Drying Tobacco

pwkarch

I have always dried my tobacco in a dish at least an hour or so prior to lighting my pipes. This goes for most of my tobacco that has been jarred for any length of time. Newly jarred tobaccos and "super topped aromatics" obviously need more time to the air in order to avoid moisture problems while smoking.

Lately I have been loading my pipe as I did previously, but I find that if I "dry" smoke the tobacco filled pipe for an hour or so prior to smoking it, the tobacco dries out very quickly. And by "dry smoking" I mean taking in air occasionally through the pipe and exhaling by mouth  or nose. This would obviously do no good in a very humid environment as you would be introducing more moisture into the tobacco.

This technique adds another benefit. In my case I am usually in front of a computer screen. This little exercise allows me to introduce a feeling of anticipation (sort of like an "Antipasto") while I await my actual smoking of the tobacco. And, I would have to guess that anyone who smokes a totally cased and topped tobacco, this would possibly avoid an unpleasant experience later.

This works well for me due to the extended immobility of the application of my trade. I am curious if anyone else uses this procedure, and if so what is your opinion. I agree this does not lend itself to smokers who are more spontaneous and mobile while performing their trade.

I will also occasionally pick out a tobacco blend or two, and preload the pipe/s the night before for the following day. This too might not be appropriate to those who choose their tobacco selections in a more impulsive manner.

jim102864

That's an interesting approach to drying before lighting, @pwkarch.  I may give it a whirl myself.  In fact, I'm about to open a tin of Dunhill My Mixture 965.  I'll see how it goes.  One question I have is do you tend to smoke your tobacco on the dry side?  I've noticed when my jarred tobacco is too dry, it burns too quickly and looses some of it's flavor.  I smoke English mostly.  I'll have to try the method with the Sutliff Molto Dolce tin I opened about two months ago. I fired some up this past week, still in the tin, and to my surprise it was still nearly drowned rat. 

motie2

Ok, several of you already think I'm nuts, but listen: One time, before I discovered Barbados Plantation, I was screwing around, trying to add my black spiced rum to a tobacco base. Well. I overdid it, and had a soggy mess. Now, I've dried basil, parsley, and small flowers in the microwave, on a lower power setting, so I thought I'd try it with the rum-sodden tobacco. I spread it out on a dinner plate and started it 15 seconds at a time on a 50% setting. Worked like a charm. After several minutes it went from sodden mess to moist towelette. A bit more and it was goldilocks, as Bradley says. Not as tasty as BP, but smokable and not bad at all. Of course, when SWMBO found out I caught minimal hell, but it was worth it, and I'd do it again. 

Using a microwave to dry tobacco is as crazy as my practice of evenly distributing moisture in dried out tobacco by putting it in a tightly sealed mason jar and leaving it in the hot sun.

Your mileage may vary.......

pwkarch

@jm102864

Jim I smoke aromatics almost exclusively......and as we know these are often significantly wetter due to casings and toppings. My tobaccos are all jarred in Mason Jars and are not really dry, but not wet either. Another reason some of my bowls burn well is because with my little drying routine, I often add some Carter Hall to some of the Aromatics which I have found adds a Nutty component to things such as Vanilla, Cherry, and Lately Chocolate blends. I love experimenting here in my LABORATORY (typed in a Bella Lagosi Voice in honor of Halloween and our friend Ghostsofpopeii).

pwkarch

@motie2
Yea, you sound a little nuts. I would be afraid my pipe would glow in the dark after irradiating my tobacco. You would need to wear a radiation monitor on your shirt just to see how many bowls you could smoke in a day before you need to go to a "decon facility". And, if I were you, I would contact Sutliff to see what the "Half Life" of Barbados Plantation is. Just saying. And I actually don't think you are nuts because I have never seen you at the meetings.

motie2

"I don't care to belong | I refuse to join | I don't want to belong to any club that will have me as a member." ~Julius Marx

I don't consider TPL a club. Rather, it's a bunch of relatively like-minded people (if only as regards the joys of pipe smoking), who benefit from the largesse of the Proprietor.

pwkarch

@motie2

I meant the crazy meetings......I am a gold key member

KA9FFJ

The microwave thing stunned me. And remember, stun spelled backwards is nuts...

KA9FFJ

@motie2 Seriously though, I do a simple layout on a plate much like @pwkarch and it seems to work quite well. I too smoke my share of aromatics and I have found that the drying time is different for each blend selected... Never had soaking tobacco resulting in your rather ingenious microwave solution...

xDutchx

My method of drying involves moving enough tobacco from a tin, into a Tupperware style container, to smoke around 3 to 5 bowls. I will allow the Tupperware to sit with the lid off, until the particular blend I am drying is just right. Once I replace the lid, I now have enough prepped tobacco for several bowls. I have one Tupperware for Latakia blends, one for Virginias, and another for Aros. I usually have around a dozen tins open simultaneously, and try to rotate thru them evenly using this ritual.

ghostsofpompeii

You would think with all the moist goopy aromatics I tend to smoke that I'd have to dry them out before smoking as well. But since I started smoking I've never resorted to drying anything out before smoking. I'll occasionally get a moist blend that requires several lights to keep the pipe going - but for the most part I'm able to smoke those moist aromatics without much problem. The only time I've had to let a blend dry out before smoking were those two blends I created myself using Watkins food grade flavoring. - "Root Beer Float" and "Dreamsickle". I really over-did it with the amount I added, so they require a little airing out time. 

motie2

I would never use a microwave for a tobacco that comes "wet towelette" right from the tin, like some tins of Molto Dolce, but the sodden rum mess I referred to require a nuclear strike.

Woodsman

There are a lot of "Goopy" tobaccos out there that are soaked in propylene glycol Which will keep any tobacco from drying out in the Sahara, I'm still trying to figure out a way to reduce it. If I hit on something I'll let you know.

motie2

@Woodsman -- Is all tinned tobacco goopiness the result of proylene glycol, or are there other causes of over moist tobacco?