Wet Tobacco Packed Pipe

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poppabear

Lurker
Aug 6, 2017
31
0
How do you guys combat tobacco that gets steamy and wet toward the middle of the bowl. i have found tonight especially that the first half of the bowl smokes really well in my cob the gets steamy and hard to keep lit. should i set her down for a spell or dump it? or stick a cleaner in it for a bit? its getting kind of annoying with this humid weather. i will note that tobacco is fairly dried prior to packing ( its a mix of 1Q and some house blend from my B&M) usually it smokes great at its current moisture level.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Gravity fill the bowl, then only compress when it is full. Get a good starting light and smoke slowly but consistently, making sure not to breathe back into the pipe. That's all I've got.

 

poppabear

Lurker
Aug 6, 2017
31
0
so the way i pack is like a modified frank method. i fill the bowl and shake it a bit.... the baccy that stays stays and whatever shifts out goes out.. i do this till its full to the top then i do the frank method of putting the packet of tobacco on top, cleaning the edges and gently rolling around the edges never pushing into the bowl just on top. works really well 99% of the time and i have good satisfying smokes... i guess i could mod that a bit? i will have to watch not breathing back into the pipe... bad habit from my cigars....

 

jabo

Can't Leave
Jan 26, 2016
321
1
I'll have to agree with Cosmic. Here in Alabama the humidity has been high. All my tobacco has been moist. A few seconds in the microwave and then let it cool a bit. I love nuclear energy ! ;-)

 

poppabear

Lurker
Aug 6, 2017
31
0
the first time i tried to nuke some "smokers pride" sludge i nuked it to hell and back in just 20 seconds. i have been a little shy to use the microwave on some more expensive baccy. maybe i should try it on half power and not go full atomic on it

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
mawn' with drying, and the microwave, sound like remedies. I have a bowl for mixing different blends which I also use for drying too-moist blends. No one wants to smoke tobacco powder, but tobacco can get pretty dry and smoke well or really well. So dry that blend out for a day, or two, and try it. I think you'll be surprised how well a dried out blends smokes.

 

jpmcwjr

Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
24,568
27,070
Carmel Valley, CA
One more vote for drying the tobacco before loading: No need for fancy "techniques" on how to load the damn thing. If properly dry, it's hard to over tamp, you can smoke to the bottom or very near, AND your pipe heel should be dry or close to it. Makes for a sweeter smoke over time.

 
Jul 28, 2016
7,564
36,059
Finland-Scandinavia-EU
Learing here along,all good reminders, once I put my tobacco in the mircowave ind the result after 30 seconds was bone dry tobacco,another episode was I trying to cut my plug tobacco using coffee grinder,the result was shag cut tobacco reminding more of a saw dust, Lol

 

poppabear

Lurker
Aug 6, 2017
31
0
So I dried out some Mountain Camp over night for this mornings bowl and it was DRY. Almost to the point of crumbling. It was rough the first half of the bowl. Like a stale old cig! As we got to the middle I’m guessing it pulled some moisture in and was pretty enjoyable. Thanks for the tips! I want to ask “ how dry is to dry” and I know the answers will be “depends”!! I’ll keep trying to find that sweet spot

 

bluegrasspipe

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 13, 2017
621
192
I dry it for around 1/2 hour depending on how wet it is, if it is fresh Gawith or something then even longer. You can use the pinch method, if you pinch it and drop it and it stays in a clump it is still too wet, it should fall apart easily when pinched and dropped on a tray.

As for the microwave, I have tried this and in my opinion it destroys the flavor of most tobaccos. Each to his own methods I guess.

Also, those aromatics tend to have a lot more problems with being goopy and being inheritly more wet.

Trial and error is best with a smooth slow smoking rhythm and drying methods, good luck!!

 

mawnansmiff

Lifer
Oct 14, 2015
7,385
7,295
Sunny Cornwall, UK.
how dry is too dry”
That depends entirely on the blend and the personal preference of the smoker. I smoke mostly flake tobacco which I rub out and dry almost (but not quite) to the point of crispy. Generally the thicker the cut, the more drying will be required. Shag and ribbon cut blends tend to need less drying time.
You will need to experiment to see what works best for you, it might take a while but the effort is well worth it.
Regards,
Jay.

 
Sometimes, I am in the mood for crumbly, and I find that some blends just work great when ultra dry. There is this confusion between dry and stale. I am not exactly sure what stale means. I have heard that stale means that all of the oils are removed, leaving just the cellulose or pulp. But, tobacco goes back and forth from dry as a bone to damp, probably several times between the farmer and the tin. I just find that sometimes a bone dry tobacco packed really tightly can give me the nic hit I want, while allowing a usually bitey blend to smoke very smoothly. When I (very rarely) pop a jar of aged Virginia #1, I immediately just dump the jar into a large bowl under a light bulb to dry it down to bone. it makes it a much more enjoyable and flavorful tobacco for me. YMMV

 
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