Moisture? Rubbing out?

[ToddziLLa]

I was reading a review on some Christmas Cheer from 1999 and read this:

I dropped the moisture down a notch or two, and made sure it was rubbed out a bit more than the broken flake, as advised by a previous reviewer.

Will someone enlighten me? I have no clue what this means!

[rumballs]

yes - always use moisture when you rub out






(sorry pipe guys, I'll go away now)

[Bruce]

Basically the pieces are broken up into smaller pieces by rubbing out with your hands/palm or fingers/thumb.

The CC is a "broken flake".....so you just break up the broken flake even more......

[physiognomy]

I read here the other day that it is preferable to rub flakes out before letting them air/dry a little... Will they dry & harden too much to be rubbed if you air them first?

Originally Posted by physiognomy

I read here the other day that it is preferable to rub flakes out before letting them air/dry a little... Will they dry & harden too much to be rubbed if you air them first?

It will help the tobacco in the flake dry faster if you rub while its still wet. I don't rub out my flakes but i can say i've never had one harden to a point that i couldn't rub if i wanted to. For myself dry whole flakes are more brittle than anything.

[physiognomy]

Originally Posted by Root

It will help the tobacco in the flake dry faster if you rub while its still wet. I don't rub out my flakes but i can say i've never had one harden to a point that i couldn't rub if i wanted to. For myself dry whole flakes are more brittle than anything.

Thanks James... I have had luck folding & packing thinner flake like the PS Luxury Fake you sent me in the NST, but anything thicker (McC #2035) doesn't burn well. I will try breaking it up, airing, & giving it another shot.

[EvanS]

Personally I have found that rubbing out after a flake has dried is more difficult to get a certain consistency, if that's wat you're after. Once the flake is dry it does become more brittle and tends to break up the way it wants to break.

Think of a piece of bread...you can manage it anyway you want when fresh but once it is dry and hard it tends to snap and crumble.

If I am gonna rub then I always rub out as far as I want before drying

[ToddziLLa]

Originally Posted by Bruce

Basically the pieces are broken up into smaller pieces by rubbing out with your hands/palm or fingers/thumb.

The CC is a "broken flake".....so you just break up the broken flake even more......

Ahh...that makes sense. Thanks Bruce!

[Ultravox]

I forget where I read it now, but a few days ago when I was searching for information on packing flake tobaccos I came upon the idea that the more you rub a flake out the more flavour is lost. So, according to this premise, a fully intact flake will retain more of the tobacco's taste than a rubbed out flake would. Is there any validity in this idea?

[EvanS]

Again this is my personal experience, but I do not find this to be true. I will agree that how rubbed or how dry the flake is can affect the flavor, I just don't know that I could classify that difference as losing flavor or worse flavor...just different. And even then I find the difference to be pretty subtle. Maybe different for more refined palates

Originally Posted by Ultravox

I forget where I read it now, but a few days ago when I was searching for information on packing flake tobaccos I came upon the idea that the more you rub a flake out the more flavour is lost. So, according to this premise, a fully intact flake will retain more of the tobacco's taste than a rubbed out flake would. Is there any validity in this idea?

Only you can decide this for yourself. A rubbed out flake tends to burn faster which may impact how you taste a blend. With whole flake the burn is slower with more relights but you may be able to pick out more of the volatile flavors.

For myself i'm a devotee of roll and stuff . Which i became a fan of after trying some flake i loved whole, rubbed out. Never has my tounge hated me more.

[IHT]

todd. ppl rub the flake out (or break it up into more managable pieces) while it's still moist. it's easier to do that way, you can control how big the flakes end up becoming (like some have already mentioned).

i have an issue with the McClellands broken flakes, they're a pain in the ass if you leave them in their broken flake form and them dry them. they become hard, not very easy to pack. i can't get them to stay lit very well, either.

if you let them dry before rubbing them out, and you try to break them up, you may end up with a good amount of dusty chunks coming up through the mouthpiece.

i personally prefer to rub the flake out to whatever thickness i want, then let it dry.

full flakes, i will take a sharp scissors to, cut them in the length i want, depending on if i want to roll/stuff or rub out. if i want to roll/stuff, i cut them the length that is equal to the depth of the bowl. lay 'em on top of each other, gently rub them between my palms, then grab and stuff in there. anything that broke off, i put on top of the pile to start the pipe going.
if i want to rub it out fully, i cut the flake into the lenght of strips i would want to have a loose cut tobacco - cuz that's what is is when you're done rubbing.

stronger flavors? i've found that, yes, you can get strong flavors by roll/stuffing (or however you want to pack your full flake). some tobaccos just call for that type of treatment while other flake/spun cut tobacs need to be rubbed out.
is it that much of a difference? barely, but noticeable. sometimes the amount of extra work to keep the flake going is a pain in the ass....

[Mad Hatter]

Originally Posted by Ultravox

I forget where I read it now, but a few days ago when I was searching for information on packing flake tobaccos I came upon the idea that the more you rub a flake out the more flavour is lost. So, according to this premise, a fully intact flake will retain more of the tobacco's taste than a rubbed out flake would. Is there any validity in this idea?

I do find that to be true if you rub it too much. It seems like to a point it doesn't matter but if you go beyond that point it begins losing flavor, and I'd also say only rub out what you are getting ready to smoke, never a full can or (uhp-hmmm) a half pound.

Just my experience

[DubintheDam]

Just to throw in my 'flakes' worth. I follow the MacBaren technique, but give it a little extra rub-out (fluff-up) in the palms and fingers, so you could say I 'fold and plug, but give it few extra rubs'. I find this really gives me the best of both worlds.

http://www.mac-baren.com/TopMenu/Exp...ll-a-pipe.aspx

On drying out, I don't. Why? Because I never know what I am going to smoke until I look at my tins and pipes and say' "hmmm, what will it be"? If a baccy is very moist in the tin, I leave it a few weeks or months, and return to it, often to find a 'now' perfect smoke. When I've 'missed the boat' and the baccy has become too dry, I throw in a moisture button (No baccy or flake is good when super dry, rubbed or not!).

To conclude I want to have a nice smoke, but I don't want it to become a chore to get one. I think this is a good point for beginners to remember. I also love how easy flakes are, in general, to smoke, I love the fact that they can be so hassle free. I had a bowl of Capstan in a Peteson's billard X105 on a terrace cafe today at lunchtime and it was shear bloody heaven, the sunshine helped too, it dried me out anyway, never mind the baccy!