Storing Large Quantities of Tobacco

Yeah, I'd stick to mason jars. Put them in a manageable amount of jars either for budget or for smoking pace (big jars for value or smaller jars so that they will stay fresher longer).

Another vote for Mason jars. They're a lot cheaper than the tobacco you're protecting, so IMO there's no reason not to use them. A couple of small ones for day-to-day smoking and some large ones for bulk storage and you're good to go.

Vacuum sealed bags will keep it fresh but I'm gonna go with what the guys are saying. A few mason jars is def the way to go. Also, it's no a pocket breaking investment.

Sorry... double post.

As for the Mason jars (wide mouth of course) you would be surprised at just how much baccy you can pack in. On occasions I've placed some tobacco in, cram it down tightly with the bottom of a small glass, add a bit more, pack it down... rinse and repeat. Use one of the smaller jars for daily use.

As per ae1pt (and others), quart mason jars (they are like $1.50, each) are the way to go. For normal ribbon-type cuts I usually get about 8 oz of tobacco (by weight) into a 32 ounce (volume) jar. Sometimes as much as 12 ounces. So you would need 3 to 4 jars per pound of tobacco. In my neck of the woods, they are routinely available at the Ace hardware store, or at places like K-mart and Wal-mart. It's cheap insurance for your tobacco and the jars can be reused almost indefinitely. I hesitated, at first, to buy mason jars. I don't know why some of us have that initial reluctance and look for other options. Maybe some strange fear of commitment? Go out and get some jars, you'll be glad you did.
To get tobacco from the bulk bag into the mason jar, I usually take a cheap paper plate (you know the kind -- they are barely more robust than a coffee filter) and roll it into a funnel shape.

Wilson,
Thanks, that is good information translating ounces of tobacco into mason jar ounces.
Since I'm new at this pipe smoking business, I haven't bought bulk tobacco yet. However when that happens, I think I want to store it all in small jars. That way when I open one of the jars to smoke, I won't disturb the other jars and the tobacco in them will keep on fermenting.
Your thoughts?

Since you're cellaring aromatics, vacuum sealing wouldn't be awful (although I question how well the plastic would hold up over the years), it wouldn't work well for VA-based blends as they wouldn't age normally due to less air in the bag.
YMMV

-Jason

I've concluded that a 2-to-1 ratio works well - a 4-oz jar for 2 oz of tobacco, etc. I've repeatedly squashed a half-pound of ribbon in a 16-oz jar. It's a tight fit, but not risking breaking the jar or anything. Flakes, you just need to jockey them around a bit until they fall in place.

Curl, I have both large (quart) jars and smaller (half-pint) jars. I find the smaller jars better for day-to-day use. All (or at least most) of my tins that I open get transferred to a half-pint jar. I always have too many things open at once and it takes me too long to finish a tin. Transferring to a jar ensures that it won't dry out on me.
For bulk tobacco, I usually put a pound into 3 jars. Any left over goes into a half-pint jar (or two) for my normal rotation. When that is empty, I refill from one of my larger jars. When I'm down to my last quart jar, it is time to think about re-ordering.
You could store everything in small jars. I'd probably find it annoying to fill so many jars when I get several pounds of tobacco delivered. I do realize that, in the end, I eventually do this one by one as I re-fill the small jar every couple of weeks. I'm rather impatient (thus defying the myth that pipe smokers are all relaxed and pensive and low key), but, it would certainly work: a large stash of small jars would be just fine.
Grouchydog is probably right that with a bit more effort you could fit more tobacco into a jar and maybe get close to a 1 to 2 ratio. Someone posted a pic a while back where they showed how they used a large (contractor size) caulking gun to compress tobacco into their mason jars. For the few pounds I keep on hand, I'm not so worried about minimizing the number of jars. If you are putting up 100 pounds of bulk, you might need to be more concerned with packing more tobacco into fewer jars.

A better way to go, is to buy a canning funnel (preferably a wide mouth version, and buy wide mouth jars)...the funnel is dirt cheap and available in the canning supplies section of Walmart, Ace, or ranch supply store..

Click to expand...

^^^^^^THIS! I saw this tip on youtube from someone who was showing off a tobacco stash and that video led me to one of these. I have bought about 8 buttloads of bulk tobacco in the last month, and I snagged myself one of these bad boys. What used to take me 30 minutes trying to keep spillage to a minimum and get tobacco in the jar got knocked down to about 5 minutes with a funnel. Best $1.97 I ever spent on pipe supplies.

I usually buy the bigger glass mason jars (64 oz) at my local hardware store, and a canning funnel has made the process so much easier! I also have some smaller pint and 4 oz glass mason jars.
The nice thing about the big jars is that they cost me about $1.00 each, and depending on the tobacco blend will hold a full pound of bulk easily, and even more flakes. When I open a jar for use, I put the tobacco not intended for immediate use in the smaller jars.
I live in an agricultural community - lots of 4H and farmers markets and such - and the big mason jars outnumber the smaller ones at the hardware store by a fair margin. Must be for things like pickling cucumbers and the like.

If you have a food saver vacuum sealer then you can order mason jar sealer for it. They have wide mouth and large mouth sealers. The smaller one is a bit odd to get working but I can elaborate more if you want. Also it does not remove 100 percent of the air. These sealers let your tobacco age like a champ because they do not remove all of the air kind of like a tin.

easterntraveler

"If you have a food saver vacuum sealer then you can order mason jar sealer for it. They have wide mouth and large mouth sealers. The smaller one is a bit odd to get working but I can elaborate more if you want. Also it does not remove 100 percent of the air. These sealers let your tobacco age like a champ because they do not remove all of the air kind of like a tin."
I use a standard funnel ( Ball) where did you find the collapsible model. I want one! :O)
To anyone who has not looked at them:

There are at least 3 blogs on this subject. If you cellar it would be worth your time to review them. Some of the guys have had experience, and offer some great ideas. Search under "cellaring tobacco"