Preparing Flake Tobacco to Smoke

[sucol]

OK - here's my method based on 20+ years of smoking the stuff ...

Flake tends to come in solid pieces that look a little like a rasher of bacon. They are an inch to 2 inches wide, and between 2 and 6 inches long. If you are buying in bulk, especially from an English manufacturer, you will get longer pieces.

Take a quantity large enough that it will fill at least one bowl. "Ball" it up into a ... well ... a ball, and place it between your palms, with the palms facing together. To "rub out" the flake, press the palms together and roll the ball in a circular motion. Use alot of pressure, keep rolling, and soon you will have a semi-solid ball of tobacco. You will find that this ball will break apart into "ribbon cut" like shards of tobacco which are easily packed into your pipe.

I recommend you do this "rubbing out" over a sheet of paper. I use a standard legal pad or a sheet of computer paper. Just don't try to run the sheet of paper through your printer when you are done!