I refuse to buy more jars or throw away more jarred blends. Which means when I pop a tin, I can tell it's gonna be open for a while as I smoke through it. I used to be paranoid that if I didn't put it in a jar right away it would go bad. That's just not the case. It's also humid here when it's warm so it stays fresh a while.
Honest Answers Only: How Long Do You Leave a Tin Open?
- Thread starter BriaronBoerum
- Start date
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Average is probably a couple months. If it's not gone by then, it's going too slow and likely gets into a jar so it's not too dried by the time I'm finishing it.
It depends. I currently have about 60 blends listed as 'open' in my spreadsheet, about 4 of those (50 grams) are still in their tins, rest in jars or glass with tight fitting plastic lids. This does not include the larger 8 or 16oz cans or 500 gram orders (jarred) that I occasionally pull from to 'reload' some of the open choices, like Magnificent Bob's Chocolate Flake, bulk Cowboy Coffee, Sam's Flake, Folklore, several Peretti blends...
I leave it open until i smoke it.
Even if it drys out, stuff it into a pipe and enjoy.
Even if it drys out, stuff it into a pipe and enjoy.
Haha, yes, your memory is better than mine. I tied two separate incidents together there...Didn’t the same thing happen to you with a tin of Irish flake, just before I traded for it
The Irish flake tin was the one with only four flakes left, and they were still tasty, although not worth the trade that @Ahi Ka was originally intending haha.
The balkan flake was a FULL tin with 5 years age that had lost its seal a few years in (the timing of lost seal is a guess, I am figuring it was a particular house move/storage container debacle) and it was very much bone dry and delicious.
I concur, both were delicious.
I just smoke a blend somewhat exclusively until the tin is gone. These days maybe a month or so.
The only blend I’ve had go bad was hiking flake. And that was within a fortnight. More to do with the weather we had. It kinda dried out but then got wet from intense humidity so it ended up tasting like nothing.
Not long. I take the lid off, load my pipe, then put the lid back on. 
I've been working on a tin of HU Dark Moor for over four months now. But, I don't generally put tins in jars, because I want them to dry out, and putting a tin in a jar just doesn't serve any purpose for me.
Thats pretty much where I'm at. I've had some tins open for months at this point.
For my 1 cents worth, two years or less in open tins is OK, even in a dry climate half the year like mine, unless you want a moister smoke. I no longer do this, for reasons above, but used too. Plus I have 20 open jars , a lot, but not like the 60-200 some here have.
It depends on the tobacco. Some tins seal better than others and can keep the tobacco moist for one or two months or even longer. Others benefit from jarring almost immediately after opening.
I put tobacco from the tin immediately into a jar, seal up the tin, and then dry out the tobacco in the jar to my preference, usually in front of a space heater. I have a couple of dozen jars in rotation, and most of my pipes are either dedicated or genre dedicated, so this works for me.
I like variety, so smoking a tin until it's gone, then going on to something else, is kind of antithetical to my nature. I'm a retired professional symphony violinist . . . listening to or playing one piece over and over is done only when you're learning or memorizing it. Just built into my nature now.
I like variety, so smoking a tin until it's gone, then going on to something else, is kind of antithetical to my nature. I'm a retired professional symphony violinist . . . listening to or playing one piece over and over is done only when you're learning or memorizing it. Just built into my nature now.
If I’m not going to jar a tin right away, I use a piece of Saran Wrap or other food grade cellophane to give it an extra seal.
Prince Albert comes in a big 14 oz tub. It doesnt seal at all. Yet I have never heard of anyone buying one, opening, and then having it go bad on them before they smoke itup.
But i have never heard of anyone that would open the tub, or the tubs of borkum, cd, captain black blah, or others of 8 oz variety, and then jar them.
So I have a feeling that it doesnt matter.
Hells, ive had my peterson sherlock holmes open on the shelf for 3 weeks, and no change to it at all. Then i put it in a mason jar, and two or three weeks later the scent has gotten lighter... thankfully.
But i have never heard of anyone that would open the tub, or the tubs of borkum, cd, captain black blah, or others of 8 oz variety, and then jar them.
So I have a feeling that it doesnt matter.
Hells, ive had my peterson sherlock holmes open on the shelf for 3 weeks, and no change to it at all. Then i put it in a mason jar, and two or three weeks later the scent has gotten lighter... thankfully.
Long enough for the excess water to evaporate, but not long enough for the oils to dry out.
Long enough for the excess water to evaporate, but not long enough for the oils to dry out.
Wise words. That is certainly the ideal, but it's tricky to achieve. You are correct in the fact that essential oils are volatile - they DO evaporate. And it's different with each tobacco. Takes more experience than I have at this time, loll, but I'm working on it.