Had a Tin Lose its Seal

[AcesAndEights]

I was down looking through a box of tins in my basement just a little while ago. I grabbed one tin, and the center of the lid ‘popped’ like a canning jar lid that has been opened. Gave it a little twist, and it came right off. I checked every other tin that I have, and they were all fine.

The tobacco inside is pretty dry. I’m attempting to rehydrate. We’ll see how it goes. My question is how common is this? Do I need to be going through everything in my cellar once a month checking seals? How often should I be checking the lids? Thanks

 

[Servant King]

Bummer. At least all the others passed.

What kind of tin was it? Circular or square/rectangular? I know the latter is prone to this happening. Never had this happen myself, although in the interest of full disclosure, all my tins are circular. The couple C&D tins I have are bulging a bit, but not looking like they're going to blast off and shower my living room with fine VA ribbons.

p.s. if you happen to have a glut of charcoal filters around, soaking them in distilled water and placing in a tin/jar does wonders for rehydrating dried out leaf. Just replace as needed until you get the desired moisture level. ?

 

[AcesAndEights]

Round tin of Early Morning Pipe. Just over a year old.

 

[Servant King]

Yeah, that's screwy. Never heard of that happening. I do a cellar check from time to time (probably every few months or so), but then again, I only have about three dozen tins. If I had the kind of cellar most of my forum brethren have, I'd need to hire a whole crew (which would definitely offset my tobacco budget). ?

Probably your best bet is to check regularly. I say that because the only alternative that comes to mind is transferring everything from tins to jars, and that's a strategy I would never advocate. I love tin art too much!

 

[AJL67]

I have a few random C& D tins from 04 that are def pregnant lol i hate to touch them thinking they will blow.

 

[Chasing Embers]

I have a few random C& D tins from 04 that are def pregnant lol i hate to touch them thinking they will blow.

I've had a few pop in the closet. Sounds like a firecracker.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

In my experience, it's a 0.1% thing, nothing to be concerned about. I just found a tin of Astleys 109 that had a broken seal a week or so ago. Quite dry but I'm smoking it. Very, very good.

 

[anotherbob]

try smoking it as is before hydrating. I always feel like more is lost rehydrating then just dealing with it dry.

 

[kschatey]

I happened to recently check my tins while digging through looking for something and none were popped. I do have my Gawith rectangle tins in vacuum bags as a precaution though. However, all C&D tins from past 1-3 years (I don't have any older) are a slight bit puckered already. Likely no problems, but was surprised how fast chemistry was doing it's thing.

 

[didimauw]

I have a couple C&D tins that are like footballs now. Won't sit flat. ?

 

[sablebrush52]

I was down looking through a box of tins in my basement just a little while ago. I grabbed one tin, and the center of the lid ‘popped’ like a canning jar lid that has been opened. Gave it a little twist, and it came right off. I checked every other tin that I have, and they were all fine.

The tobacco inside is pretty dry. I’m attempting to rehydrate. We’ll see how it goes. My question is how common is this? Do I need to be going through everything in my cellar once a month checking seals? How often should I be checking the lids? Thanks

It comes with the cellaring territory. Depending on the type of tin, square/rectangular vs round, over time a significant number will gradually lose their seal. They were not made, nor intended, to last year after year. You're probably good with most of your tins for around a decade, more of less, before some with fail. As the years pass, more will fail. And some will be good for decades. It's just a crap shoot. If you're thinking really long term, jars and Mylar are a better bet.

 

[hyperstar]

I will spray some brandy on dry tobacco with hand sprayer to rehydrate them.
Don't use distilled water. It will make your tobacco less flavorful.

You can either pack the tobacco with vacuum seal bags or pack the whole tobacco box in bags.

 

[kcghost]

Things sometimes just happen.

 

[captpat]

Just for a point of reference I recently opened a 12 year old tin of FVF, it was a rectangular tin and the seal was still intact. It was starting to show signs of corrosion around the seal, nevertheless a satisfying whoosh upon opening. I'm guessing perhaps another year on the seal. Seems unusual that the seal went bad on the OP's tin in a year -- may not have been properly sealed from the factory.

 

[pantsBoots]

I will spray some brandy on dry tobacco with hand sprayer to rehydrate them.
Don't use distilled water. It will make your tobacco less flavorful.

You can either pack the tobacco with vacuum seal bags or pack the whole tobacco box in bags.View attachment 156577

I use distilled water and have never had an issue with loss of flavor, except when the tobacco had been dry for a very long time (in those cases, I assume the essential oils had long since evaporated or otherwise denatured). Not sure how distilled water would remove flavors, unless you're soaking the tobacco and the water is running through and out of the mass of tobacco. If you use Brandy, whiskey, rum, you're basically adding an additional flavor to the blend.

I get a well-washed and well-sealing Tupperware, put the tin in on one side and put a natural cellulose sponge on the other side on a plate and saturate the sponge with water. I check it every couple of days until the tobacco has a desirable moisture content.

 

[Honkytonk Man]

Just outta curiosity, I had a quick look at my meagre cellar.
My C&D Carolins Red with Perique, is just starting to bloom, with < a year aging.
Conversely. A can of Royal Yacht is about to disappaer up it's own ass-hole and turn into a black-hole. How is that possible?
Any comments well received.
Yours,
etc. etc.

 

[pantsBoots]

A can of Royal Yacht is about to disappaer up it's own ass-hole and turn into a black-hole. How is that possible?

What does that even mean!? I've only been smoking for a couple years, but can safely say nothing like that has ever happened to me. Of course, I've never tried Royal Yacht, so it may be this experience is unique to that blend?

 

[sablebrush52]

I will spray some brandy on dry tobacco with hand sprayer to rehydrate them.
Don't use distilled water. It will make your tobacco less flavorful.

I'm going to disagree with your statement about using distilled water. It's distilled. It's not going to leach anything. Some tobaccos lose some of their flavorings when they become completely dehydrated and rehydrating doesn't always restore what's been lost. Using distilled water reduces the possibility of introducing contaminants which can encourage mold. If you want to introduce some topping into a blend that's gone a bit dead, sure, why not?

 

[timt]

Ahhh, the seal failure anxiety phenomena. I've debated with myself from time to time on what the best cellar consumption route would be. Do I save my tins for last, just in case I quit smoking and want to sell my tobacco more easily? Or, do I smoke the tins first to better avoid seal failure 20 years down the road? So far, I just smoke what I feel like smoking and choose not to worry about it.

And really, this applies only to blends that are identical or very similar. If any of you have a good argument for either course, I'm all ears.

 

[kschatey]

Conversely. A can of Royal Yacht is about to disappaer up it's own ass-hole and turn into a black-hole. How is that possible?

Yep, I have a pretty puckered tin of Bob's Chocolate Flake from 2-2.5 years ago that may soon collapse into nothingness as well. I am thinking about moving it to another location so it doesn't swallow up any other tobacco with it when it goes full black hole status.