Baking tobacco in the oven

[joequo]

I've been reading some about baking tobacco in the oven and how it "smooths" or "rounds out" the flavor and generally makes it more "rich." Check this thread.

I decided I have nothing to lose with a couple of my blends since I don't like them. One of these would be McClelland's Blackwoods Flake. I just can't get into it and it bites like crazy! So into the oven it goes! Now, I'm also going to do this to a brick of GLP Triple Play and see what happens. I love Triple Play, so that will give me one blend I don't care for and one that I already like to test

They are in the oven right now. Inside their own mason jars covered in tin foil. I'm baking them at 220 degrees for 2 hours and 20 mintues as was one of the suggestions in the thread that I linked to.

I'll follow up with the results but has anyone else here tried this?

 

[gravel]

Poor Blackwoods Flake!

With that out of the way I am genuinely curious.

Report back and let us know how you like it. I have an ancient tin of some dreadful stuff called Balkin' Safari I'd like to try this on.

:joker:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Wow. Well, not for me. I'm pretty sure I'd screw something up. 8) Oh, but do let us know how it turns out.

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

I wonder how Fred's kitchen smelled after baking Lancer's Slices in his oven for 2 hours.

I think my wife would send me packing for that.

 

[KevinM]

Quite a while ago, some pipers observed that the tins they kept on the d'board of their trucks somehow got better. They attributed it to the heat rather than aging. This grew to a fad of toasting tobacco in the oven. Results, as I recall, were mixed. Some thought Va's liked to be baked, Aro's didn't and I don't remember a consensus on Lat. I once tried baking some Lane Hazelnut and recall it was markedly better before baking than after. I'm not sure any of this ever rose above the level of guys messing around. My missus clearly stated that my tobacco was to be kept out of her oven, just as my carburetors were to be kept out of her sink. Yes, dear, sorry, dear.

Maybe you'll have better luck. Let us know.

 

[Rikeshar]

Don't leave us waiting! How'd it turn out?

 

[joequo]

Don't leave us waiting! How'd it turn out?

First report:

Okay, so this morning on my way to work I smoked some baked Triple Play. I noticed that the plug had now become a little easier to cut. The tobacco was less moist, but by no means dry. Also, I'd like to point out that in my experience, different tins of Triple Play have varied slightly. The first tin I smoked had this potent tartness that was a little tough to stand--I would dry out a bowl's worth at a time to help subdue this. The present tin I am smoking, the one I just baked, still had some of the bright virginia lip smackiness, but not quite as much. That being said, after baking it yesterday and letting it settle for a night, this Triple Play is smoothed out. It's hard to explain but before I baked it, I always felt like I was one puff away from going over the edge of a delicious cliff that could send my tumbling down into yucksville. Now I can puff on this stuff with peace of mind or even aggression and not fear where it might take me. I'm going to smoke more of this and do so in another pipe to see how that affects things, but I have to say that ultimately I'm happy with the results.

More reporting to come later today or tomorrow after I give the baked Blackwoods Flake a try!

 

[Storm_Crow]

I baked MacBaren VA #1...last year I think it was. It was quite spry and bitey beforehand, and settled down afterwards.

The process alone was worth the effort as it smelled delicious!

 

[Wet Dottle]

Thanks for the report. Triple Play is one of my favorites. I'll give it a try.

 

[puros_bran]

You MUST use coco butter when baking with tobacco. and powdered suger, don't use granulated. Otherwise it doesn't taste right and it's dry.






Baking tobacco is a no no.. You can't cheat time. This comes up about every six months or so. GL Pease and other 'heavy weights' have weighed in several times, but are probably burned out answering it by now.

 

[Storm_Crow]

Cheating time is a fantastic idea for improving tobaccos that you probably wouldn't smoke again if you didn't bake it. I really didn't hold VA #1 in high enough esteem to bother aging it for instance.

You could also choose to age part of your recently acquired stock, and bake some or all of the rest of it which you've assigned for immediate consumption.

While there may be no substitute for actually aging the tobacco, baking does improve matters dramatically from my experience, and I'd rather make a bad tobacco good immidiately, or enjoy at least some of a good tobacco now, than never smoke the former, or wait years to consume any of the latter.

 

[Wet Dottle]

Baking is not supposed to be a replacement for aging. I have baked a few of my favorite blends (Escudo, Dark Star, and Marlin Flake come to mind) and they all tasted better after the experiment. By better I mean that I liked them more after the baking took place, with mellower and sweeter taste profiles. But my experience is limited: only did 190 degress for 6 hours (used the settings suggested by Fred Hanna) and always baked the sealed tins, 5 or 6 at a time to save time and energy

By the way, I've baked a 10 year-old tin of Escudo and the experience was worth it. Also baked an 8 year-old McClelland's Christmas Cheer with positive results. Therefore it can be done to old tins, too.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Some of these...ahem..."half-baked" ideas are fun. Kind of like that kid that dares the other kid to eat a bug, I'm sure as heck not gonna do it, but I'll beg for gruesome details if need be. :lol:

8)

 

[kieveryuu]

Some of these...ahem..."half-baked" ideas are fun. Kind of like that kid that dares the other kid to eat a bug, I'm sure as heck not gonna do it, but I'll beg for gruesome details if need be. :lol:

8)

That sums up my reading of this thread. Unlike the bowl by bowl microwave approach in another thread. This one leaves me uncomfortable about baking that much tobacco to be used in an abbreviated interval. Ah well, am glad someone is willing to take the squishy bite and share the details of the experience.

Thank you.