Moldy Tobacco Questions

[eastwoodaudio]

I went to grab some PS LBF from my tobacco shelf and noticed that my C&D Afterhours had a white spot in it. I picked up the jar for further inspection, and noticed a larger patch that had mold on it.

I'm assuming that this tobacco is junk now, no saving it, even though there's only two spots with mold.
My real questions are:
1) How does this happen?
2) How can I prevent this in the future?

 

[pylorns]

ack! So, you put it right in a mason jar after opening?

 

[yaddy306]

2) How can I prevent this in the future?

Move to New Mexico?

 

[eastwoodaudio]

pylorns - Yes, it was put in a mason jar pretty much immediately after opening. It was a brand new jar as well.
yaddy - Yeah, not moving to NM anytime soon, they don't have any snow, and that makes it REALLY hard to teach snowboarding in the winter months.
This hasn't happened to any other of my tobaccos, but now I'm starting to worry!

 

[andrew]

Did you seal the jar? I find heating the jar up, screwing the lid on while it's hot and then the mason jar top clicks in ensures there's an airtight seal is the key to good tobacco aging. I just put my mason jar full of tobacco in a hot sink, throw a coffee cup or some kind of weight on it so it doesn't spill over into the water, then tighten the lid and when the pop up goes in you've got an airtight seal when it cools down. I'd give it the smell check as mold has a pretty distinct smell. I notice the few jars I've been too lazy to seal properly you can kind of smell the tobacco when you smell the top of the jar, not with the jars I seal properly though. Maybe the tobacco was too moist when you jarred it and the air got in from not having an airtight seal.

 

[rmbittner]

My only jarred blends are the open tins I'm currently smoking. So my blends don't stay in their jars very long -- maybe a week or two, up to six months at the most. And I've seen mold happen once in my life in those jars: A tin of Bohemian Scandal ( ) that started molding after a week. I'd stored dozens of blends in that same jar for years before without any issues. And I've stored dozens in it since (after some good sanitizing). So I have to blame the BS itself; maybe it was particularly sensitive to something in the air? Maybe it came with some flaw that predisposed it to mold? No idea. But I've not encountered this with any other tin of Bohemian Scandal. . . or of anything else.
All of that to say: This may be a one-off experience with a unique cause. You may have done absolutely nothing wrong. It may have just happened. Which means that there's really no way to make sure it won't happen again. (I do think it's quite rare, though.)
Just be sure to thoroughly clean that jar before filling it again.
Bob

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Have you guys noticed that all of Peter Stokkebye's bulk boxes of tobacco comes unsealed?

It's just in an unsealed plastic bag with a bit of tape on it and placed in the box. I had a conversation with Russ of P&C about this, when I thought it was a mistake. Can you imagine how long it has been like that, as it is shipped here and stored waiting to be bought? Any number of spores could be waiting for us in our cellars. I've been keeping an eye on mine also. This may be one tobacco brand that I just smoke up as fast as I can, before it all goes bad.

 

[cortezattic]

Whoa! Let's not jump to conclusions here. The only mold I ever saw on tobacco was growing in a resealed tin of McClelland's blending Perique -- and that tin, resealed with aluminum foil and bee's wax, had been sitting atop a TV cable converter box that was constantly generating low level heat. The mold was kind of a yellowish/marshmallow white, and it stunk to high heaven.
The picture above looks nothing like the mold I encountered. If it's a silvery, glistening gray with a crystalline appearance -- as opposed to being fuzzy and clumpy -- and it doesn't stink, it is probably OK.

 

[condorlover1]

Spores are always floating around in the air. It happened to me once with a length of twist that miraculously turned itself into a length of blue cheese. Granted I was not using a Mason jar but the plastic zip lock bag that the twist/cheese was sent to me in. All you can do in these circumstances in to throw the stuff away and boil the jar and sterilize the rubber seal.

 

[mso489]

condorlover1 makes the point: Mold spores are everywhere looking for a cozy home, and that

includes your tobacco. (My tobacco!) My worst mold experience was when I was naive enough

to follow online advice on moistening tobacco with an apple slice -- you know the rest. I didn't

invent a new antibiotic, but I had the lab culture started. Another time, mold sprouted in an

"untainted" bag of bulk blending tobacco I was storing in a jar. In that case, I just picked out the

offending leaf and smoked the rest, with no apparent bad effect. Mold isn't a judgement on your

soul, it's just an occasional unpleasant visitor.

 

[eastwoodaudio]

It's certainly mold. Nope, I did not seal the jar, at least to canning standards. I've opened it a few times to pull out some to smoke, but I forgot about it lately. Mold wasn't even a thought, as it's a broken rum flake.. I guess I need to be more careful in the future!
I've also heard that certain companies put something on the tobacco to inhibit mold growth, does anyone know these companies? Also in the recent MacBaren ODF tin concern, I remember reading that vinegar is commonly used as an anti- mold agent.

 

[spartan]

How bout you wash your filthy hands next time you handle your leaf? :wink:
Just bad luck mate. Just be glad it was in a semi-small jar!

 

[4noggins]

cosmicfoklore, I would like to address your comment on "Unsealed" boxes from Peter Stokkebye. I'm not sure what you are referring to??? The 24oz boxes of Luxury xxx Flake we receive from them all come with a sealed bag inside of a box. There is no scotch tape or anything similar to that. Have you actually bought a box with tape in it???? If so, you might want to re-think the etailer your buying from.
Please elaborate.
Rich

4noggins.com

 

[ithelouniverse]

Gross. I try to only open one tin of each blend at a time and smoke thru before I crack another because I'm paranoid about something happening to the tobacco! I do, however, have bulk blends in snap top kids from world market, and I've had good success so far but I've only been at this 6 months or so!