Been wanting to try making my own crumble cake pipe baccy, so I ordered up a few different Virginias, Turkish Smyrna, Izmir, and Perique. I weighed everthing out and mixed it up real well. I made an improvised tobacco press. Now I just got to wait a couple of weeks to see how it comes out. I'll try to update this post when it comes out of the press. And then as it ages and I sample a bit of it.
Very cool. How long you going to keep it pressed together?
Glynn said in a video that he leaves his cake pressed for 2 weeks or so. I try that and see how it works out.
I was wondering if you saw that video. Let me know how it turns out. Sounds like a good mix of baccy.
I had a box built up like the one in his video, but I stopped in at the dollar+ store today to get some shop rags and I found them bread loaf pans 2 for $5. I think they will work better and last a lot longer than the box would.
Those look like they'll make for a good press. I like how you have 4 C clamps. Should make for a nice firm cake.
Geek ingenuity always on display here!
nice work on the press
Impressive, well done
WTG, Kyle!
You'll probably have to "play around" with which specific leaves to use and how much of each, the amount of pressing time for the optimum results, and then the melding of the blend will take time as well. But it's fun experimenting.
Please let us know how you're doing with it!
Heh! If you want your pipe tobacco PRESSED, this will do the job. How thin do you want it? :biggrin:
Quotewlfwalleye - 1/1/2014 3:06 PM
Glynn said in a video that he leaves his cake pressed for 2 weeks or so. I try that and see how it works out.
Did you throw a little piece of board in that top pan to equalize the pressure a bit?
QuoteKen Kelley - 1/2/2014 12:00 PM
Heh! If you want your pipe tobacco PRESSED, this will do the job. How thin do you want it? :biggrin:
Yah I got a 15 ton, 25 ton and a 50 ton presses out to the shop, but I was only using a small amount of baccy so I didn't think I needed the overkill. :biggrin:
QuoteKen Kelley - 1/2/2014 12:13 PM
Quotewlfwalleye - 1/1/2014 3:06 PM
Glynn said in a video that he leaves his cake pressed for 2 weeks or so. I try that and see how it works out.
Did you throw a little piece of board in that top pan to equalize the pressure a bit?
I used 1/2 inch polycarb cut to fit. Since I have a ton of that in the shop.
QuoteROTHNH - 1/2/2014 11:59 AM
WTG, Kyle!
You'll probably have to "play around" with which specific leaves to use and how much of each, the amount of pressing time for the optimum results, and then the melding of the blend will take time as well. But it's fun experimenting.
Please let us know how you're doing with it!
I've tinkered with this blend for a couple of years in loose form and have it where I pretty much like it fresh and with a little age. I wanted to see how much a difference pressing it would make. We'll see how it goes. :biggrin:
That's impressive.
You guys make me want to start pipe smoking.
My dad (may he rest in peace) was a big pipe smoker and I grew up with the delicious smells of pipe tobaccos.
I did smoke a pipe here and there but never as seriously as I smoke cigars but more and more it appeals to me.
Very cool. Looking forward to hearing about the results!
I'm not a big pipe fan so can you fill me in on why you press the pipe tobacco? :confused:
QuoteKen Kelley - 1/2/2014 3:51 PM
I'm not a big pipe fan so can you fill me in on why you press the pipe tobacco? :confused:
In (Country Boy Terms) think of it as a summer sausage. Sure you can put all the ingredients together on a plate and eat it and it will taste decent. But when you mix them all together and press them into a sausage the flavors will change and meld together, some mellow out while others come forward. It also as far as I've heard expedites the aging process a little as well.
Learning from you guys too - so when you're done pressing, does it literally look like a cake of tobacco? Why is this preferred over loose leaf?
Did you put a binder in there, or is it just all pressed together moistly, and then it dries out pressed to make the cake?
E
QuoteLonghorn - 1/2/2014 4:36 PM
Learning from you guys too - so when you're done pressing, does it literally look like a cake of tobacco? Why is this preferred over loose leaf?
Yah it will hopefully look like a flat cake of tobacco (think a thin hay bale).
IMO it's not necessarily preferred over loose leaf. It just alters the different levels of flavor you get out of it.
QuoteMcBryde - 1/2/2014 7:14 PM
Did you put a binder in there, or is it just all pressed together moistly, and then it dries out pressed to make the cake?
E
No binder just a very tiny sprits of distilled water and a very tiny amount of Mycoban (an antifungal used in food products like bread, cheese, etc.) to keep it from growing mold. It won't be as solid as say a plug of leaf tobacco, but it should be a pretty solid cake that breaks apart pretty easily.
Time to see what I ended up with. I am extremely pleased with the cake. The bread pans worked like a charm minus a little flare around the edges and it is an extremely solid cake.
Wow that is pretty cool...need to getting into pipe baccy
That's great, Kyle. Looks terrific. Now ...
How the hell does it smoke? Or are you going to jar it for a while to let it meld further?
QuoteROTHNH - 1/18/2014 3:14 PM
That's great, Kyle. Looks terrific. Now ...
How the hell does it smoke? Or are you going to jar it for a while to let it meld further?
I just finished up a bowl.......and was actually extremely surprised by the results.
I have been tweaking this blend in loose form for a couple of years and had it where it was hitting on all cylinders for my tastes.
The cake form actually (on first bowl impressions) improved it ways I hadn't expected. The Virginias have sweetened up quite a bit, the Smyrna and Izmir give a more subtle back note which is quite pleasant, the perique seems to have moved into the more aged notes of plum with a great pepper note.
I kept a little block out for smoking and moved the rest into 3 other little jars to open up at later dates to see how the aging process works on it. I think I will press up another cake with the rest of the tobacco I have left to be sure I can duplicate the results in full.
Over all this little experiment has been a success in my book! :dancing:
That looks great!.
Sweet, I need to try that
Like smoking a pipe but usually just smoke Cptn. Black.
that's cool. looked like a fun experiment.
I read something Fred Hanna wrote, I blv it was Hanna, about baking a tin in the oven to simulate age and meld the flavors. sounded cool.
yup just looked it up in "The Perfect Smoke" page 41
That looks like it turned out great! Let us know how it tastes. Looks like a great cake.
That sounds delicious -- Happy it turned out so well, Kyle!
Im getting back again into pipes after a 30 year layoff...I love pipes and bought a couple of Savinellis along with about 3 pounds of various tobaccos....I really like this idea of making your own blend so when I get my taste profiles in place I too will be playing around with this...thx for the thread and how to do this.
sounds like it turned out really good
This was a great thread to follow. I didn't know anything about pressing, not being a pipe smoker.
QuoteCfickter - 1/19/2014 8:53 PM
This was a great thread to follow. I didn't know anything about pressing, not being a pipe smoker.
We can help you become one !!
Looks great! I tried pipe smoking a little over the summer, but could never keep the darn thing lit.
QuoteLawDaddy - 1/26/2014 1:33 PM
Looks great! I tried pipe smoking a little over the summer, but could never keep the darn thing lit.
Jared, there's a long "learning curve" when taking up pipe smoking. Much like smoking cigars, pipe smoking has a long learning curve -- in fact, pipe smoking has a learning curve that's considerably longer, IMO -- 40+ years into pipes and I'm still learning LOL.
Like most things worthwhile, the more we put into it, the more we get out of it. The effort is worth it, IMO.
Some more McClelland's vintage 2003 Christmas Cheer (maybe a few bowls left from the Holidays), in an Astley Charatan Make 8-panel quarter bent dublin. Delicious.
Smoking a bowl of this stuff and it just keeps getting better the longer it rests! :dancing:
I have made up four more cakes of this stuff for long term aging.
Amazing the difference a year or two makes to markedly improve most blends. Virginias seem to benefit the most from aging.