Okay so here lately I have been buying tobacco by the bulk and have been exploring ways to keep my tobacco from going dry and stale. Eventually I am going to invest in a humidor but being a college student, I can't afford one at the moment. I want to share with you my idea I have come up with to see if it was either a complete waste of time, effort and money, or will work fine. So basically I purchased a 15 ounce air tight, shatterproof plastic container from Wal-Mart. It has a pull and lock latch so it does create a very nice seal. Then I bought a regular kitchen sponge probably 3 or 4 inches. I then wet the sponge and put it in a very small Tupperware container which I then capped it with its original top only thing being that i put about 30 holes in the top so that the water could escape into the big container to wet my tobacco. Will this work?? Thanks, Bryce
Keeping my tobacco fresh
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A humidor is great for pipes but not much use with pipe tobacco. Unlike cigars, which need about a 70% humidity level, pipe tobacco responds best to a level of about 12%-18%. I'd take the sponge out of the setup you're using, unless your tobacco is very dry to begin with. Personally, I prefer mine on the lower end of that scale, I think you get more flavor and a cleaner burn from drier tobacco.
Mason jars do a great job of maintaining your tobacco at the proper humidity level without the need for adding moisture. You should be able to find them in a variety of sizes at most grocery stores for around $10 for a case of 12.
Mason jars do a great job of maintaining your tobacco at the proper humidity level without the need for adding moisture. You should be able to find them in a variety of sizes at most grocery stores for around $10 for a case of 12.
Maintaining temp and humidity is always a trial and error thing.
You will only know the humidity if you get a hygrometer. There are available for under $10. See here.
Really air tight container wouldn't be your choice if you never went into it. But if you're in there every day or so, that's not an issue.
Experiment with size of sponge/size of holes etc etc. But the concept is one that
You will only know the humidity if you get a hygrometer. There are available for under $10. See here.
Really air tight container wouldn't be your choice if you never went into it. But if you're in there every day or so, that's not an issue.
Experiment with size of sponge/size of holes etc etc. But the concept is one that
LOL. Misread by me.
Been smoking cigars a long time and seen lots of humidor questions and assumed this was a cigar humidor question.
What these guys said -- you just need to store pipe tobacco well selaed to preserve the low necessary level of moisture.
(Altho I did good advice on cigar storage.)
Been smoking cigars a long time and seen lots of humidor questions and assumed this was a cigar humidor question.
What these guys said -- you just need to store pipe tobacco well selaed to preserve the low necessary level of moisture.
(Altho I did good advice on cigar storage.)
What you described sounds like a plastic bail top jars.
I have a set of these, and some others as well.
I like bail top jars, both plastic and glass.
They work very well for me.
My advice is to insure that they don't sit in the sunlight.
That will cause the tobacco to heat up and the moisture will escape from the tobacco and collect on the sides, top, and bottom and could cause your tobacco to spoil.
The second piece of advice would be don't pack the tobacco too tightly. Air is your friend inside the jars.
Here's a picture of some inexpensive bail top jars from Wally World.
I have a set of these, and some others as well.
I like bail top jars, both plastic and glass.
They work very well for me.
My advice is to insure that they don't sit in the sunlight.
That will cause the tobacco to heat up and the moisture will escape from the tobacco and collect on the sides, top, and bottom and could cause your tobacco to spoil.
The second piece of advice would be don't pack the tobacco too tightly. Air is your friend inside the jars.
Here's a picture of some inexpensive bail top jars from Wally World.
I have to fall into the mason jar camp. Not the most space friendly but haven't found anything better at keeping pipe tobacco fresh. buying them by the case and in varying sizes should also help.
For cheap and easy tobacco storage, just cut in half and hollow out a watermelon. Fill each side and duct tape them together. It's cheap, easy to do and you can write what's in there with a Sharpie. Don't reuse the melons or they will ghost the new tobacco with the old. What's nice is that when you have emptied the watermelon of tobacco, you can just toss the old rhine in to the neighbors yard to help them compost.
Here is an article that I wrote about it that might help answer some of your questions:
Pipe Tobacco Storage
Pipe Tobacco Storage
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