When I was starting out I used to put the tobacco in the jars, then heat the jars in a pot with a little bit of simmering water for about 10 minutes, then place the snap lids on and let it cool to room temp. The lids would pop down and I'd be fairly confident of a long-term seal. Mylar is much quicker, simpler, cheaper, lighter, light-proof, etc, etc.
I think it's about 98% lighter and 100% less breakable, not to mention 100% light/UV resistant. Also vacuumable, easier to seal, and much more space-efficient. I still have about 150 mason jars containing tobacco so I'm all set on the visual. The issue is practical storage. Mylar wins hands down. (The pin-hole issue mentioned above notwithstanding. I'm doubtful that quality products would present that issue.)
Hmmm. Most? Because my experience is that manufacturers care about their packaging and how it lasts and protects their product for a long time. At least the good ones do. For example, GL Pease shipped in mylar bags for a while, but that wasn't good enough for Mr. Pease and the practice was discontinued. Anyway, that's the same as saying that tobaccos are tinned the way they are intended to be smoked by the blender, yet people often dry them before smoking.
Wrong.
Yes, I do that to all my rectangular cans. Years ago I procured a fairly large batch of Squadron Leader and out of 10 tins 2 released seal after about 1 year of storage so I Jarred the 2 that opened and Food Saver bagged all the rest…..years later they are all sealed with on fermentation gas off into the vacuumed bags.
It also depends on how long you're going to store the contents, and how much space you have for storing. Mylar take up less space and is impermeable if it's metallized.
As long as you're using heavy grade, food storage rated, metallized Mylar the contents will be good for decades. Clear Mylar food storage is fine for dried foods, like beans, pasta for a few years, etc, but because clear Mylar is permeable, contents will dry out over time.
The paint can types of containers are not good for long term storage. After a few years the contents will become noticeably drier and will eventually dry out. This is much less of a problem if the can also has a plastic lid over the metal lid.That's a good question. I don't trust them, but as you can see from this thread there's no consensus on most questions regarding long-term storage. I think they might be better than the traditional flat round tin seals because they rely on compression of the lid itself.
Calling @sablebrush52! What's your opinion on paint-can-style tins?
A few years back I was reading posts at the Briar Blues channel on YouTube and was surprised to see one from Greg Pease stating that he had changed his position on keeping tobacco in the tin, after finding a number of "disappointments" in his cellar, and that he recommended immediately transferring the contents to jars after after purchase.
I have plenty of space in climate controlled away from light areas. I take that for granted, my bad. Thanks for pointing some of these ideas out to me.
FWIW, vacuum sealing on tins is done just to keep the lid on. It actually removes very little air.Got several cans of Balkan Flake the other day. The cans have a plastic strip around where the lid lip meets the can... like a lot of food products do. I removed the plastic and I could feel the lid was kind of loose. No way this is a vacuum seal. The tobacco was still moist. After trying it I've decided to let it dry out some. It has the "grassy" Virginia taste I don't care for and as far as it being 30% Latakia, you could have fooled me. I didn't taste any Latakia flavor at all. If a few days of drying doesn't help it, I'll try mixing in some more Latakia and see what happens.
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