How to store your tobacco properly

[cosmicfolklore]

That's very odd Nate. Why did you have to go there? Any direction in the world, and that's what you wanted to post? Yeh, I'll be sticking with Mason jars. Nate's jar ideas are just weird. ::
Is there a facetious font?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

:::cough cough::: I fixed some posts. ::

 

[iamn8]

Sad I thought I kept it professional

 

[pappymac]

I find those bail flip-top jars (I'm assuming that's what you mean) are many times more expensive than mason jars. I only use one - a biggish one - for my pound of Carter Hall.

Yep. The bail type jars are more expensive. The two quart size ones were given to me as gifts with other stuff in them and I have one 8 oz. one I paid $2.99 for. By contrast, I just bought another 4 pack of the short, flat 4 oz. Mason jars for $4.99.

 

[pappap]

I have some aromatics in Ball screw lid mason jars that have been there 14 years and they are still fresh

 

[pappap]

<br />

 

[deathmetal]

Once I open the tin, which is usually sealed air tight, what is the best way to store or keep my tobacco

Smoke it.
That sounds like a trivial answer, but: a tin is about a week of smoke.
Keep it sealed until the time is ready and then...
Enjoy the living heck out of it.

 

[woodsroad]

The paint can tins are not reliably air-tight for long-term storage.
I know this because I've ordered inordinate amounts of STG's "My Own Blend" selections from The Danish Pipe Shop over the years. MOB tins are the same as the HU tobacco tins.On re-check, some tins have stayed perfectly sealed, others not. Unopened tins seem to be ok, so I'm guessing that it's the opening/cosing cycle that messes up the seal.
Same goes for Mylar ziploc bags. I used to be a big proponent of Mylar ziplocs for long-term storage, but it seems that the weak link is the zip seal itself. The bags are great for short-medium length storage, though, and

​

I'm loving the tin-sized bags. Perfect for keeping your current rotation, in the tin, from drying out. If you have a vacuum sealer that will do Mylar, then the heavy weight (4 mils on up, like the Germain bags) bags are a good long-term storage solution. Tale note that the FoodSaver (channel type) vacuum bags are not Mylar, are oxygen permeable and are not acceptable for long-term storage.

So, these days, I either stick with Ball jars or I vacuum-seal into heavy Mylar bags.
Throw in an O2 absorber and get anaerobic fast!

 

[cabinfever]

Is there any reason why I shouldn't store all of my opened pouches and opened tins (when I finally get them) in an acrylic canister like the one below. It is about a gallon in volume, has a thick nylon gasket, and latches down tight.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

If you have several different open tins in a single container like that, you may experience some cross-mojination of aromas and possibly flavors. Tins maybe not as much, but pouches almost certainly.
Something like that for a pound of Carter Hall is what I use for daily dipping though.

 

[danielplainview]

This man is a true pro. He knows all the tips and tricks to properly cellar your tobacco.
http://youtu.be/9qaWKF8Pnr4

 

[jabo]

Mason jars, they're cheap ,clean and seal well. However, I keep my tobacco in a Persian slipper at the hearth. If Sherlock Holmes does it, it must be the correct way. Right ;-)

 

[skraps]

For cellaring, I use 3 mil, food grade Mylar bags. Fill the bags, press most of the air out, zipper seal and then heat seal. Easy to store in totes and you don't have the weight of jars.
For day to day stuff that I smoke, it's mason jars.

 

[huntertrw]

This is purportedly how peckinpahhombre stores his tobacco...

 

[okiescout]

"I am always careful to store my tobacco in a vacuum, free from air, gravity, and politics."
It is getting more and more difficult to keep politics out of our tobacco :wink:
Jars for short term/ mylar for long term. Mylar is far less expensive than jars and lighter to move around.

 

[hextor]

i just went to a you tube video "http://youtu.be/9qaWKF8Pnr4" that dave posted and now i am hammering all my tins into mason jars, great idea.

 

[sthbkr77]

It's reflex for most of us to say mason jars are best for storage and aging, I scream it from the hilltops when it comes up in conversation. What I've been thinking about though is while aerobic aging (having air in the jar) is ideal for VA's, what do you do for Lat forward blends?

My understanding is that some do not like Latakia to soften. The Balkan Sobranie hounds say no current attempts capture the blend. Does anyone vacuum seal specifically to prevent aging?

 

[bostoneo]

I have a bunch of 8oz bulks that came in bags. I threw them in an airtight 16qt dogfood tuppaware latchtop container, along with open tins. Threw a boveda pack in as well for good measure as well; not sure what a good RH is for pipe baccy though. I simply have too much to keep in jars with my current rotation.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Most tobaccos are shipped with a decent RH for shipping and storing, say 75-90% RH at 70º. 90% is way too wet for smoking; 75% is smokeable, and many experienced pipe guys like it between 55% and 65% for the best flavor, fewer relights and no gunk or condensate in the barrel.

 

[woodsroad]

Is there any reason why I shouldn't store all of my opened pouches and opened tins (when I finally get them) in an acrylic canister

Well, every time that you that jar and pull some tins out, you are exchanging the air inside. If the room is dry, so will your tobaccos be in short order.