Basic storage and cellaring

[Bourbon&smoke]

I am pretty recent to pipe smoking, and could benefit from some basic guidance and your experience in storing and cellaring as I've purchased a fair amount of tobacco to discover my preferences....Mac Baren Old Dark Fired is hitting the spot with this mornings coffee!

Apologies in advance as I am sure these are really basic questions...
How long do you keep tobacco in a sealed tin before you jar it?
How long in the tin once you crack open the tin?
How long in unopened pouch?
Any good rule of thumb for size of mason jar to ounces of tobacco for cellaring...don't want it packed to tight, I imagine.

Thanks in advance!

 

[gravel]

I am pretty recent to pipe smoking, and could benefit from some basic guidance and your experience in storing and cellaring as I've purchased a fair amount of tobacco to discover my preferences....Mac Baren Old Dark Fired is hitting the spot with this mornings coffee!

Apologies in advance as I am sure these are really basic questions...
How long do you keep tobacco in a sealed tin before you jar it?
How long in the tin once you crack open the tin?
How long in unopened pouch?
Any good rule of thumb for size of mason jar to ounces of tobacco for cellaring...don't want it packed to tight, I imagine.

Thanks in advance!

If a tin is sealed/never opened, I leave it alone. I do check them every now and then to assure the seals are not compromised. Many of my tins are now 10+ years old. They can last a long time.

If I open a tin to smoke from and plan to keep smoking from it, I don’t transfer it to a mason jar. I simply secure the tin as well as I can. I’ve currently have an open tin of Cult, a cherry aromatic. It’s been opened since Sept. This tin is a screw top variety. If it were square tin like Gawith uses, I jar immediately after opening as those do not reseal. After opening a C&D style tin, I confirm the plastic top is sound and free of cracks. If it is, I leave it in the tin.

I rarely use pouches, but when I do I don’t worry about them - opened or closed.

I opt for smaller jars for most jarring needs as they allow greater portability and minimize potential impact on aging tobacco. Packing bulks into these allows me to open one to use and leave others to age.

If memory serves, a 50g tin fits in these smaller jars easily.

 

[Ranger107]

I am pretty recent to pipe smoking, and could benefit from some basic guidance and your experience in storing and cellaring as I've purchased a fair amount of tobacco to discover my preferences....Mac Baren Old Dark Fired is hitting the spot with this mornings coffee!

Apologies in advance as I am sure these are really basic questions...
How long do you keep tobacco in a sealed tin before you jar it?
How long in the tin once you crack open the tin?
How long in unopened pouch?
Any good rule of thumb for size of mason jar to ounces of tobacco for cellaring...don't want it packed to tight, I imagine.

Thanks in advance!

Bourbon, I am certainly not the expert here but I will offer a bit of advice. There are several threads on here related to storing tobacco jf you search fkr them. First, sealed tins will last almost indefinitely if unbroken. Once opened, I've found most will stay fresh for several weeks if they are good tins like McBarens. Also depends on the tobacco. One thing I can tell you is that the size of the Mason jar does not relate to weight of tobacco as jars are fluid volume, not wt. i.e. a 16 oz jar will not hold a pound of tobacco. My general rule is to go by halves.i.e. 4 oz of tobacco will fill an 8 oz jar, 8 oz will take a 16 oz jar, etc. And don't worry about packing too tight. Tobacco stores better if compressed a bit. And last, stick with Mason jars, not the fancy flip top jars from Ikea. They do not seal up tight and the tobacco will dry out after a couple of months. They are okay for a blend that you plan to smoke frequently and will refresh every couple of weeks. Hope this helps.

 

[Niblick]

Buy a bunch of different size jars to see how the different cuts of tobacco fit like Ranger suggests. I have a lot of bulks in jars from 1/2 pint to 1/2 gallon. I pull from my bigger jars to smaller and when the time comes I will move the tobacco in big jars to the next smaller size. I cram as much tobacco in them that I can except for flake tobacco. I use the taller jelly jars for these and lay them in there as neatly as I can but usually cram them in the end.

Where I live it is humid year round and have personally not had to rehydrate anything I pull from my jars. For long term storage I always use a new lid but reuse the rings. Once I break a big jar open it depends how long it will be resealed if I use a new lid or not. I personally have not had a problem using the same lid on smaller jars for short term and it may be due to where I live.

 

[Zeno Marx]

There's certainly a personal preference learning curve. The good news is that you really can't make too big of a mistake, and if things get a little dry, or too moist, you can remedy it. You aren't going to permanently ruin anything unless you let it get so dry and old that it turns to dust at the touch. I've never had that happen, but I've heard stories. As you experiment with moisture content, I do recommend keeping an eye on things. Watch for mold, though I don't think that happens too often for people. I've never had mold grow on tobacco, but it can, and does, happen. There's also a lot of experimenting to do with how much moisture you prefer at the time of actual smoking. Some tobaccos are simply too moist in the tin and need a little time to dry. Some do it for a few minutes. Some for a couple hours. Some even over night, preparing a bowl of tobacco the day before. It should be fun to find your own path. Leave the stress and worry elsewhere.

 

[ftrplt]

Bourbon, I am certainly not the expert here but I will offer a bit of advice. There are several threads on here related to storing tobacco jf you search fkr them. First, sealed tins will last almost indefinitely if unbroken. Once opened, I've found most will stay fresh for several weeks if they are good tins like McBarens. Also depends on the tobacco. One thing I can tell you is that the size of the Mason jar does not relate to weight of tobacco as jars are fluid volume, not wt. i.e. a 16 oz jar will not hold a pound of tobacco. My general rule is to go by halves.i.e. 4 oz of tobacco will fill an 8 oz jar, 8 oz will take a 16 oz jar, etc. And don't worry about packing too tight. Tobacco stores better if compressed a bit. And last, stick with Mason jars, not the fancy flip top jars from Ikea. They do not seal up tight and the tobacco will dry out after a couple of months. They are okay for a blend that you plan to smoke frequently and will refresh every couple of weeks. Hope this helps.

Good advice!!! I do; however, utilize the "flip-top" jars. I put a double layer of clear vinyl wrap over the moth of the jar before closing/sealing the flip top. I've found this to work really well!! FTRPLT

 

[Ranger107]

Good advice!!! I do; however, utilize the "flip-top" jars. I put a double layer of clear vinyl wrap over the moth of the jar before closing/sealing the flip top. I've found this to work really well!! FTRPLT

They do work okay for some things. For ex. I have a couple of the large ones that I use when I get say a 1 or 2 oz baggie of bulk to sample. I leave them in the baggie and put those in the jar. That works pretty well. The smaller ones work for blends I smoke more frequently like Hobbits Weed. I put maybe a half oz in them and refresh it from the big mason jar every couple of weeks.

 

[Bourbon&smoke]

Thank you all for the good advice, and I appreciate you taking the time.