Can you store blends in a plastic bag in a jar, or does it diminish the tobacco? It's easier to pack a pipe from a plastic bag, but maybe it compromises the flavor. What do you think?
Do Zip-Locks Diminish Tobacco in a Jar?
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yo mso
L J Peretti, who knows a few things about tobacco, uses poly bags inside their paint cans for 8 oz and 1 lb quantities. I notice that the giant 5 pound bags of their raw materials are also in poly bags. That said, there are probably variations in quality among poly bags relative to our hobby. I notice a waxy smell in some random polyethylene bags, and this could be either a byproduct from processing the PE, and maybe a lubricant.
Different gauges of the plastic would affect the permeability of vapor and organic volatiles - thicker is better I would guess. And permeability of a given thickness PE sheet could be altered with crystallinity and the amount of stretch from the process.
I use wide mouth jars to ease packing. Sometimes with small quantities I just stuff the partly filled baggy in a jar - the flavor holds better than just the baggy, and I assume the tobacco in a baggy in a jar would keep about the same as just in a jar.
hp
les
L J Peretti, who knows a few things about tobacco, uses poly bags inside their paint cans for 8 oz and 1 lb quantities. I notice that the giant 5 pound bags of their raw materials are also in poly bags. That said, there are probably variations in quality among poly bags relative to our hobby. I notice a waxy smell in some random polyethylene bags, and this could be either a byproduct from processing the PE, and maybe a lubricant.
Different gauges of the plastic would affect the permeability of vapor and organic volatiles - thicker is better I would guess. And permeability of a given thickness PE sheet could be altered with crystallinity and the amount of stretch from the process.
I use wide mouth jars to ease packing. Sometimes with small quantities I just stuff the partly filled baggy in a jar - the flavor holds better than just the baggy, and I assume the tobacco in a baggy in a jar would keep about the same as just in a jar.
hp
les
Les, thanks for the explanation on polyethylene bags. Always good to hear from people with real knowledge, as opposed to "I just looked this up on the interwebs" knowledge. I'll plead guilty to being the latter guy on occasion!
I'll just add that if you want to use a plastic bag that is made of a more stable, non-reactive material, that presents a much better O2 barrier, take a look at Mylar-laminate bags. They can be found on eBay and Amazon fairly inexpensively. They are much more durable than PE ziplocs, but they lack the flexibility. We have used cheap ESD Mylar bags on The Box Pass with great success.
I'll just add that if you want to use a plastic bag that is made of a more stable, non-reactive material, that presents a much better O2 barrier, take a look at Mylar-laminate bags. They can be found on eBay and Amazon fairly inexpensively. They are much more durable than PE ziplocs, but they lack the flexibility. We have used cheap ESD Mylar bags on The Box Pass with great success.
I may hold the minority view on this subject, but I am apparently very sensitive to the smell imparted by plastic bags. Hate them. It may be simply that they neutralize the aroma of good tobacco, but I simply can't stand tobaccobp stored in plastic bags. If the tobacco is kept in a mason jar, there doesn't seem to be any obvious reason why to bag it up inside the jar.
I haven't tried them. I just jar whenever I receive tobacco in bags. Jars seem very neutral and are cheap*, plus easy to stack.
* although, we can quite a bit so always have jars around. Maybe bags are cheaper. But I would recommend jars for aging nonetheless.
* although, we can quite a bit so always have jars around. Maybe bags are cheaper. But I would recommend jars for aging nonetheless.
Jars are cheaper in the long run. They take up more space, which may not be an issue. They are the best choice all around. Bags are good in that they can be vacuum sealed...all of the air sucked out...and they are easier to transport to the pipe club meetings, or sent out in a Box Pass (they are a life saver there). Also, I can easily get multiple pounds O' Baccy into a single bag that doesn't take up much space. But aesthetically, economically and functionally, jars are the better choice.
I only know the following from my experience in working with lab personnel in a drug manufacturing company. Plastic is gas permeable and the run of the mill zip locks and such do little to keep anything truly air tight or prevent any other gases from getting in.
The only thing I would add is that the big distributors have very rapid turnover at very high volume. So their bagging techniques might be fine in the short term but not to be viewed as a standard for long term storage.
For example, the few times I've bought bulk by mail, it was very minimally bagged. This was fine for the 3-4 day transfer, no criticism, just no where close to how it needs to be for the cellar.
For example, the few times I've bought bulk by mail, it was very minimally bagged. This was fine for the 3-4 day transfer, no criticism, just no where close to how it needs to be for the cellar.
For long term storage there is no doubt glass jars with air tight lids are best. But for small amounts of tobacco which are likely to be opened on occasion, jars offer no aging benefit. Every time the jar is opened the aging process is stopped and will not resume until all the oxygen is exhausted. Glass jars can be used to keep tobacco that is being used regularly but there is no aging benefit to be achieved. Some form of humidification should be used in cases like that. Plastic bags are know to do something called "out gassing". That is they give off vapors that some of the responders have suggested they can detect. At best they are a short term solution for storage.
And I've found that the run of the mill bags I get from either of my B+M stores are pathetically thin. Fortunately, I have a nice supply of much thicker bags from Sweet Maria's, our local green coffee bean dealer in Oakland.
And a thick bag inside a mason jar: superb idea.
I am quite rigid about how I jar, not that my methods are any better than yours. The only guy I've known who used bags inside jar is Vito, a very infrequent contributor to the BoB board. He did so in the attempt to retain the benefits of a closed jar when he had the yen for some tobacco in the cellar. We jar to keep the tobacco in good condition and to age. If the former, I'm good; if the latter, no way, absolutely no way lest the heavens open the earth and ye be swallowed by it. Admittedly I am a tad rigid about the matter liable to explode when any jarring misdeed comes to my notice. But if one intends to age, and I have written about this elsewhere, doing my utter best to be tactful to avoid spewing my patently unverified conclusions on the smoking heathen, then put the tobacco in the jar and leave it alone for whatever period of aging you chose. Don't put it in bags that have no purpose and further funny up what is already a murky matter. The jar is plenty protection.
Don't let me hear about you opening aging jars unless you're gonna smoke it. If you do set some jars aside on the family altar or some other venerated place, and never open them, appeasement to the tobacco gods for the sacrilege of your behavior.
Don't let me hear about you opening aging jars unless you're gonna smoke it. If you do set some jars aside on the family altar or some other venerated place, and never open them, appeasement to the tobacco gods for the sacrilege of your behavior.
Beautifully written!
I've felt that bags in a jar is a halfway house- not for aging, but not for immediate consumption either.
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