Smoking in Humid Environments

[SeniorAMG]

(New guy here, so forgive me if this is a double-tap on a recent post.)
A year ago I moved to a more tropical part of our island. Last month humidity here averaged 86% (high of 99 but never below mid-50s). We do not have/use AC or any room-dehumidifiers regularly - and even if we did, (due to my wife) I am an out-side-only smoker. I've never regularly smoked in this kind of environment and am of course experiencing wetter smokes than in the past... which is logical - drying out tobacco on any given day can be difficult/inconsistent. Does anyone have tips on how to adjust for this? Anyone live in similar conditions and use a dehumidifier or desiccant for drying out their tobacco?
Thanks in advance for your input.
-AMG

 

[Chasing Embers]

Pack the chamber very lightly. Gravity packing would serve the purpose very well. It would allow more oxygen to circulate around the tobacco and help the ember.

 

[SeniorAMG]

Pack the chamber very lightly. Gravity packing would serve the purpose very well. It would allow more oxygen to circulate around the tobacco and help the ember.

Thanks, Chasing. I'll give it a shot.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I live in Louisiana. Definitely humid here, year round. I just try to pack it loosely enough and smoke slowly. It helps, but some blends (mostly aromatics) don’t dry well period, and will still give a little tongue bite if you aren’t careful.

 

[SeniorAMG]

I live in Louisiana. Definitely humid here, year round. I just try to pack it loosely enough and smoke slowly. It helps, but some blends (mostly aromatics) don’t dry well period, and will still give a little tongue bite if you aren’t careful.

I've got five-year-old twins with me at home... Slow smokes are hard to come by with all this damn quarantine. ha!

 

[Chasing Embers]

Slow smokes are hard to come by with all this damn quarantine. ha!

That was mostly over here over a month ago. I myself only got a week off from work.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

Humidity is a sonofabitch here in the summer. I like many of my tobaccos DRY, so often it takes more than just sitting it out over night.

When atmospheric conditions make it difficult I put a bowls worth of tobacco on a napkin or paper towel and microwave it for about 5-6 seconds. Let it sit for a minute after that then check to see how dry it is. Repeat if necessary.

 

[TinCup]

70-80% humidity year long here
I’ve found I’m 100% ‘at fault’ for a smoke that’s wetter than another and it makes no difference how dry/moist the tobacco is, but if I use certain pipes/filters I’ll get a much drier smoke then I will from other combos (9mm activated charcoal filters seem particularly good)

 

[B18]

Depends on how the sun is where you live. I came from the North of South America and I would just let my tobacco sit in the sun for a few minutes to dry (I dry out my tobacco alot) and just smoke it. I don't let it dry in the evening as it will become wet. What you could do, boil some water, fill a cup to the half and put a bowl of tobacco on top as to lightly heat it up to dry.

 

[logs]

Drying in a toaster oven or microwave is easy to do. Doesn't take long. Once it starts steaming you'll know you're getting somewhere. It's just a matter of how dry you want to go.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

It’s super humid today, with the remnants of a tropical storm rolling through, and I wanted some Erinmore Flake. Fresh tin, dense, super damp flakes. I could set that on the counter and it’d take a week to dry, so I just tried something...
I rubbed out a flake and laid it in an empty tin. I put my heat gun on low and held it out away from the tobacco about two and a half feet, and gently dried it out. Took like thirty seconds to go from damp to perfect. I haven’t smoked it yet, I’m finishing a bowl of Oriental Silk right now, but I’ll let you know if there’s any flavor change to the Erinmore Flake when I get to it. It looks perfect though.

 

[pappymac]

I live in the "Toe" of Louisiana - between New Orleans and the Mississippi State Line - I do all my smoking either outdoors or in the garage. Since we have a functioning air conditioning system, I just spread the tobacco I want to dry out on a paper towel on my desk. The a/c keeps the house between 47% and 50% humidity even when the outside is 99% like it was the past two days of "tropical storm" weather. (For the most part, the heavy rain was well east of us and into Alabama and Florida. With the occasional band of heavy rain, I still sat on the porch without getting wet.)

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I live in the "Toe" of Louisiana - between New Orleans and the Mississippi State Line - I do all my smoking either outdoors or in the garage. Since we have a functioning air conditioning system, I just spread the tobacco I want to dry out on a paper towel on my desk. The a/c keeps the house between 47% and 50% humidity even when the outside is 99% like it was the past two days of "tropical storm" weather. (For the most part, the heavy rain was well east of us and into Alabama and Florida. With the occasional band of heavy rain, I still sat on the porch without getting wet.)

Maybe I should start drying my stuff out in the house too. I almost always smoke in my shop, non A/C.

 

[Country Bladesmith]

I think the heat gun trick might’ve driven off most of the topping along with the moisture in this Erinmore Flake, even though the tobacco is perfect. I probably won’t do it again. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

 

[BROBS]

Maybe I should start drying my stuff out in the house too. I almost always smoke in my shop, non A/C.

That’s what I do. Dry on a tray and most my smokes are outside.

 

[neilnoff]

Dittos to the above comments regarding packing very lightly. I'm in the Houston area where in the summer, the "H" in Houston stands for "Humid!" 50% humidity right now, with 93 deg temp and a heat index of 106. Lovely!

 

[BROBS]

Dittos to the above comments regarding packing very lightly. I'm in the Houston area where in the summer, the "H" in Houston stands for "Humid!" 50% humidity right now, with 93 deg temp and a heat index of 106. Lovely!

50%? that's dry AF

our average summer humidity is 72%

 

[Eaglesgift]

It's about 75-80% where I live but I have air-con inside so drying tobacco is really easy - you don't have to smoke inside to dry your tobacco inside. Alternatively, if you don't plan on installing air-con in your home, maybe you could dry your tobacco out in your car when you're driving home from somewhere? Not ideal all the time but I can't think of any other ideas.

 

[SeniorAMG]

That was mostly over here over a month ago. I myself only got a week off from work.

we've got plenty of space, thankfully. but schools and all the social things the kids and wife used to do are still shut down. looking forward to everything opening up.

 

[SeniorAMG]

Depends on how the sun is where you live. I came from the North of South America and I would just let my tobacco sit in the sun for a few minutes to dry (I dry out my tobacco alot) and just smoke it. I don't let it dry in the evening as it will become wet. What you could do, boil some water, fill a cup to the half and put a bowl of tobacco on top as to lightly heat it up to dry.

I thought about that. we've plenty of sun here, but plenty of wind too.

Drying in a toaster oven or microwave is easy to do. Doesn't take long. Once it starts steaming you'll know you're getting somewhere. It's just a matter of how dry you want to go.

The toaster oven. that tip's golden. appreciate all the input.