Mold or ?

Yakster

There's a good discussion on the PSD Forum about this for pressed flake. Mold in pipe tobacco is tricky, you don't just wipe it off a wrapper. There's salts, sugars, and evaporates that can leave white spots on tobacco too. It gets good starting on page four.

https://pipesmokersdens.com/threads/kbv-byronic-slices-potential-mold.9594/page-4

NorCalR1

Great read I have some KBV slices I need to open up and check the status of it. Once I can find some jars that is.

Yakster

I picked up a USB Microscope to look at tobacco, here's it's maiden voyage connected to my phone looking at an old GH Revor Plug which had some light stuff on the surface.

After reading on PSD, I decided before the microscope arrived that this probably wasn't mold, and some of the advise mentioned that the tobacco would generally smell pretty bad if it was moldy and this smells pretty good. Looking forward to trying it. Here's the close ups.

Yakster

Another good thread on PSD: https://pipesmokersdens.com/threads/is-this-mold.6760/

TheKraken

Interesting Chris, wonder what that stuff is then?

Yakster

Salts, evaporates, sugars, something from the blend.

Rdp77

Opened a sealed bag of these yesterday I finally managed last night to clean up my microscope (yes I still have one lol) and giving them a good look. Then I found the threads and the one Chris mentions. If something anywhere similar to this were on a cigar I would not hesitate in tossing it without a second look. In this context comparing the two is like apples to doughnuts. The tobaccos for each go through completely different processes which produce completely different results. If it’s a cigar…it’s mold. If it’s tobacco that has been cased, heated, pressed, and all kinds of other stuff. Give it a second look….it might be rewarding.

Hobbes86

^ Looks like tree bark.

MrPossum

Jerky looks a little dry