Trouble with Flake Tobaccos
- Thread starter cwarmouth
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Lots of great responses for sure. It takes lots of time to learn how to smoke flakes. If you are going to fold and stuff, please keep in mind that once you light it, the tobacco will start expanding and stick to the walls of your pipe, thus the only part of the tobacco burning will be the part in the center of the bowl. So the flake you've folded shouldn't be pushed into the chamber with effort, it should enter freely, the friction between the tobacco and pipe walls should be kept at minimum as:
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I experiment with all of the methods stated above all the time except cube cutting, it didn't work out for me. Here is a picture of Newminster Superior Navy Flake that I rubbed it out and dried (1 oz of it) before smoking. Be careful though, it may lose some flavors if you dry it too much:
And here is a picture of Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake. I just dried them a little bit then used fold and stuff method, smoked a little bit wet though, I have to dry them more I guess:
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I experiment with all of the methods stated above all the time except cube cutting, it didn't work out for me. Here is a picture of Newminster Superior Navy Flake that I rubbed it out and dried (1 oz of it) before smoking. Be careful though, it may lose some flavors if you dry it too much:
And here is a picture of Peter Stokkebye Luxury Bullseye Flake. I just dried them a little bit then used fold and stuff method, smoked a little bit wet though, I have to dry them more I guess:
Too tight, the tobacco expands with heat and chokes.
Too loose? The draw is too opened and the ember doesn't develop.
Too loose? The draw is too opened and the ember doesn't develop.
Personally, I rub them out - but not all the way. It depends on the tobacco, but I find that rubbed out a bit leaving some nice chunks works well. This seems to be a good balance between keeping lit and still retaining some of the flake characteristic.
The most common reason folks have difficulty in keeping flake tobacco lit is they are not drying it enough.
I, like a lot of guys here prefer my rubbed out flakes to be dry, much more so than you might think, to the point of being almost but not crispy.
It needs to be slightly pliable but not squidgy soft. It is better to rub out/cube cut prior to air drying.
As with Mackeson, I like my flakes to be roughly rubbed, leaving some larger chunks...makes for a longer and tastier smoke.
Regards,
Jay.
I, like a lot of guys here prefer my rubbed out flakes to be dry, much more so than you might think, to the point of being almost but not crispy.
It needs to be slightly pliable but not squidgy soft. It is better to rub out/cube cut prior to air drying.
As with Mackeson, I like my flakes to be roughly rubbed, leaving some larger chunks...makes for a longer and tastier smoke.
Regards,
Jay.
Room for expansion is needed and drying is a must for me. I found a quick trick for me. Take the flake and roll it up like a fruit roll up and let dry for about 45 minutes (if you are daring enough heat it on a cookie tray on the stove). I will use either a rubber band or a twisty tie to gold it from opening. Once it's dryer to my liking stuff and puff.
When doing a fold and stuff after folding it in half wide then fold in half length ways I roll it between my fingers which looses up all the strands. Then I put it rounded side up with the cut ends down. Makes it easier to get lit that way.
Also if you do cube cut I usually just gravity load it with some rubbed out material on top for kindling.
Also if you do cube cut I usually just gravity load it with some rubbed out material on top for kindling.
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