Opening a 10 Year Old Sealed Mason Jar

[cosmicfolklore]

Jars don't break as easily as people make out like they will. I have thousands of jars, as we can everything from juices to jams to green beans. I have a room where they are stacked from floor to ceiling, and we drop them all the time. They bounce, unless they are empty with no top. A sealed jar, I can hit with a baseball bat and have it bounce around a few time in the yard before landing safely. No kidding, I have done this. However, a jar full of iced tea, falling off the kitchen table breaks instantly. This is just how they are designed, to take high pressure canning processes, over and over, decade after decade.
If you have a bag full of aged tobacco mailed, you will just have a bag full of crap in a week or so, as the rotting process speeds up to hyper drive after you open aged tobacco in a jar.
I would never, ever, ever buy a jar full of an aged tobacco, where I am paying anything above a depreciated retail price. Once a tobacco goes into a jar, it's a sucker's bet. Guys who remove tobaccos and put them in jars, do so only if they are going to be the ones consuming it, and to me the idea of transferring from tin to jar just seems... ::cough cough:: anyways. But, I understand it better if you are doing this to share with friends. But, as an investment in the enjoyment of aged tobacco, you're rolling the dice against the House, and the odds are always in favor of the House.

 

[whiteburleydude]

Do people just make up stuff as they go? Like aging will stop when the jar is opened? You need to vacuum seal the jars? So much bad advise on this thread. Do some research. http://www.glpease.com/Articles/vacuum.html

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ha ha, actually Greg Pease himself has said many of the same things we have discussed. He used to post here very often and he ran a Q&A portion of this site. He has stated that when a jar or tin is opened that it does continue to change, but not in any predictable way. And, as explained, and experienced by anyone who has had experience opening 10+ year old jars, once exposed to oxygen, tobaccos will quickly turn to crap. To take an aged jar, expose it to oxygen again, and then vacuum seal it has nothing to do with the link you just posted. Sure, it may do something, but what exactly. Even Greg would say that disrupting the aging process is always unpredictable. Best to leave it in the jar until you are ready to enjoy it before it all turns to crap.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

And, whiteburleydude, if you would google through the forum, we have had many people experiment with vacuum sealing, materials for the bags, and the effects of aging. You sort of just assume that we have no experience, when the very forum itself is an archive of experience.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Unfortunately, I recently bought 7 lbs of SG St James Flake from a guy, 5 years old. Everything was shipped to me in zip locks. It is marvelous tobacco. I transferred everything to mason jars. I guess I better just smoke SJF all day, every day for the next 7 months huh?

 

[saltedplug]

When you age you effect significant but not substantial change in the tobacco. I have never had aged tobacco turn to "crap" on repeated exposure to air, such as would occur smoking the contents of the jar. Nor have aging's changes vanished quickly on opening the jar/tin.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have had aged tobacco turn to crap, especially Virginias. They go through a slow transition, and it gives you some time to smoke it. But, wasn't it Pappymac or someone had the lab results of aged tobaccos recently? Sykes even posted on the thread. It actually tastes the best after the first couple of weeks, but as it gets close to drying out the aged cell walls just collapse and turn to shitdust. Or, at least that is my interpretation of what was posted. And, in my experience I am always left with shitdust at the bottom of aged jars. So, this is why I only ever use the very smallest jars to age tobaccos in. Using larger jars just guarantees that I won't be able to finish the jar before... shitdust.

 

[saltedplug]

Cosmic, I hereby change my position based on yours, and Sykes', greater experience with "shitdust." But I question why the tobacco dried out, even with repeatedly opening the jar, especially as it is this that causes the collapse into dust. When I'm preparing the tobacco the top goes back on top the jar. I don't believe the last of the jar is more than significantly more dry than the first.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

So I'll soon have 7 pounds of shitdust. Awesome. I guess I'll just use this as an experiment to test reality. I will do things differently moving forward. I guess I'll be taking some bags of St James Flake to Chicago to share, trade or sell. LOL

 

[yaddy306]

The threads I remember concerning tins of Capstan Flake (from 1938 or something) referred to the contents turning to "shitdust" within a few days of opening a sealed tin. That being said, 10 year old FVF is not 80 year old Capstan Flake.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Hell mark, if you had merely called me first... :: Besides, I thought you had decided to pay extra to ship it in the jar. I must have missed something in the thread.
You are having someone open 7 lbs worth of jars? OMG Sweet Jesus...
Maybe we are all wrong and everything works out great. It will all be ok. It will work out just fine. There are times when the laws of physics and chemistry just get put on hold, and everything works out fine, right? Right?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

True Yaddy, And, it was twenty year old Escudo that gave me my most disappointing shitdust experience. So, the laws of nature are slowly working out. It'll be ok.
opened 7 lbs of jars... yep, it'll be just fine... :: No worries Mark.

 

[jzbdano]

I think the 7 lbs of SJF was a different transaction.

I have had 25+ year old VAs/VaPers hold up well after opening and jarring. Some start a little flat and need a few weeks out of the tin and in the jar to really come alive. I haven't noticed any decline over the course of the year or two that it takes me to finish these special smokes.

 

[jzbdano]

I wouldn't sweat it either way they get shipped Mark. If they are bagged and rejarred it will still be excellent tobacco. If it is shipped in jars and packed well the chance of them breaking is very slim.

 

[9mmpuffer]

bubble wrap is your friend! wrap it three times in bubble wrap and then put packing peanuts around it. You aren't shipping the Mona Lisa.

 

[coyja]

as the rotting process speeds up to hyper drive after you open aged tobacco in a jar.

No kidding...

I just opened a 14 yr old jar of 5100.

Bright reds yesterday, totally different dark colors today.

Not sure what to expect flavor wise, but its alright.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Cosmic, I tried calling you. 1-800-SHITDUST. No answer. We're talking about two different transactions. Previously, I twice purchased 5 year old SG SJF from the same gentleman. Neither one of us gave it a second thought about him removing the tobacco from mason jars, transferring it to zip locks and sending it to me. The tobacco arrived in great condition, it was beautiful long jet black oily flakes. I jarred most of it, kept some out to smoke. It is marvelous.
Yesterday, I had a discussion with another gentleman here about a trade for some of the McClelland stuff I had for his 10 year old SG FVF. He is the one who brought up the potential issue with removing it from the jar to ship it.
So one shitdust disaster may have already happened, I'm trying to prevent another shitdust disaster.
I'm so upset with all this, I feel like I have no choice but to cease working and go smoke a bowl of tobacco. Oh how I hate it when that happens. Maybe I'll load up a bowl of shitdust to punish myself for being stupid. LOL

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ha ha, that’s my old number. You can always reach me on my cell, 800-dum-bass. Ha ha.

Maybe it won’t probably not be a complete disaster, hopefully not. ::

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Michael, that was the next logical number to try, no answer there either. LOL regardless of how it works out, lesson learned. I'm enjoying a very nice bowl of Reiner Gold right now, life is better than I deserve.

 

[mawnansmiff]

"So much bad advise on this thread."
The spelling isn't up to much either :roll:
Regards,
Jay.