Keeping Open Tins in big Mason Jars

stevuke79 · Sep 21, 2016

Hi guys. Very new smoker here.
Soooo ... i have a few zip lock bags and a few OPENED tins... and I've been keeping the tins and bags closed, and stored all together in a big mason jar.
So in other words they're in their bags and tins which are in the mason jar. When I want to smoke i take out the tobacco i need and seal it all back up.
I have a buttload of tobacco ... I feel pretty sure that it will last at least several months if not years.
Am I right? Will it keep well like that? (Most of my tobacco right now is aromatics)
Also, is the "cross contamination" a big deal? Should i worry about the smella mixing bc theyre all in that same mason jar?

stevuke79 · Sep 21, 2016

Also... its worth mentioning that one mason jar (the one with the tins) has a lot of open space in it. The one with the bags is packed kind of tight.
The former might make it dry out... the latter might have too much cross contamination.
(I just want to remind everyone... somewhere in this forum it says "there's no such thing as a dumb question" .. lol!!)

aldecaker · Sep 21, 2016

Welcome aboard. I would invest in a flat of smaller Mason jars and put the individual blends in them. It will surely prevent "cross contamination", if nothing more.

aldecaker · Sep 21, 2016

Also, bear in mind many of us worry more about tobacco being too wet rather than too dry.

macaroon · Sep 21, 2016

Most folks here like to store tobacco in separate jars for precisely the reason you mentioned. However, I do not know of anyone who's tried storing it like you are currently. Honestly, I'd say that if you're able to enjoy the tobacco as it is, then don't worry about it. If it bothers you, then mason jars aren't expensive and are reusable, so go ahead and do what makes you happy.

stevuke79 · Sep 21, 2016

Got it... in other words im over thinking it. Thats me!

Based on your advice i think ill start to seperate them out a bit.
And i know what u mean about too wet... i make sure to dry it before smoking... but i dont want it to dry out before i get to it.
Thank you guys!!

pagan · Sep 21, 2016

Invest in smaller jars for each blend

jefff · Sep 21, 2016

I use 4oz mason jars. When I open a 50gr or two oz tin I split in in two. I smoke one and let the other age. I smoke one or two bowls a day and I like to mix it up between several different blends. So it can be up to a year before I open the second jar, sometimes longer.
So far it's worked beautifully.

pipesmokingtom · Sep 21, 2016

Welcome!!
Man, that method would drive my tobacco OCD bonkers!
Definitely go get a flat of mason jars. Or three of different sizes.
It will make me feel much better about how you store and organize your tobacco. :D

carver · Sep 21, 2016

Invest in smaller jars for each blend

Exactly. Also, if the tin is open, there is no need for it if you use jars. Once the tin is open the jar will preserve your tobacco better anyway.

What I do is I transfer systematically every tobacco in an air tight pot and store the empty tin away. I only keep unopened tins for the ones for which the jar for that blend is already full. Man, that last sentence was convoluted. Pots are 100g, I buy 3x50g tins of a Dunhil NC. I open 2, put the tobacco in the pot, keep one tin unopened.

hmhaines · Sep 21, 2016

Say it again: smaller jars!

fitzy · Sep 21, 2016

I buy the 8oz mason jars. They fit the contents of a 50g tin perfectly.
I also have wide mouth 32oz quart sized mason jars and use those for when I open an 8oz tin.
Also Ball sells a funnel for like $2 which makes it super easy to fill those jars.
At one point I had a few baggies in a jar in my office and after a while all of those tobaccos melded together and you couldn't tell the difference. So I highly recommend you store them in separate jars sans baggie.

cossackjack · Sep 21, 2016

Tobacco Mason/Ball jar storage: jar volume by tobacco weight

My experience (rule-of-thumb): 1/4 of the jar's volume, contingent on the cut & dryness of the tobacco 
Jelly jar (4 oz volume) = 1.72-2 oz plugs; 1 oz tobacco
Half-pint (8 oz volume) = 2 oz tobacco 
Pint (16 oz volume) = 4 oz tobacco 
Quart (32 oz volume) = 8 oz tobacco
Divide tins or bulk into the smallest sized jars as practical & available, for aging & later smoking smaller portions while allowing the remainder to continue aging.

tmb152 · Sep 21, 2016

Keep each blend in its own jar packed tight. If you mix them together in one big jar, elements of each will migrate through the bags and contaminate the others. Personally I keep four size jars and cossackjack's estimates of what each will hold are very close to my own.

dottiewarden · Sep 21, 2016

Question

Also, is the "cross contamination" a big deal?

Answer

If you mix them together in one big jar, elements of each will migrate through the bags and contaminate the others.

mackeson · Sep 22, 2016

When I open a tin, I keep the tin with other regulars in a big "Lock and Lock" plastic container with a cigar humidifying pouch (I know, I know). If after a few bowls I determine it's not one I'll finish in a couple weeks, I jar it. The ones I constantly smoke stay in the container. Bags I immediately jar.

anthonyrosenthal74 · Sep 22, 2016

Mason jars are cheap. Grab a case of the size you think you'll need and use a mason jar for each blend. If you think you'll smoke through a blend fast enough, you can skip the mason jar, and just put that tin in a ziplock if need be. I usually smoke a tin before it drys out too much, so I just keep the lid on and let it ride. But mason jars are a must, so you might as well get some. You'll fill them up with countless blends before you know it.

thebadkitty · Sep 22, 2016

elements of each will migrate through the bags and contaminate the others.

This. It's like milk and onions in the fridge, everything will taste and smell like everything else. Although anecdotally, this is how Reese's Peanut Butter Cups came about, so ya never know. Maybe like Best of the Rest or Floor Sweepin's.

seagullplayer · Sep 22, 2016

I do have one large jar with several different blends in it, some in tins and some in zip lock bags and a couple in the original pouch. I have not had any trouble with cross "breeding" yet.

Its a mix of stuff I take camping.
But its only been stored that way a couple of years. And I don't have any frog Morton in the jar.

That frog will ghost a house let along a jar.

newbroom · Sep 22, 2016

I don't have a 10yr plan, a 5yr plan or any other sort other than to make sure I've got some tobacco to smoke.

At first I was obsessive about putting stuff in jars.

It got way out of hand.

I still use a few jars, of course, but I've been buying blending tobaccos and bagged bulks in general, and I just leave them in their bags.

I might look into better bags though.

Keeping Open Tins in big Mason Jars

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