Storing 8oz+?

[Manawydan]

I have purchased primarily 2oz tins so far. The blends I really like I have bought another couple 2oz tins to ‘cellar’. Having a dozen blends in my regular rotation, and another twenty or so on deck to try out, means that I don’t go through a single blend very quickly. When I open a new 2oz tin I place the majority of it into an 8oz Ball canning jar. I usually keep a few servings in the original tin to smoke from so I don’t keep opening the jars as often, but I also don’t worry too much about that.

My question is this: purchasing the blends I really like is obviously cheaper when done in bulk. I’ve been looking at the 8oz or 16oz tins of blends like Haddo’s Delight and wondering how I am going to break it up for storage. I assume that once I open the larger tin (like all tins) I will want to provide some form of longer-term airtight storage, but that quantity won’t fit in my normal 8oz jars. I’d like to fill a Ball jar to smoke out of and more permanently store the remainder. Any advice here?

 

[hall222]

Mylar Bags.

 

[proteus]

It's 2 to 1. I store 2 pounds in half gallon jars 1 pound in quart jars and up to 8 ounce in pint jars. You may have to compress the ribbon.

 

[Manawydan]

I usually do 4-1 for my small jars, but do compress closer to 2-1 for longer storage. I think the mylar bags would take up less space than larger jars and will try that. Thanks for the advice!

 

[johnnyflake]

Get yourself a modest food storage vacuum sealing system, it will last for years. Store everything in 2oz mylars vacuum sealed. I do mean 2oz. An 8oz tin will take 4- 2oz mylars. That way over whatever amount of time you want to wait you only need to open a 2oz bag, not something larger. You could go to 4oz bags, but that's a lot of tobacco.

 

[Manawydan]

Get yourself a modest food storage vacuum sealing system, it will last for years. Store everything in 2oz mylars vacuum sealed. I do mean 2oz. An 8oz tin will take 4- 2oz mylars. That way over whatever amount of time you want to wait you only need to open a 2oz bag, not something larger. You could go to 4oz bags, but that's a lot of tobacco.

Good advice — I’ve been thinking about a vacuum sealer.

 

[sablebrush52]

All of the above present good options. When I jar for aging the ratio is 2:1 for ribbon - 4oz jar for 2oz tobacco, etc, etc. For flakes I use the taller 12 oz jars for the longer GH&C flakes and I pack them tight, but not so tight that I can't remove a few flakes without shredding them.
When I moved to Oregon last year I emptied and tossed the larger jars and transferred the contents to 7mil food grade gusseted Mylar bags which I then heat sealed. It took up a lot less space than the jars, weighed a lot less, and I didn't need to worry about possible damage. At some point I'll get into some of those bags and break them up.

 

[AJL67]

I ranged the spectrum and storage when I use Mylar though I don’t vacuum see it. I just press the air out of the bag and then heat seal it using an iron.

 

[ThermionicScott]

I haven’t cracked open an 8oz tin in a while, but the next time I do, I plan to divvy it up into multiple 8oz jars so that I never have to smoke from a big jar or keeping transferring from big jars to smaller jars.

 

[Swiss Army Knife]

Adding my vote in for Mylar. Jars are great for anything less than 4oz, especially if it's something you think you'll be dipping into with any regularity but Mylar is king for bulk long term storage.

I don't vacuum seal them, just squeeze some excess air out and then heat seal it with an iron.

 

[bullet08]

Don't care to have too much jars. I only buy 16 oz jars. Whatever I open go into 16 oz jar. 2 oz or 8 oz doesn't make any difference to me. I do have few smaller jars from smoking BriarWorks blends. They work well for 2 oz tins, but tight.

 

[LongIslandPiper]

I have purchased primarily 2oz tins so far. The blends I really like I have bought another couple 2oz tins to ‘cellar’. Having a dozen blends in my regular rotation, and another twenty or so on deck to try out, means that I don’t go through a single blend very quickly. When I open a new 2oz tin I place the majority of it into an 8oz Ball canning jar. I usually keep a few servings in the original tin to smoke from so I don’t keep opening the jars as often, but I also don’t worry too much about that.

My question is this: purchasing the blends I really like is obviously cheaper when done in bulk. I’ve been looking at the 8oz or 16oz tins of blends like Haddo’s Delight and wondering how I am going to break it up for storage. I assume that once I open the larger tin (like all tins) I will want to provide some form of longer-term airtight storage, but that quantity won’t fit in my normal 8oz jars. I’d like to fill a Ball jar to smoke out of and more permanently store the remainder. Any advice here?

I occasionally take those bulk 8oz of tobacco and split that into a big 32oz ball jar (say 5-6oz) to long-term store and then jar 🫙 up the smaller amount in the tiny ball jars or use Mylar bags bc i will be pulling from that to smoke immediately

 

[Choatecav]

To paraphrase Chief Brody in the original Jaws...... "You're gonna need a bigger jar."

 

[kcghost]

Sounds like a lot of work to me.

 

[Sig]

I use 4 ounce jars, even when I have pounds.
This way you can have a few blends open while the rest stays safe and aging.
I get about 15-20 bowls from a 4 ounce jar, so I can have several open and it doesn't matter how long it takes to smoke them.
I usually have 5-6 blends open, which takes about 3 months to smoke.
Every 3 months I get a complete new rotation.
This also keeps the blends from getting boring.
Unfortunately when I started piping I used much larger jars.
Now I have pounds of "out of production" blends broken into jars holding half a pound of tobacco. I have a LOT of McClellands stored this way from 2005-2010. When I do open them I put them in 4 ounce jars and carry on.

 

[RookieGuy80]

I love small jars. I'll break up pounds of bulk into tons of 2 or 4 oz canning jars. I can see mylar working as well. Ford/Chevy, Peterson/ Savinelli, Less Filling/Tastes Great. Whichever direction you want to go, for those bigger 8 and 16oz packages you can easily break those down as well. I have a couple jars of C&D Sunday Picnic from a couple 8oz tubs that I split up.

Depending on the blend, I might suggest going more smaller jars over fewer larger. It let's you sample it fresh, in 6, 12, 18 months, 5 years from a single 8oz tin split into 4 smaller jars (plus a few pipes full when it does show up). And it splits up the risks associated with storage. If there's mold in one of those 4 jars in the future, you'll toss it and check the other 3. If it's all in one jar, that 8oz tin is trash. But there's a greater than zero chance the other 3 will be ok. And if you ever make a pipe smoking friend in meat space, it's easier to share.

 

[PiperCalvinist]

Do 2oz. tins really need to be jarred? I was under the impression that a tin will hold the tobacco well for at least a year, if not a couple? Is that wrong?

On that note, when it comes to storing, I’m I destroying the aging process, if I have a tobacco that I’ve jarred for 3 years, but have opened it up half a dozen times to smoke some of it during that time?

Sorry @Manawydan, don’t mean to hijack your post. Just reading this thread got my mind churning.

 

[Manawydan]

Do 2oz. tins really need to be jarred? I was under the impression that a tin will hold the tobacco well for at least a year, if not a couple? Is that wrong?

On that note, when it comes to storing, I’m I destroying the aging process, if I have a tobacco that I’ve jarred for 3 years, but have opened it up half a dozen times to smoke some of it during that time?

Sorry @Manawydan, don’t mean to hijack your post. Just reading this thread got my mind churning.

No worries -- my understanding from other threads is that a factory-sealed tin will cellar just fine for many years. And there is minimal impact to occasionally opening a jar.

 

[PiperCalvinist]

No worries -- my understanding from other threads is that a factory-sealed tin will cellar just fine for many years. And there is minimal impact to occasionally opening a jar.

I was referring to an opened tin. I currently have about 7 opened tins that I’m assuming I’ll completely smoke within a year of purchase. Maybe not one of them? I was assuming I’m good for at least a year on those. Perhaps not?

 

[Manawydan]

I was referring to an opened tin. I currently have about 7 opened tins that I’m assuming I’ll completely smoke within a year of purchase. Maybe not one of them? I was assuming I’m good for at least a year on those. Perhaps not?

Ahhh. I don't have enough experience to know how long they should ultimately last but I would imagine it would be many months at least. I have a couple that have been opened for a couple months without issue. I did have a tin of Plum Pudding Special Reserve that had a few bowls-full already rubbed out that dried considerably after just a few weeks, but those tins with the plastic lids don't seal well. The metal round tins shouldn't be a problem.