Humidifying idea

[lgoldberg]

I've had tobacco dry out on me a couple of times. Instead of buying anything new to solve the problem, I tried a tea infuser.

Works great, and fits in a quart mason. Get the paper towel wet enough but not drippy. Pics should be self explanatory.

 

[Balisong]

Get the paper towel wet enough but not drippy.

It's best to use distilled water. I always keep an open gallon around for tobacco and egg incubation.

 

[Timbo]

It's best to use distilled water. I always keep an open gallon around for tobacco and egg incubation.

That sounds interesting, how do you incubate tobacco?

 

[Balisong]

@Timbo
I don't know how to incubate tobacco but I do incubated quail, chicken, duck, goose and turkey eggs. They require a 100°F temperature, proper humidity, and, need regular turning! Various companies sell enclosed units to achieve a good hatch.

 

[arich52]

I've had tobacco dry out on me a couple of times. Instead of buying anything new to solve the problem, I tried a tea infuser.

Works great, and fits in a quart mason. Get the paper towel wet enough but not drippy. Pics should be self explanatory.

View attachment 14669

I make an aluminum foil cup that lies on top of the tobacco. Then wet a small piece of gauze or cotton with distilled water. Then place that in the cup.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I love hacks of any sort. Like to see repurposing and making things multi-use tools.

https://www.brothersofbriar.com/threads/not-made-for-pipes-and-tobacco-hacks-reappropriation.36798/

 

[Timbo]

@Timbo
I don't know how to incubate tobacco but I do incubated quail, chicken, duck, goose and turkey eggs. They require a 100°F temperature, proper humidity, and, need regular turning! Various companies sell enclosed units to achieve a good hatch.

Darn, here I was thinking I could get my tins self propagating with a little care...

 

[dtswebb]

What's the problem with just using a Boveda pack? I figure I paid good money for the tobacco and I'm darn sure going to do what I can to make sure I smoke every bit of it. The Boveda packs are a small price to pay.

 

[Aussiemike]

I've had tobacco dry out on me a couple of times. Instead of buying anything new to solve the problem, I tried a tea infuser.

Works great, and fits in a quart mason. Get the paper towel wet enough but not drippy. Pics should be self explanatory.

View attachment 14669

I wish I had that problem lgoldberg Its been like 90% humidity here. Everything weter than my whistle.

​

 

[arich52]

What's the problem with just using a Boveda pack? I figure I paid good money for the tobacco and I'm darn sure going to do what I can to make sure I smoke every bit of it. The Boveda packs are a small price to pay.

I’m thinking they would do the job but slower than my aluminum foil, cloth, distilled water method. Also more expensive.

 

[dtswebb]

Truth be told, I didn't think this was an issue. I haven't seen the need to resort to any extra or supplemental humidification.
I opened a jar of C&D Atlas Balkan that I have marked as May 2003. Still fresh, still properly humidified and most importantly still good. I also have several jars of Bufflehead Shop blends marked June 2003 that are still as good as the day I closed the lid. And some McCranie's St. Alban's Best from late 1999.
I've been using wide mouth canning jars with the wire bail latches. I keep the stash in my closet which stays pretty much same temperature year round.

 

[lgoldberg]

I wish I had that problem lgoldberg Its been like 90% humidity here. Everything weter than my whistle.

​

It's a temporary problem of winter and the furnace running. We'll be at 90% humidity come Spring and all the way to September/October.

 

[Idlefellow]

I know I'm a Philistine, but I typically just sprinkle a little distilled water on the tobacco, give it a shake and close 'er up. The moisture dispenses throughout the tobacco in pretty short order.

 

[arich52]

I have read that some breathe into the jar or tin repeatedly to moisten the contents.

 

[mosin1932]

I live in a fairly dry climate (15% humidity is about average). I've tried humidifying packs, tin foil with wet paper towels, etc. Boveda packs and the other methods just become too much of a hassle when I started amassing more jars lol. These days I just spritz/mist a little water directly into the jar, close it up, and the next day it's good to go!

 

[Aussiemike]

anyone looked at firearms humity canisters? I was watching a product that you put in oven for like 4 hours just asking.
https://www.libertysafe.com/blogs/the-vault/how-to-keep-moisture-out-of-your-gun-safe
above is not what i was looking at I cant find it now but just threw the above up.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I live in a fairly dry climate (15% humidity is about average). I've tried humidifying packs, tin foil with wet paper towels, etc. Boveda packs and the other methods just become too much of a hassle when I started amassing more jars lol. These days I just spritz/mist a little water directly into the jar, close it up, and the next day it's good to go!

If you google GL Pease + humidifying, or something like that, you'll find an article or two AND his own website's FAQ page. Scroll through this for a particular, more scientific method than most use. It's not exactly precise, but once you establish a general percentage of moisture, you can work from there via weights. For instance, if the tobacco is dry and won't hold a pinch and slowly release, then you can estimate the moisture content to be maybe 10% or less. To get to that springy percentage, you want around 12-13% (trying to remember his numbers off hand, so I could be off a little). For ease of the example, if you have 100gm of tobacco, you'd need to add 2-3gm of water to bump it up to 12-13%. He also says it is difficult to use this method because you're guessing with your initial percentage, so he prefers a bowl and damp cloth over it, and then keep checking.

I've tried the bowl method and do not care for it. If I have to tend to it too much, like with that method, I go for something else, but I also don't need to do more than a jar at a time. Maybe if I had to do a couple LBs of tobacco, that would be a better method than scolding hot water on a clump of toilet paper in a small candy tin that I've poked holes through and sealed inside the jar.

I did experiment with a hot tub once. I was staying somewhere with a covered hot tub that was set to 105° or more, so lots of humidity under the cover. I put some tobacco in a plastic bowl that floated and left it overnight. I was surprised that the tobacco had soaked up almost zero moisture. Glad it didn't, because they used bromine to keep the water clean in the wooden hot tub. It smells better than chlorine, but I still wouldn't want that smell in my tobacco. Got stupid lucky it didn't work.

 

[mosin1932]

If you google GL Pease + humidifying, or something like that, you'll find an article or two AND his own website's FAQ page. Scroll through this for a particular, more scientific method than most use. It's not exactly precise, but once you establish a general percentage of moisture, you can work from there via weights. For instance, if the tobacco is dry and won't hold a pinch and slowly release, then you can estimate the moisture content to be maybe 10% or less. To get to that springy percentage, you want around 12-13% (trying to remember his numbers off hand, so I could be off a little). For ease of the example, if you have 100gm of tobacco, you'd need to add 2-3gm of water to bump it up to 12-13%. He also says it is difficult to use this method because you're guessing with your initial percentage, so he prefers a bowl and damp cloth over it, and then keep checking.

I've tried the bowl method and do not care for it. If I have to tend to it too much, like with that method, I go for something else, but I also don't need to do more than a jar at a time. Maybe if I had to do a couple LBs of tobacco, that would be a better method than scolding hot water on a clump of toilet paper in a small candy tin that I've poked holes through and sealed inside the jar.

I did experiment with a hot tub once. I was staying somewhere with a covered hot tub that was set to 105° or more, so lots of humidity under the cover. I put some tobacco in a plastic bowl that floated and left it overnight. I was surprised that the tobacco had soaked up almost zero moisture. Glad it didn't, because they used bromine to keep the water clean in the wooden hot tub. It smells better than chlorine, but I still wouldn't want that smell in my tobacco. Got stupid lucky it didn't work.

I've read all his articles about cellaring, aging, and storing tobacco but must have missed the one about humidity. Your hot tub story had me laughing because it sounds like something I would have tried of course knowing my luck, the bowl would have tipped over and made a whole batch of tobacco tea in the tub lol!

 

[Zeno Marx]

I've read all his articles about cellaring, aging, and storing tobacco but must have missed the one about humidity. Your hot tub story had me laughing because it sounds like something I would have tried of course knowing my luck, the bowl would have tipped over and made a whole batch of tobacco tea in the tub lol!

Well, I can't find it either, so maybe I dreamt it. I found where he talked about all the percentages in his FAQs, but not adding water by percentage. I swear he talked about something like this on this very board years ago though. Oh well, it won't be the last time I'm wrong about something.

 

[Singed]

I've read all his articles about cellaring, aging, and storing tobacco but must have missed the one about humidity. Your hot tub story had me laughing because it sounds like something I would have tried of course knowing my luck, the bowl would have tipped over and made a whole batch of tobacco tea in the tub lol!

I've had something similar to that experience, on more than one occasion I have forgotten my tobacco pouch in my work pants and washed it. Clothes smell great afterward, but it's hell to keep a pipe lit.