John Aylesbury - Luxury (Classic) Flake - One Year In Open Tin

[npod]

Thought I's share this nugget. I am sealing a bunch of tins in the cellar in Food Saver bags today. I came across this tin of John Aylesbury Luxury Flake from 2015 with my own handwriting that says open 5/4/17 (today is 6/23/18). Sure enough the tin was not sealed and was indeed "open". So the flakes had been sitting in an unsealed tin for over a year. Low and behold, the flakes are still slightly moist! Not even a bit friable. Perfect moisture for smoking.
Enjoying the flakes via stuff and fold in a virgin Eltang Chimney/Stack. So delicious. Teaching point - sometimes you just gotta let your flakes dry out a bit before smoking

 

[Waning Embers]

I had a similar experience with a two year open tin of Marlin Flake. Happy accidents are welcome accidents! ::

 

[sablebrush52]

Yep. I had several 250gram boxes of SJF and FVF that I forgot needed to be jarred. Go forward almost two years and I come across them in the back of the closet. I thought I was screwed. Turned out they were at the perfect moisture for smoking. They've been jarred for several years now and I recently opened one of the jars. No need to dry for hours, ready to go.

 

[jpmcwjr]

It's "a good thing" to have a number of jars at the perfect level of moisture. Takes a bit of patience, and for me, using a hygrometer.