Tobacco Drying Out?

I know that many prefer their tobacco on the dry side. I kept a tin of Eileen's dream for much longer than 4 months in the unsealed tin and it only got better the drier it got.....just don't let it turn to dust.

I will probably hear about it for this, but...

If it gets too dry, and you dont want to smoke it, put the tobacco on a wet paper towel and microwave it for about 15 seconds. This will give it a chance to soak up some moisture.

You can rehydrate tobacco that has become too dry. See here for some discussion of tobacco moisture, including a recommendation on how to rehydrate: http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/dust-in-the-wind-a-primer-on-tobacco-moisture/
In addition to losing moisture, you lose some of the more volatile components that contribute to the flavor of your tobacco. It should be fine once rehydrated, but it won't be just like new because you can't replace the volatile organic components that were lost.
I find that tins, once opened, aren't a great way to keep tobacco for more than a few weeks. If you have a lot of tins open at once, or if you don't smoke frequently, you need to transfer the contents to some mason jars. 8 oz jars easily hold 2 oz of tobacco. Some seem to be able to cram a tin of tobacco into a 4 oz jar, but I find it a bit awkward to work with.

You definately want to get some type of jar that has, at least, a water tight seal. I recently puchased some wide mouth pint mason jars to store my tobac in. Others have suggested the type of jar that has the hinged lid with a rubber seal and latch (a bit more expensive, but may keep the tobacco fresh longer). For tins that you haven't opened (speciffically cardboard sided tins), you might try storing them in a 2 gallon ziplock bag.

Another easy way to rehydrate:
Get a mason jar or a jar with the latching lid. Put the tobacco in the jar. Lay a clean paper towel over the mouth of the jar. Cut out a small square of a new sponge and rinse it out a few times. Get the sponge good and wet, but not dripping wet. Place on top of the paper towel and close the lid. Check on the tobacco in 24 or 48 hours. Repeat if more moisture is needed.

Okay, what's with all the paper towels? This is why we have humidroles, guys. Soak a humidrole in water, then drop it in a jar (with a tight seal) along with the dried-out tobacco. Let it sit for a day or two, then check on it to see if the moisture level is where you want it.
Depending on the blend, rehydrating may restore it to 95% of what it once was. But if there were aromatic elements in the blend that disappeared when it dried out, those will be gone for good. I'm currently smoking one such blend now. It was a mildly aromatic VA/perique spun cut that, when fresh, had an incredibly rich aroma of peaches and cotton candy and deep rich perique. But the previous owner of the tin overlooked the rust that developed at some point; when I got it -- a tin that had been cellared/forgotten for 30 years -- the tobacco was completely dry. Rehydrating brought it back to smokeable life, but now it's just a nice VA/perique. Everything that had made it so magical 30 years ago was lost completely.
Like others, I "jar" a tin as soon as I open it. (I don't use mason jars, though; I'm not going for long-term storage with this approach.) I usually keep 5-6 open jars going at any one time, so I can smoke a variety of blends. And there have been jars that I dip into multiple times a day and jars that I've ignored for 6-12 months -- and all of them have kept the tobacco in fine shape.
Bob

I happen to love my paper towel method! Haha.
Also it's because I don't own any humidifying discs.

I've used the papertowel method with some cigars that got a little two dry. It worked quite well. It took some time, but it made them enjoyable again.

I got lucky and someone gifted me a 25ish cigar humidor when I started to get into cigars.
Still remember the days where my father would store his cigars in the fridge in their individual aluminum capsules lol.

Easy-Peazy:

Boveda
The 65% packs work for most tobacco, but they also make 62, 69, and 72% packets. Unfortunately, they do not make small packets in 65%
This may help:
http://pipesmagazine.com/blog/out-of-the-ashes/dust-in-the-wind-a-primer-on-tobacco-moisture/


The target moisture content is determined by the processor and end use of the product. But as examples:

• Tobacco with 15-18% moisture content is easy to manufacture, package and ship but produces a gassy smoke that is hot and can lead to tongue bite.

• An 8-10% moisture content product tends to be dry and crumbly.

• A happy medium is 12-14% tobacco moisture content.

As I go through the rotation and feel something getting a little dry I throw in a moisture coin and it's good to go in a day. If you're not smoking something for that long you should check the rotation every few weeks and check them out. It's an investment in pleasure and should always be kept no less than your POP (point of perfection).
Craig

Living at 8,000 feet in the Rockies, I do try not to have too many tins open at once. I have found that some tobaccos dry too quickly up here with the lack of humidity, so I get small seal-able glass jars — they're more like Tupperware than mason jars — for 2 oz./50 gram tins. (I think my little jars are 5 ounces for liquid and hold a tin perfectly.) Esoterica tobaccos don't handle the dryness up here too well. On the other hand, GLP tobaccos dry a little bit and we're good for smoking (especially Gaslight).

I'm the opposite of cfreud: foothills of the Appalachians, a very damp climate. As such, I've never had a tobacco too dry to smoke. Though I do prefer my tobacco on the drier side. I've had tins open for 18 months and I find they get better over time. I only use mason jars for blends I am intentionally aging for long periods. So I think if you're in a humid climate, don't worry - just leave them in the original tin.

you use a dry place to keep it dry.also use tin container

If it's going into my cellar (or the stacks of Styrofoam coolers that I call my cellar), I jar them in half pints. I get these in bulk from Here. I've yet to have one of these jars break, and we put up gallons of jams and jellies in our pressure canner every season, and we subsist on food canned from the garden. Much cheaper than Mason/Balls, and work just as well. Just get new seals each time, or we use a wax processor. But, we kind of have to, to keep cost down. But, for tobacco that doesn't require pressure canning, they are more than perfect. You can even find square jars on there.
But, for tobaccos that are currently in my rotation, I use these Snap-fit containers. They hold a whole tin perfectly, and they fit in my computer bag when I'm on the go. I can toss it into the truck without worrying about breaking anything, and I can even put one in my jacket pocket, without looking like I'm toting a jar of jelly to work with me. Plus, the seal is great, allowing me to open it over and over throughout the day. A jelly jar just doesn't reseal well if you are continuously dipping into it all day. You might as well leave it in the tin.
You might say, I've spent a lot of time living with jars. But hey, if you want to spend all of that extra money on brand name jars, so be it. They are great jars.
That's just my two cents. ::

I was keeping tobacco in basement and it was ok after 4 months(or maybe I just have a bad taste)

I wouldn't microwave your tobacco. There are so many other ways to hydrate it.
If you don't have one of those moisture disks (which you can get online for relatively cheap) put your tobacco in a bowl and hand a wet paper towel over it. When it's to your moisture preference, it's good to smoke.