I bought a couple of 1lb bags from P&C and although I haven't opened them yet I've been reading that they are really dry and need to be rehydrated. First of all, is it safe to leave them in the bag they came in or should I jar them right away? They would be stored in a cooler with the rest of my jarred tobacco. What is the best way to rehydrate bulk tobacco? Also, should I rehydrate before jarring them or when I open a jar to smoke? So far I haven't had to rehydrate any tobacco so I'm kind of lost here, any advice would be appreciated.
Rehydrating Daugthers & Ryan 1lb Bags?
- Thread starter baaron
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Just a couple of thoughts...
As these are new bags, why would they need hydration? I've kept Daughters and Ryan bags for better than a year before opening without any problems. Yes the contents were on the drier side, but they were like H&H blends, which are tinned at the optimal moisture for smoking, rather than tinned with excess moisture as are many tobaccos. They smoked well before being jarred for further enjoyment.
As for re-hydration, the classic method is to spread out the tobacco in a large pyrex or ceramic baking dish. Wet down some paper towels with distilled water and cover the top, taking care that the wet toweling never touches the tobacco. Leave alone for a few hours and check to see if the moisture level is good. If the tobacco needs more hydration, stir it around in the dish, apply freshly moistened toweling and check again in a few hours.
As these are new bags, why would they need hydration? I've kept Daughters and Ryan bags for better than a year before opening without any problems. Yes the contents were on the drier side, but they were like H&H blends, which are tinned at the optimal moisture for smoking, rather than tinned with excess moisture as are many tobaccos. They smoked well before being jarred for further enjoyment.
As for re-hydration, the classic method is to spread out the tobacco in a large pyrex or ceramic baking dish. Wet down some paper towels with distilled water and cover the top, taking care that the wet toweling never touches the tobacco. Leave alone for a few hours and check to see if the moisture level is good. If the tobacco needs more hydration, stir it around in the dish, apply freshly moistened toweling and check again in a few hours.
If you haven't already put in the order, what a lot of people do is just take a terra cotta pot and give it the old gravity treatment from a few feet off the ground. You'll be left with as many "terra cotta stones" as you need.
Also, the rehydration method sablebrush52 described is easier, and works flawlessly.
Just from reading reviews and whatever information I could find about these blends. Seems like a lot of people recommend hydrating because they burn fast. I haven't had to rehydrate tobacco before so I figured I would just ask. I'll light up a bowl of Picayune and see if it needs any hydration. Thanks for the wet paper towel tip, I will try that if the tobacco is too dry.
A surprising number of smokers blindly accept the moisture content of whatever is in the tin or the pouch and have gotten used to smoking overly wet tobacco. I'll see people write that Russ Ouellette's blends are too dry and need to be hydrated. I think Russ actually knows what he's doing when it comes to tobacco.
Most of the blends I've smoked over the years gain intensity of smoking flavor when smoked at a drier moisture level. Definitely try the tobacco before hydrating and see if you like how it smokes. As long as it's not bone dry, or crunchy, you're good for jarring.
One thing to keep in mine regarding many of the D&R offerings is the lack of toppings, and minimal casings. Because of that, I do think his blends benefit from a little hydration. MacBaren also uses very little or in some instances, no casings at all. They let the tobaccos and toppings carry the flavors most of the time.
I'm a big D&R fan, but I prefer my tobacco on the dry side. But, when I jar up several pounds of D&R, I'll rehydrate it a tad by putting a pound in a colander and setting it over a steaming pot of water for just a few secconds. I was working under the assumption that just a tad water is needed for aging. For what I smoke straight out of the bag, I just smoke it as is. And, when I have popped a jar open that I've added just a smidge of water to, I'll dry it out back to what it was like new. And, I've found that some steam and a couple of years in a jar makes it a heavenly smoke. YMMV
I prefer tobacco pinch test springy level of moisture.
Similar to @sablebrush, I cover a glass bowl with surgical towels wringing-moist with RO filtered water. Since it is semi-arid here, I cover the towels & bowl with plastic wrap or stuff the whole shebang in a plastic bag overnight.
Picayune is my favorite D&R tobacco which I feel smokes & tastes orders of magnitude better rehydrated than bag-dry.
Similar to @sablebrush, I cover a glass bowl with surgical towels wringing-moist with RO filtered water. Since it is semi-arid here, I cover the towels & bowl with plastic wrap or stuff the whole shebang in a plastic bag overnight.
Picayune is my favorite D&R tobacco which I feel smokes & tastes orders of magnitude better rehydrated than bag-dry.
In just being on here for as briefly as I have been, one thing I've learned is that out of a dozen pipe smokers, you'll have a dozen different answers to how dry, how tight, how to light it, and how to smoke it, ha ha. I just suggest trying as many different variations as you can, and stick to what gives you the most pleasure.
I think that being in 100% humidity, Alabama, probably influences why I like mine dry. And, what might be considered dry to me, just might seem sopping wet to someone living in Arizona.
And +1 for Picayune
I think that being in 100% humidity, Alabama, probably influences why I like mine dry. And, what might be considered dry to me, just might seem sopping wet to someone living in Arizona.
And +1 for Picayune
That advice makes sense, after all water is a byproduct of combustion. If your tobacco starts out wet, it's only going to get wetter!
I think so. It may all be "in my head", but that's all the evidence I need. As they say, YMMV. I'm guessing that in addition to loss of water, severely dried leaf experiences a loss or negative change in oils and/or resins.
When water is added, you do get a loss of flavor, but it is because you have added steam to the smoke. The most flavor comes from absolutely bone dry tobaccos. IMO
But, in the tobacco biz, going from field to flue to barn to storage to processing to the companies, it is dried multiple times, so just getting a tobacco that is dry is not some sort of negative. It is not made stale by merely drying it.
This article by GL Pease may be helpful. Dust in the Wind - A Primer on Tobacco Moisture
In particular,
Somewhere else, he wrote that although tobacco gets dried and rehydrated several times between farm and finished product, moisture is critically important in blending, maturing and melding of different components. So, achieving a pleasurable smoke with differently hydrated leaf will entail some trial and error. (I almost always dry my tobacco a little before lighting-up).
In particular,
Somewhere else, he wrote that although tobacco gets dried and rehydrated several times between farm and finished product, moisture is critically important in blending, maturing and melding of different components. So, achieving a pleasurable smoke with differently hydrated leaf will entail some trial and error. (I almost always dry my tobacco a little before lighting-up).
There are many opinion about tobacco and moisture.
As above, some feel that it looses flavor after being rehydrated. On the other hand, art was also pointed out that once bale it is dried and then rehydrated several times before blending, the drying before baling most notable to put in stasis while it sits awaiting being pt in the blender's pipeline.
Some like it very dry too reduce bite. The quote about smoking the tobacco drier than you think it should be is from the father of the guy whose recipes are used to blend the John Patton tobaccos
If I remember correctly Pease feels his tobaccos are best at ~12%.
YMMV.
As above, some feel that it looses flavor after being rehydrated. On the other hand, art was also pointed out that once bale it is dried and then rehydrated several times before blending, the drying before baling most notable to put in stasis while it sits awaiting being pt in the blender's pipeline.
Some like it very dry too reduce bite. The quote about smoking the tobacco drier than you think it should be is from the father of the guy whose recipes are used to blend the John Patton tobaccos
If I remember correctly Pease feels his tobaccos are best at ~12%.
YMMV.
In any event, in my mind smoking technique overcomes bite; not that mine is anywhere near up to this task.
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