Mason jar storage tips ?

[zanthipal]

Based on other folk's excellent storage tips, I started using the Ball Platinum jars, in their original boxes. They fit perfectly in an old file cabinet. In addition, I printed labels for the top of the jars using images from the manufacturers, with a little text box reminding me of the contents.

 

[briarfriar]

I appreciate all the tips shared here. Many thanks.
Jay

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Does anyone else heat the jar before you put the lid on?

In the canning instructions I read that you're supposed to can things with the jar mostly submersed in hot water so that the air inside the jar is hot, and contracts as it cools.

I take this principle and just use a heat gun on the sides for a minute or two before I put the lid on. It seems to work fairly well.

 

[phil67]

For labels I use Avery 6460 White Removable Labels. They work out great as they peel away easily even after having been affixed to the top for a long time. Just throw the sheet in a printer and type away or simply write on them. 750 labels to a pack.

 

[phil67]

Does anyone else heat the jar before you put the lid on?

In the canning instructions I read that you're supposed to can things with the jar mostly submersed in hot water so that the air inside the jar is hot, and contracts as it cools.

I take this principle and just use a heat gun on the sides for a minute or two before I put the lid on. It seems to work fairly well.

There is absolutely no need to heat the jar. Just throw the baccy in and tighten the lid. You are not trying to create a vacuum, but simply an airtight enclosure.

 

[brudnod]

Is there really good science to this concept of "arrested development" of pipe tobacco once you open a previously sealed mason jar? Seems like it should continue to age albeit possibly in another direction. This would be a very time consuming experiment (as in I don't have time or patience to do it) but perhaps someone has done this: 1 mason jar kept sealed for (just a guess) 3 years; another opened at 1.5 years then resealed and aged for the balance of the 3 years. Assuming that they are the same tobacco, same amount, same size mason jar; shouldn't they smoke/taste roughly the same?

 

[eightywon]

Brudnod, here is my meager attempt at a similar experiment.

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/aging-experimenta-question-about-side-by-side-comparisons

 

[eightywon]

Try again

 

[brudnod]

80W, I guess I was looking for something a bit more scientific; as in open and close mason jar and it's comparison to never opened. I might have to do this and forget about it for a couple of years (is there a tickler file for 2 years from now?!?) and open, take bit out and close, then compare a couple of years later (if I can remember...). Thanks

 

[jmill208]

I would imagine it would have to change it. The anaerobic aging process that occurs relies on oxygen. In theory, at some point that oxygen in the mason jar would be consumed. One could guess that if you re-introduce oxygen by opening the jar, that the process would begin again, or at least change in some way.
I likely have no clue what I'm talking about, just an edju-ma-caited guess. :crazy:

I'm no expert either, but I agree, and you must also factor in the humidity in the jar. The larger the jar, the more times it will be opened. The more times the jar is opened, the more times the humidity in the jar will have to readjust.
(Think: A single person buying the giant family size box of breakfast cereal. By the time they get to the bottom of that box, the contents are pretty much crap.)
Use small jars, especially for your daily tobacco use.

 

[eightywon]

Assuming that they are the same tobacco, same amount, same size mason jar; shouldn't they smoke/taste roughly the same?

After reflecting on my very unscientific experiment, I'd have to probably say yes, they should smoke/taste roughly the same. Doing a somewhat side by side comparison of 3 versions of the same blend, I could say there were differences, but it probably wouldn't have been obvious without my little test. In fact, before I had decided on experimenting, I had smoked the opened and aged blend thinking that it was a quality smoke. Though not bad, it was my least favorite of the samples. However without comparing, my palette may not have discerned any difference. It's probably like when you buy a new TV, you can see the differences in the store, side-by-side, but when you take any 50" flat screen home, it's gonna look good. Roughly.

 

[brudnod]

Eightywon, I buy your argument totally (which makes us both wrong or both right). I don't buy the cereal box analogy since you are sealing the container back up again. The TV analogy works well since I love my "old" 45" plasma TV but it would probably fare poorly next to other, newer sets in the stores. The small mason jars work for "good" tobacco (brand name and known to be quality). I still use the quart or half gallon jars for the Best of the Rest or the like which are experiments right out of the gate. At $15 a pound you can experiment a bit. Once the pound ended up in smaller mason jars because it was quite good; or at least to my liking. There is, indeed, more than one way to skin the proverbial cat...