Bulk Drying Tin Tobacco

[lfarrell15]

Howdy yall,

I’ve had a question rolling around that I wanted to present to y’all. I typically smoke once a day either at work or in the evening and I found I didn’t have the time to properly dry my tobacco. Or I just forgot and stuck a moisture glob in my pipe and suffered through it. I had the bright idea of bulk drying my tobacco then bringing the pre dried tobacco with me. This includes rubbing out flake/cake, cutting plug, etc. I’ve had success so far. Has anyone else had lasting success doing this? Any random issues I might not foresee doing this? I don’t want to somehow ruin a blend by pre drying it and it gets too dry. I do keep the dried tobacco in mason jars.

 

[coming to_falling too]

I've been doing it for quite some time with the tobacco I take to work. No problems here.

 

[Zamora]

I haven't done this but some blends I'll pack the day before, that's always been effective for me

 

[sablebrush52]

Quite a few people do this.

 

[proteus]

Too much work for me to time drying. I enjoy tinkering sure just not with trying to remember to prep before smoking. If I do I might dry it a bit only because I pre pack a pipe or pack it and get distracted and end up drying it out anyway. When I want to smoke I grab my tobacco of choice and a pipe and pack according to how wet I feel the tobacco is. I might pack it more loosely or tightly depending on the pipe I choose. Each of my pipe smokes differently. I just know each pipe and the tobacco by feel to pack it just right.

 

[elvishrunes]

I don’t because I like slightly moist tobacco and better storage. The only issue I could see is for long term storage like 3-10 years plus. You need moisture for fermentation, so it won’t store as well, plus it could crisp up. But for 6 months to a couple years, should be fine, maybe less in a real dry climate.

 

[Auxsender]

Yeah. I “decant” tinned C&D blends all at once. With decanting comes drying. Then it goes into the jar. I only do this with C&D because I find all their blends I’ve tried require some air time before they get smoked. I don’t feel the need to do it with other blends.

 

[beetlejockey]

I always dry about a quarter of a tin all at once and throw it into a ziploc bag for easy smoking then repeat when the bag runs out. Easy to take on the go and saves microwaving or leaving tobacco out in the sun to dry!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Open the tin, take out any paper or foil covering the top, lightly refasten top, let sit for two or three weeks in air conditioned or reasonably humidity controlled room. Smoke. That tobacco should be fine for at least several months if not a year or longer.

Don’t over think it. I’ve done this with several hundred tins. Tins that will be in my rotation a week to three weeks from now are open getting ready.

 

[woodsroad]

I always pre-dry whatever is my current favorite, plus one or two others. Saves time and disappointment. Others will disagree because that’s what forums are for.

 

[LeafErikson]

Sounds like you have a system that works great! I’d stick to it as it’s working for you.

 

[didimauw]

Howdy yall,

I’ve had a question rolling around that I wanted to present to y’all. I typically smoke once a day either at work or in the evening and I found I didn’t have the time to properly dry my tobacco. Or I just forgot and stuck a moisture glob in my pipe and suffered through it. I had the bright idea of bulk drying my tobacco then bringing the pre dried tobacco with me. This includes rubbing out flake/cake, cutting plug, etc. I’ve had success so far. Has anyone else had lasting success doing this? Any random issues I might not foresee doing this? I don’t want to somehow ruin a blend by pre drying it and it gets too dry. I do keep the dried tobacco in mason jars.

This is exactly how I do it. Usually 8 or perhaps blend at a time. Put in old fancy looking glass jars, and purposely let it dry out. Perfect and ready to smoke anytime. Albeit slightly messier this way with crumbs.

 

[KingPiper]

Yep, this is the way. Usually have about half an oz of two or three blends dried in the tin and ready to go. I usually just put the tobacco I want to take out into an empty tin and close the lid. Let sit for a week or two and its ready to smoke for me. Dry tobacco is a good thing.

 

[BingBong]

No! I paid good money for that water, dammit.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Yes, I dry whole tins and jars when I open them. Life is too short to be drying teeny weeny amounts at a time, and there's no benefit to doing so, IMO.

 

[Sig]

As others have mentioned, this is very common.
Years ago while jarring a few pounds of McClelland flakes and 2015 and some FVF, I decided to dry it out SLIGHTLY. Well, slightly ended up being mostly.
It's been 10 years now and when I popped a jar of flake last Fall, it was glorious....maybe better than when jarred as purchased. But who knows with no direct comparison.
But, the "mostly" dried flake was the same moisture level as when jarred and was perfect for smoking.

 

[BronzeAgePiper]

I had a pinch of brown sugar flake I left in a tin in the garage from 2 years ago, I opened it yesterday and crumbled it into a ball to detect if there was any moisture left, well there was, it stayed tightly wound, and could still use some dry time if it was enough for a bowl pack. That’s just wild to me.

 

[Brad H]

I’ve been doing this in a 3 stage drying.
Keep bulk in a jar. Move a portion to a quart. More from the quart to a smaller jar for daily use.
Mainly do this for G&H brown Irish twist so I don’t have to wait for the dry time as much. I do this when I have tobaccos I enjoy on routine basis but don’t feel like waiting each time for them to dry.

For my blending tobaccos I do the same. Bulk in a large jar, move the portion to next jar for for shorter term storage, then move a portion to smaller jar where it dries out some so it’s ready for use. Leave lid off a bit, let it dry, put lid back on.

 

[Lumbridge]

If you dry an aromatic, it's likely that the toppings will diminish significantly as the tobacco dries. This might be a good thing if you want to tone down any top flavors. I feel that it's a fair price to pay to make flame retardant aromatics more smokable.

 

[Brad H]

If you dry an aromatic, it's likely that the toppings will diminish significantly as the tobacco dries. This might be a good thing if you want to tone down any top flavors. I feel that it's a fair price to pay to make flame retardant aromatics more smokable.

Yup. The aro in G&H brown Irish twist aro diminishes quickly.