problem, without any drying at all. It's simply a matter of experience.
One important thing is not to let the flame touch the tobacco. Hold it away and let the heat from the flame to the work.
Once the tobacco is scorched, it won't light properly and the flavour will be lost.
Jar it up. Work on your technique, and come back to it in a few months when you've developed a more laid back approach.
One important thing is not to let the flame touch the tobacco. Hold it away and let the heat from the flame to the work.
Once the tobacco is scorched, it won't light properly and the flavour will be lost.
Jar it up. Work on your technique, and come back to it in a few months when you've developed a more laid back approach.
Just curious, is it your preference that the tobacco be that wet? Or just something you can deal with? Do you never dry anything once you have enough experience? I had actually gotten the idea that most experienced smokers were drying their tobacco just a bit before burning, but maybe I just got the wrong idea? Or are you just saying it isn’t mandatory?
Usually I don’t put the flame down in the tobacco but I did on this one a bit because it seemed to be the only way to get anything from the tobacco. Holding it above wasn’t lighting it. I will keep that in mind for the future though. I definitely scorched it every time I tried it.
A few people have have told me to move on and come back. Is Univeristy Flake really that hard to smoke that I just need to move on? I never saw anyone talk about it as being for experienced smokers like they do many other blends, so I didn’t realize it would take an advanced technique and years of experience just to be able to smoke it. There should be a list somewhere of these blends! Or at least a warning label. Haha This is the first one I encountered like this. I kinda hope it is the last one too. Thank you for the tips!
One thing I noticed about this stuff, if you were a fold and stuff guy you could do origami with this flake. It is so wet that when you fold it it actually folds and doesn’t break! So far the only fold and stuff loading I have done was with some Newminster 403 (folding it basically is rubbing it out because it is kinda loose to begin with), Stokkebye Bullseye Flake and Sutliff Virginia slices. It worked better for me with the Sutliff and Newminster. The Stokkebye didn’t work as well for me that way, it was a bit more work to smoke.
Just to be clear, I don’t huff and puff, and my pipes don’t get hot because I have a fairly laid back approach already. I never take big puffs and I go slow. I don’t mind re-lighting, so I’m never trying to puff to keep it going or anything.
That soft approach didn’t seem to get this tobacco lit, so I never got a chance to ever use any technique on it. I literally have loaded six bowls of this and have smoked exactly zero bowls of this. I scorched all six trying to get them to light and ended up tossing the contents (basically full but scorched bowls) every time. I have had about 12 small puffs of this stuff total. I am a rookie, but I have made a lot of progress on slowing down my smoking. I don’t have any problem remotely like this with any other tobacco. Several people have mentioned technique but it is hard to practice technique when the tobacco will not light at all. Frustrating.
I had the same results with Peterson's Irish Flake. Dull, flavorless and hard to keep lit.
Flakes take trial and error to get right. I love Peterson blends, but their flakes are dense. And their plug could break a car window haha.
My problem with them was I was using too much flake in the beginning. The trick for me is to fold an appropriate amount first. 1 or 1 1/2 flakes at most. Give the bottom fold end a little tickle to open it up and then kind of form the solid end a bit round. The result should be a loosely packed bowl, about a 1/4 inch from the top. It should look like it’s a bit too loose. Then use the lighter with longer, slow pulls on the pipe. The initial light is finished when the moisture in the tobacco fluffs up the flake tendrils and fills the bowl. Then it smokes as usual, which is a lot slower than you’d think. Keep at it, there’s an “aha!” moment waiting when you get it right that’s very rewarding.
My problem with them was I was using too much flake in the beginning. The trick for me is to fold an appropriate amount first. 1 or 1 1/2 flakes at most. Give the bottom fold end a little tickle to open it up and then kind of form the solid end a bit round. The result should be a loosely packed bowl, about a 1/4 inch from the top. It should look like it’s a bit too loose. Then use the lighter with longer, slow pulls on the pipe. The initial light is finished when the moisture in the tobacco fluffs up the flake tendrils and fills the bowl. Then it smokes as usual, which is a lot slower than you’d think. Keep at it, there’s an “aha!” moment waiting when you get it right that’s very rewarding.
I have been able to fold and stuff a couple of others, and I enjoyed it.