A couple of weeks ago, someone posted a video about drying tobacco in a microwave. The production values weren't very good and a lot of people made fun of the guy, but it got me thinking that there might be something to it. So ...
For the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with using my microwave to toast tobacco to improve its flavor (recall the old Lucky Strike slogan, "It's toasted") or to dry it out in order to rehydrate it with flavorings. Guess what? It works!
I've found that rather bland VAs (Sutliff Virginia Slices, for example) are much improved when toasted for about a minute on 50% power (30 seconds, then mix, then 30 more seconds). Also, aromatics that haven't lived up to the hype (for me, some Amphora Full Aroma that I purchased a few months ago and that had very little flavor) or that have gone flat can be dried to near crispiness (using long microwaving times and very low microwave power level) then bought back to life with different natural casings like distilled spirits, flavor extracts (vanilla, orange), strong coffee, etc. The one category of pipe tobacco that, IME, can't be improved in the microwave is high Latakia content English blends.
I'm curious if others have tried this and, if so, what they've learned. If you decide to try this, be aware that different microwaves have different power levels, so start out using low power settings and short microwaving times and then increase these as necessary to get the effect you desire.
For the past few weeks, I've been experimenting with using my microwave to toast tobacco to improve its flavor (recall the old Lucky Strike slogan, "It's toasted") or to dry it out in order to rehydrate it with flavorings. Guess what? It works!
I've found that rather bland VAs (Sutliff Virginia Slices, for example) are much improved when toasted for about a minute on 50% power (30 seconds, then mix, then 30 more seconds). Also, aromatics that haven't lived up to the hype (for me, some Amphora Full Aroma that I purchased a few months ago and that had very little flavor) or that have gone flat can be dried to near crispiness (using long microwaving times and very low microwave power level) then bought back to life with different natural casings like distilled spirits, flavor extracts (vanilla, orange), strong coffee, etc. The one category of pipe tobacco that, IME, can't be improved in the microwave is high Latakia content English blends.
I'm curious if others have tried this and, if so, what they've learned. If you decide to try this, be aware that different microwaves have different power levels, so start out using low power settings and short microwaving times and then increase these as necessary to get the effect you desire.