Sidebar

DIY Vacuum Chamber for $30

Log in

Forgot your password?

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Site Sponsors

Al Pascia
Blue Room Briars
Cigar World
Danish Pipe Shop
LePipe.it
Missouri Meerschaum
Pipes2Smoke.com
PipeStud.com
Seattle Pipe Club Tobaccos
SmokingPipes.com
Tabaccheria Corti
TinBids.com

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Drucquers Banner
Status
Not open for further replies.
charliecob

charliecob

Lurker
Mar 1, 2017
13
0
As a relatively new pipe smoker, I have slowly been trying to build up a decent supply of tobacco---most of which has not been to my liking so I'm trying to find ways to best store the stuff. The cost of jars for the purpose of cellaring has started to annoy me a bit, so I have been contemplating other methods for long-term storage. As such, when I stumbled upon this article from MAKE to build a vacuum chamber on the cheap I was intrigued.
As an avid DYIer, I felt compelled to share this vacuum chamber build for those similarly inclined and interested in projects that may prove salubrious to our hobby. While I'm not sure how well this thing will actually work (as I have not yet sourced the parts or started the build), I'm thinking it could be a cheap alternative to a virtual lifetime subscription to jars. My thinking is: build this for a song (equivalent to the cost of a couple dozen jars), purchase a bunch of heavy-duty ziplocks, store all the vacuum sealed tobacs in a bin until fancies get tickled, dip in, reseal, repeat. With the cost of a bag being a fraction of the cost of a Mason jar, I figure it's worth a shot. And the vacuum chamber itself can be used for other..."useful" things.
Any thoughts on how well a vacuum re-sealed tin or bag of tobacco may fare in comparison to a canned (jarred) tobacco in the short- or long-term?
I'll be searching for cheap/recycled parts over the next few days to make this build happen, and I'll be sure to post pics and anecdotes if there is any interest in this project.

 
cosmicfolklore

cosmicfolklore

Lifer
Aug 9, 2013
34,000
75,782
Between the Heart of Alabama and Hot Springs NC
I use a vacuum machine almost every day. How do you propose using it for sealing ziplock bags?

If you put a sealed ziplock in a vacuum, it will swell up and pop like a balloon. I can't really think of any way you could remove the air and seal the bag, without using a specific machine made for that.
plus, look into the air-tightness of bags, plastic, mylar, etc... Woodsroad has several threads where he reports his findings.
Jars, expensive, ha ha. Less than a dollar a piece and you can reuse them forever. But, sure... try this out. But really look into how vacuum works and whether you really want to use bags before you waste too much of your time on goose chases.

 
piffyr

piffyr

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 24, 2015
782
80
There are a few real problems with this...
First, a small amount of air in the container is actually beneficial to the aging process.
Second, plastic breathes. You can vacuum seal a baggie today, but it won't be that way a year from now.
Third, as soon as you "dip in" and expose the tobacco to fresh air, the aging process stops and has to start all over again from square one when you reseal.
Best to stick with tins and jars, in my opinion. They're time tested.

 
toobfreak

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
piffyr, I am not disputing you, but I really wonder why a certain amount of air is beneficial to the aging process, yet when you open it up to get a little tobacco and introduce more air, now it stops the aging process? If the tobacco is pressed in there rather tightly, I have often wondered if you poured a little CO2 in there before closing things back up whether or not that might "beat" the aging rule?

 
piffyr

piffyr

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 24, 2015
782
80
@toobfreak -- It's a fair question. Basically, oxygen is required during the aerobic process that breaks down some of the sugars in the tobacco. Then, the anaerobic phase begins once the oxygen is depleted and it's fueled to a large degree by the chemicals left behind from the converted sugars. It's during this phase that the flavors and aromas are developed thanks to the production of esters. If oxygen is reintroduced to the environment, the anaerobic process stops and the cycle has to start over.
Going directly (or at least quickly) to the anaerobic process by introducing CO2 would probably preserve some of the benefit of aging, but I think you'd still be cheating yourself. Without the converted sugars, there would be little to fuel the anaerobes process.

 
toobfreak

toobfreak

Lifer
Dec 19, 2016
1,365
7
Hey, I tried that vacuum out and it really sucked! :puffy:
Sorry 'bout that. The devil made me do it.
Seriously, Great explanation, piffyr. Seems to jive with other theories I've read. I ask because it is an ongoing interest of mine I am experimenting with. I have various tobaccos I pack and store in different ways and am looking to see the differences.
The hard part is judging where the aerobic and anaerobic phases each meet. The CO2 thing is just an idea to try to preserve the aging process once the aerobic phase is over. I wonder if anyone has tried to pack away tobacco with an enriched oxygen air to see how that affected things?
When I open an aged jar to smoke some, I've tried breathing in it before closing to deplete the oxygen from normal room air as a way of keeping the aging process less affected.
But in general I do pack the aros very tightly with no air for long term storage as it does seem to slow down the oxidation of the chemicals used in the flavoring.

 
charliecob

charliecob

Lurker
Mar 1, 2017
13
0
Thanks for the replies!
I realized after posting this it would probably be more work than it's worth (trying to vacuum seal baggies of tobacco, not building the chamber itself--I still intend to do that if only for Ss&Gs). In the video the fellar puts a loaf of bread (in it's original bag) under vacuum using a hose not inside the chamber (I have a basic understanding of vacuum chambers and vacuum forming and know you can't simply put a bag in a chamber in order to "seal" it), which is what I was thinking of doing with heavy-duty bags. However, I suppose I will stick to jars. I realize they are not that expensive and they have an almost infinite number of uses (I particularly like using jars as drinking glasses whilst working in the yard), but they do add up!
Anyway, thank you again for the info and commentary.

 
balkisobrains

balkisobrains

Lifer
Jun 27, 2016
1,273
117
I know that there are at least a couple of people who have flooded their tobacco jars with nitrogen, which I find interesting because I suspect that doing that would slow down the aging process, which could be useful as well. :puffpipe:

 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom