Direct from Pleasant Grove. It’s great stuff. I wary of Amazon, as they have a propensity to sell you cheap junk. It’s false economy to buy suspect quality.
There's an interesting article on Greg Pease's site regarding vacuum sealing as a way to retard aging:
This article raises more questions than it answers about aging tobacco in Mylar. How much H2O escapes from vacuum-sealed Mylar as opposed to vacuum-sealed plastic, versus glass jars? I don't think Mylar would present the same problem of moisture loss as the vacuum-sealed plastic in this article. YES the tobacco will age more if it has oxygen to react with. Maybe that's a bad thing if you want to leave your tobacco sitting for 40 years though. I'm 45 so, maybe vacuum sealing in Mylar with silica packs is a good bet for the deepest part of my cellar. If you can retard the aging process, only to resume it at some later date, that would be a good way to manage the cellar. Or would the 30 or 40 year old tobacco just turn to dust upon exposure to O2 and pathogens after sitting for so long?
.7mil metallized Mylar is impermeable, so zero H2O escapes.
This is not an item you want to cheap out. Buy the 7 mil Pheasant Grove.
100% agree regarding the sealing. The zip seal is only adequate for short- to medium-term storage. Think months, not years.
My upright vacuum sealer has both timed and manual vacuum control, so I can squash it incredibly compact, or not at all. It will also do gas flush. It’s a PAC unit, bought it gov’t surplus years ago for $35. I was lucky!
The Tilia Foodsaver system doesn’t use barrier bags, so it could well be that the loss of moisture and penetration of gasses affected the aging, too.
What does PAC stand for? I'm curious about vacuum sealers as a means to prevent aging. I'm of the sort who prefers new tobacco to aged tobacco. This sounds like an exceptional unit, and I'd appreciate more information. Thanks.
PAC makes commercial vacuum packaging machinery. I never would have bought it new, but it was up for auction with a $35 minimum bid, so I bit, and won. Had to drive up to Tobyhanna Army Depot to pick it up.
It seems like the logical solution to long term Mylar storage would be to seal many chamber sized packets up—this way, in sixty years, you could just open a packet at a time and have your "fresh" sixty year old tobacco at hand, ready to smoke without worrying about it dying off like it might if it was all in one bag.
Greg, the article on your site references the use of the Tilia Foodsaver system. The Foodsaver bags, unlike Mylar laminate bags, are not barrier bags. I see no reason why high-quality barrier bags would not perform on par with glass, at least for 10 years or so. I do not know how fast Mylar breaks down, nor have I done any literature searches on it, but metallized polyester is bound to deteriorate over time, subject to variables such as temperature and UV exposure.
That article came from a friend of mine, who did his own experiments. There are foodsaver bags that are higher-barrier than the standard ones, but even then, they won't perform as well as multi-layer foil/Mylar bags. Basically, if you can see light through it, it's probably not ideal.
That article came from a friend of mine, who did his own experiments. There are foodsaver bags that are higher-barrier than the standard ones, but even then, they won't perform as well as multi-layer foil/Mylar bags. Basically, if you can see light through it, it's probably not ideal.
Mylar (did you know there are over 300 types?), like all PETs, can break down over time if exposed to UV, so it's advisable to store them for long term use in the dark. But, the bags I experimented with have shown no degradation over nearly 20 years. One thing I really liked about them is that the open tops could be folded over several times and secured with a binder clip, forming an excellent seal. I've had tobacco in one since my early exploration of them, tasting it periodically, and it's still in perfect condition, though the repeated exposure to the atmosphere have prevented real aging from happening. Indeed, a good high-barrier bag is a great alternative to glass. Most are internally coated with a copolymer that allows for heat sealing. They're light, don't break, and have the added benefit of being able to adapt to content quantity. I think they're great.
I'll see about building a tobacco factory "on" the Principality of Sealand (look it up - it's a hoot). That would definitely add a bit to the "exotic" factor, although transportation costs resulting from the 7mile dinghy trips back and fort might prove to be prohibitive... That is, if they let me on the "island" to begin with.
sealandgov.org
Or me Lady? Ummmm if we talked like that how would 1 be politically correct in our pronouns.Maybe some of us will become Lords or Dukes soon. Hmmm.
Sealand Official | Principality Of Sealand
Nobility titles | Join our adventure and become a Lord, Lady or Noble Knight | Principality Of Sealand: The world's Smallest country
