How Tight Do You Pack Your Jars?

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kane

Can't Leave
Dec 2, 2014
429
3
Recently I packed all of my open tins into mason jars. I have read on the forum that people like to use a 4 oz. jar for a typical 1.75 oz. / 50 g tin.

I bought 8 oz. / half pint jars, and one 50 g tin seems to pretty much fill one 8 oz. jar. I can't really see getting a full 50 g tine into a 4 oz. jar as people say they do. For example, my 3.5 oz. tin of Mac Baren would not fit into one 8 oz. jar. I am firmly compressing the tobacco into the jar until it is spongy, but I am not full-force crushing or compressing it in.

So, how tight should I be packing it? Do you guys really compress it as far as it will go? It seems like that would be necessary to fit a 50 g tin into a 4 oz. jar. Is that really best?
Thank you

 

buroak

Lifer
Jul 29, 2014
1,867
14
I only drop the tobacco in and shake the jar to settle the tobacco. I do not compress the tobacco at all, though doing so might be just fine.

 

griffonwing

Can't Leave
Nov 12, 2014
498
21
Omaha AR
I started a thread not long ago on this very topic. Aromatics really do not age, per se. So for aros, all you are really doing is "storing" them. For these, I put 1/2 LB of Vanilla Cream and 7 Seas Royal in pint jars. I filled a bit, pressed, filled more, pressed, until half a lb, filled to the rim.
For "cellaring", you want to not pack it so tight, and also leave an inch or so space. Cellaring requires some air in the jar.
EDIT - adding a link to my thread

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/cellaring-aromatic-virginias-1

 

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
I will leave maybe an inch or two at the top of the jar. I will use the jars not just to cellar tobacco but also to keep tins that I've opened fresh for months.

 

kane

Can't Leave
Dec 2, 2014
429
3
So far this is just to keep the open tins fresh or from drying out while I work through the tobacco. I am trying a lot of different tobaccos right now, and at the rate I smoke it will be a while until all of the tins that are opened will be done.

 

griffonwing

Can't Leave
Nov 12, 2014
498
21
Omaha AR
As a caveat, the only tobacco that I "age" or "cellar" are bagged bulk supplies. I bought some Squadron Leader 250g bags and immediately jarred them in 50g portions in jam jars. I am also aging some 1oz bagged testers of ODF and some opened Six Pence. Im going to strike up those again in a few months to see if I like them better aged. If so, then I will buy some bulk and cellar them for a couple years.
The Vanilla Cream/7 Seas Royal tobacco I also buy in bulk 1lb bags, however, those I simply "store" in pint jars, packed hard with 1/2lb per jar as, from what I have heard, aromatics really do not age.

 

voorhees

Lifer
May 30, 2012
3,834
937
Gonadistan
I jar up all of my bulks aros. I don't expect them to age or get better by doing so, I just don't want them to dry out. I fill and pack as it could be some time before I get to it.

I pack Dunhill bulk this way to.

 
When I give the tobacco air space, and the tobacco has a bit of moisture, I get a darkening of the tobacco more quickly that when I do not. This is just for Virginias and VaPers.
All of the other blends get no benefit from aging, so I have no desire to keep a bunch of those things cellared.

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
Where's "Simon The Grammarian" when you need him? Newbie, what you say seems to make a good deal of sense, but it loses its impact and authority when the reader can't get past the distracting homonymic errors.
One [Once] again its [it's] either fact or fiction when saying you need airspace and how much airspace when cellaring for the purpose of aging. For the proper things to happen for aging the microbial organisms need to consume all the air before the benefits of aging actually begin so ... once again its [it's] either fact or fiction when saying you need airspace and how much airspace when cellaring for the purpose of again [aging?].
@Kane ... did you dump your open tins into mason jars to age or just to be sure they stay moist so you can smoke them? If just to keep moist for smokability then you can pack them as tight or as loose as you want, it really doesn't matter. Now if you packed them in for some sort of cellaring and aging reason please see my above comment.
Just a serious thought for all folks to ponder upon ... I read allot [a lot] of folks who will open there [their] tins and either smoke some and/or open them to put that tobacco into jars to cellar it and age it. Why do you do that? If you open a tin you best plan on smoking that tin because it will really not age any better if you jar it up to put it away to age. That tobacco needs its own little environmental atmospherical world for the microbial organisms to do there [their] magic of aging and the first time that sealed world is opened its [it's] gone and has to start over and over again each time you open that jar and let oxygen back into it. If your jarring because your [you're] smoking and don't want it to dry out than [then] by all means but if your [you're] jarring sealed tins because your [you're] blindly thinking that is what your [you're] supposed to do just realize ... every time you open a tin and hear that ppffftttt from the air rushing back into the tin you've just started all over again and you have defeated the purpose of aging. Like I said its [it's] just something to ponder about over your next few bowls of tobacco.

Everybody should be allowed a few typos here and there, but hey, there's a limit.

 

waxmojo

Might Stick Around
Aug 21, 2013
66
3
I jar only Virginias and I do compress the tobacco into the jar. Been doing this for years. Even without a lot of space on top,there is still air in the jar. You would have to use a press to squeeze out most of the air. Look how tight the tobacco is in a regular tin and they age well.

 

mcitinner1

Lifer
Apr 5, 2014
4,043
24
Missouri
Thank you Cortez,

It grates on my nerves how many people don't bother to proofread a post before sending it. Most, I suspect don't realize how many mistakes they make, others make them on purpose to be funny, (myself included) and I must confess that my mindset on grammar comes from my mom always correcting us when we were growing up. Let's not get in another quibble please folks, some things need to be said, and some don't. :roll:

 

cortezattic

Lifer
Nov 19, 2009
15,147
7,637
Chicago, IL
I'm not trying to beat-up on Newbie. God knows, his content and reasoning is (are? :lol: ) always spot-on.

Perhaps he was just in a rush to get his thoughts into the post. We need to show the reader a little more respect.

 

yazamitaz

Lifer
Mar 1, 2013
1,757
1
I jar everything, as voorhees stated, more to keep from not drying out than for aging. Of course, my 250g of FVF, BBF, and SJF all get jarred for aging.

 

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
I can see where a person might return to a jar several months later and have a dried jar of tobacco....I don't know if such a small amount of tobacco would leave enough of a gap after pressure is applied, but it might be worth considering.
I replace those seals any time I refill the jar for just this reason. Also anytime I change blends in a jar it gets a new seal. The way I see it those seal are way cheaper that drying out 8-16oz of good tobacco.
Seals are cheap way cheap, like $2.50 for 10/12 of them small price to pay for piece of mind.

 

phred

Lifer
Dec 11, 2012
1,754
4
Kane, I think you're filling your jars to about the same level I am. I just jarred 8 oz. of a couple of blends, and I got about 2 oz. (by weight) into my 8 oz. (by volume) jars. 50 g tins are right around 1.76 ounces, so I guess I'm compacting slightly more, but not by much.
Currently, I'm less concerned about "cellaring" than about having tobacco dry out, so the only stuff I've jarred are the blends I bought in bulk and the two tubs of codger burleys. I've got a few Escudo tins that I'll be saving for future use, but right now I'm still learning what I like before I stock up too much.

 

freakiefrog

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 26, 2012
745
2
Mississippi
I am talking about a new seal screwed onto a jar and opened months later, then realizing then that some tobacco had displaced the seal.

I spoke of picking the tobacco from the seal in order to describe how it can damage the seal.

Yea I've had that happen, its a bugger when you don't realize its happened..

 
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