Cube Cut Burley

[Krausen89]

There are a few different blend I enjoy that have a cube cut Burley. Some are cased(I imagine). In the spirit of creating ingredients for pipe blends I tried a toasted cube cut.

First I cased leaves with water and then toasted at 220F until crispy. 35-40 mins.
(Next time I may do a couple rounds of this)

I then brought back into case and pressed for a few days, adding a little more pressure every once and awhile. I feel like a good cube cut will come from a good tight plug which steam or hot weather may help with this.

Once out of the press I sliced down to flaked and then cut across the flakes to create the cubes

The cubes came out larger than I had liked so my plan is to make(or buy) a plug cutter to get more precise slices and cubes.

I feel additional toasting can be done once in cubes and at that point one can stored dry or cased or topped with whatever you'd like

 

[deluxestogie]

When I chop whole nuts, I use a chef's knife, which rests the tip of its curved blade onto the cutting board, and rocks down onto the nuts. Not fine enough? Just keep passing over the nuts with the chef's knife, until satisfied.

I think, with your cubed burley, using a blade that chops, rather than draws, would allow you to cut as fine as you like: chaveta blade, mezzaluna blade, chef's knife, etc. With pipe tobacco, precision is not as important as general shred size.

Bob

 

[Krausen89]

When I chop whole nuts, I use a chef's knife, which rests the tip of its curved blade onto the cutting board, and rocks down onto the nuts. Not fine enough? Just keep passing over the nuts with the chef's knife, until satisfied.

I think, with your cubed burley, using a blade that chops, rather than draws, would allow you to cut as fine as you like: chaveta blade, mezzaluna blade, chef's knife, etc. With pipe tobacco, precision is not as important as general shred size.

Bob

I started with a chef knife but the slicing knife i switched to was much sharper and with the longer blade it gave me more leverage, i was chopping with it though starting at the tip of the knife. i bet a nice sharp chefs knife or a nakiri knife would work well, but still would be nice to have it fixed at the front to a cutting board With most pipe tobacco i dont mind a mix or uneven cut. tho i do enjoy my shred size my pasta maker gives me.

With the commercial cube cut i have smoked, it is gravity filled ( more or less scooped out of the bag) and then lit, and upon lighting it expands and fills the bowl. I enjoy this aspect of the cube which i feel precision with the slices in turn creating the smaller cubes will be key to achieving this cut.

This attempt gave me a decent cut and once rubbed out its a nice addition in a blend but still not the cube i am shooting for.

Cube cut seems to be the most convenient but yet the least popular. My favorite being LJ Peretti BPC.