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Casing and Pressing

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MEdHenry

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Completely new to casing and pressing my own pipe tobacco; actually never attempted it yet. I've been researching and would love some input. I have cured whole leaves. After casing them would I immediately press them or should I allow them to dry prior to pressing? I'm wanting to experiment with new flavors.
 

deluxestogie

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Welcome to the forum.

Pressing is usually performed on tobacco that is not fully dry (which would crush it to powder). So a bit of moisture is in order. Once the tobacco has pressed for as long as you desire, be sure to dry it to low case (not quite crumbly to the touch), so that it doesn't mold.

Feel free to introduce yourself in the Introduce Yourself forum.

Bob
 

Hasse SWE

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Wellcome to FTT MEdhenry, this forum is a good place for you and your new hobby. I think you can read more of perique (and other methods to do your pipe tobacco on) then any other place so welcome and good luck in the future
 

greenmonster714

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Welcome. There are a lot of threads here that talk about pressing pipe tobacco. I think our members have tried about every way to do it. Enjoy the site.
 

ChinaVoodoo

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Pipe tobacco ought to be in the realm of 12 to 15% water by weight for smoking. I find it relatively easy to get that because my tobacco will dry out to nearly zero in my house. I just have to weigh it dry, then add a known amount of water. I press my tobacco around 25% water, then dry it out after. If I were to case it, I would case dry tobacco before pressing, and add a known amount so that I keep the moisture level in the pressing zone 20-25%. Pressed tobacco takes longer to dry than loose tobacco, so I keep that in mind. The feel is a good way to judge, but the scale is the only true way to be sure.
 

burge

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I mostly smoke cigarettes however I do hand press my tobacco into a cake in the bottom or my tobacco tub after shredding. It ferments nicel. I think you may have to shred your leaves first to get a better result.
 

Jack in NB

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Hello and welcome! Great site, some very friendly and knowledgeable folks found lurking here!

I've been bricking for my pipe for years now. Some pix are posted on the HTGT site photo gallery.

Can't seem to get a URL direct to the gallery, but this will get you there: http://www.howtogrowtobacco.com/ . Go to the upper right - picture galleries box - click; find "user galleries, and mine should be the last one on page 1.

I now use 4 - 5 heavy and medium clamps, overnight, and then after removal from the press, clamp between a couple of boards (edges open to the air) until shredding time. I have a gut feeling that this 2- 6 weeks of relatively high moisture storage adds a touch of fermentation and improved flavour. As Bob mentioned there can be a bit of mould at times on the edges of the bricks, but this scrapes off easily before shredding.
 

DistillingJim

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I've had some success putting my tobacco at a fairly high case in a press in the oven for a few hours at around 80*. Care does need to be taken to ensure it dries properly afterwards

EDIT - Thats 80*C, or 175*F to those not on the metric system
 
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