Storing Tobacco

kalc · Sep 8, 2012

Hi All,

I am pretty new to pipe smoking and hav just started stocking tobacco. As i am in India, its pretty difficult to get glass jars of 4 - 8 oz capacity - i am trying though.

But of course, getting food grade plastic jars of different sizes is easy - and as of now i have started jarring my tobby in plastic jars. Quite a bit of what i am buying are bulk tobby , so i need to jar them. Also many of the tins dont seem to be airtight.

So, i wanted to know, how bad is that, storing i plastic jars - i hav read that it allows oxygen to enter, but keeps moisture in. So will it be really bad for my tobacco - in the short to medium term like 3-6 months? In the longer term like one or more years? If it will smoke well, but just be different compared to anaerobically fermented tobby, i guess thats not so bad(of course, its not the best option) - but if it will turn bad/unsmokable or something like that, i need to start looking out seriously for glass jars! Also, i am a bit worried abt glass jars breaking

As i am quickly accumulating many blends (35 on the way) and am sitting with around 30+ tins, many open, i need to know whether i will end up with unusable stock

cigrmaster · Sep 8, 2012

I stored a blend of something I didn't care for in a cheap plastic tupperware like tub that had a good seal for over 12 years and the tobacco was as moist as the day I put it in. Now as to the flavor I cannot say because I lost my taste for english blends but I cannot imagine it being bad, because it has retained all it's original moisture. I store my bulks in high quality plastic bail top jars that have silicone gaskets and have never had an issue. People like glass but I prefer that plastic, they are bigger and the seals are silicone, I used to use the glass ones but the gaskets deteriorate too quickly.

shawn622 · Sep 8, 2012

I used a small plastic Folgers coffee container for a storage vessel the first time I purchased bulk tobacco. Its been 2 months and it is still as fresh as the day I put it in there. I soaked it in water and distilled vinegar for 24 hours before I used it to kill any coffee smell first. I would imagine Tupperware works just fine...

sparroa · Sep 8, 2012

I would recommend that you do not open so many tins at one time, however, because the tin itself is not a sustainable method of storage. Even if the plastic isn't ideal, it will be better than your open tins that are now very vulnerable to oxygen, heat, humidity, mold spores, and everything else that can ruin tobacco... I would quickly try to accumulate enough jars as you can so that you'll prolong the life and quality of your blends... (I have never been to India but I am sure that you are no stranger to extremes of weather down there - that is something that you should protect your tobacco from. Even sealed tins should be kept in a dark dry place with a moderate temperature if at all possible)

cortezattic · Sep 8, 2012

I'm not a big fan of using plastic containers because there is so much variation in effectiveness. Preserving

moisture is not the only goal -- some molecules can move right through water proof barriers. If, after a time,

you can smell the tobacco through the container, then obviously something is escaping.
I think shawn622 is on the right track with the coffee containers.
As a stop-gap measure, you can reseal pop-top tins by running a bead of wax around the rim and pressing a piece

of aluminum foil over the top, then snapping the plastic cap down over the tin. This will keep your tobacco in

good condition for several months.
Has anyone tried using aluminum foil fashioned into a little fold-over pouch? I know that commercially, some OTC

brands like Carter Hall and P.A. use that packaging, but I think they are plasticized. I wonder why.

igloo · Sep 8, 2012

I like to use glass Mason or Ball jars some have bails and some do not . When I was a kid my neighbor had a huge garden and they grew and canned all thier fruits and vegetables and stored them in a underground cellar . I can still smell the earth and the cedar cieling . It might just be nostalgia or the fact that some plastic containers leach Bisphenol A . For short term storage it is probably ok , but what about five years later . There are many here that store for very long terms and I am sure they will chime in any minute .

cortezattic · Sep 8, 2012

some plastic containers leach [whatever]

Wow, good point Igloo. :clap:

kalc · Sep 9, 2012

Thanks all for chiming in. Sparroa, by open tins, i meant that i have transfered the contents of most of the tins to plastic containers - and i have more than 30 extra containers at this point , so thats not an issue. So seems like its not a bad option to store in plastic containers - and yes, i will definitely be on the lookout for canning jars, particularly for larger quantities which will be in storage for a rather long time. And yes, i do store the tobacco in a dark, cool place. Thanks a lot everyone

sjpipesmoker · Sep 9, 2012

Have you tried eBay India for glass jars? I would be awaare of plastic that contains BPA? but if thats all you have is plastic, then theres nothing you can do!!

technically it doesn't have to be "canning" jars, In the US thats what they are, as Rothnm said--glass jars= screw tops... maybe in india they call them something else??

kalc · Sep 9, 2012

Sjpipesmoker, well nothing on ebay.in - i tried there. Shipping glass jars from US is not really an option practically - i am probably looking at 100+ jars - the shipping will be a few times the cost of the jars + the possibility of broken ones

"Canning/mason" words are of course for reference here - i am typically searching for glass storage jars onine & locally in the market the language is different - some i have located, but are typically pretty large capacity 8 - oz +. They will be good options for bulk long term storage.

subtech77 · Sep 9, 2012

I would follow up with a question. As I have never stored before I need some advice. I basicly only smoke flakes, with a few exceptions and it is difficult to get very small jars. Will it be a big problem to store in a jar that is a bit big? Will the air in the jar dry out the tobacco, or will I be fine to store a pack of flakes in a normal size jar?
Thanks

sparroa · Sep 9, 2012

I forget what size they are but I have jars that will fit 2oz of loose cut tobacco and I use the same ones for flakes. I don't think it is a big deal as long as you maintain the proper storage conditions...
Kalc, thanks for clarifying. When you said open tins I envisioned that you had just kept them in the original tins, which is never a good means of long term storage. Still, my point remains in that perhaps you should consider opening fewer tins at one time and start finishing some of what you already have open. A sealed original tin is the best storage device for the most part, and if you purchase cellar-worthy tobaccos such as Virginias the aged blend will be better than the new ones you receive!
I only recommend this because I would not want you to discover one day that 20 or 30 tins worth of tobacco that you went to the inconvenience and expense to import have all gone bad!
Your best option if you want to keep sampling freely is to continue your search for glass jars because all plastics are not created equal and most likely some of your jars are not ideal for the purpose of storing tobacco.
Best of luck...

kalc · Sep 10, 2012

Thanks a lot sparroa, will keep ur advice in mind. Having said that , i am trying to narrow down on blends that i like , which i should order in larger quantities. So, in the process, i have opened up quite a few tins for sampling, around 10/12 tins. Also , a lot of my purchases(majority) are bulk blends, so in any case they are open - nothing i can do about that.

One of the companies here which makes glass jars contacted me today - the minimum size they have is 350ml(~12oz). I have asked for 10 jars to start with - no good for keeping 2oz/4oz stuff i suppose! But will do for storing larger quantities - stuff that i will buy eventually which i enjoy

mkvillaire · Sep 11, 2012

If I plan on smoking a tin over the next several weeks or even months should I still put the tobacco in a jar? Will the opening and closing of the jar repeatedly cause the tobacco to dry out?

brassonly · Sep 11, 2012

Hey Guys I am still very new to all this tobacco storage since I just started smoking recently but I was just wondering how it would be to use the large air tight ziploc bags to store your tobacco ???

mluyckx · Sep 11, 2012

Ziplock leaks...think freezer burn ;-) unless it's for a short period of time,bad idea

If I plan on smoking a tin over the next several weeks or even months should I still put the tobacco in a jar?

Couple of weeks, I wouldn't bother. Longer than that, input them in tupperware container. Knowing I'll have a bowl or two from the tin a week or so,I just put it in a plastic container. But jars and stuff, we're talking long term storage. For the bulks, I have little candy jars for the bulks in rotation. Usually three or four.
To recap:

1) open tin, if smoked within a couple of weeks. Don't worry

2) open tin, will take me a couple of months to smoke. In tupperware

3) bulk in rotation: in candy jar
Anything else, either in sealed original tin or in mason jar
Hope this helps

mkvillaire · Sep 11, 2012

Thanks Belgian Mick. That makes it pretty simple.

sailorjohnny · Sep 13, 2012

Possibly a stupid question, but is refrigeration a good idea if you have significant heat and humidity issues? Could this help our Indian friend with his long term storage?
I use silicone seal flip-top type canning jars myself, but back in my Navy days I found it best to store in the minifridge in the factory tin. (Glass is just a bad choice on flat bottomed ships...)

mluyckx · Sep 14, 2012

is refrigeration a good idea if you have significant heat and humidity issues? Could this help our Indian friend with his long term storage?

A fridge is usually too humid. A good sealed jar may actually be less humid after a while than a fridge.
That being said, our friend from India, depending on where he's at, is going to have to fight humidity no matter what. In a high humidity environment (90% and above) I think I would give it a try and see what happens. Maybe our friends from Florida or Houston can chime in ?

johncorosz · Sep 29, 2012

These seem to work well for storage. Got them at Dollar Tree for a dollar each.

Storing Tobacco

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