The mason jar aging process

[mark]

ig: ig: ig: Thank you Sorringowl ???,,,, ig: ig: ig:

 

[sand18f]

Here is a very simple, but thorough, formula for figuring the best time to open cellared tobacco:

First, weigh all the tobacco you have on hand and come up with a number for the total weight. For example, I think I have about 6 pounds of tobacco, total, on hand, at the present moment. I say I think I have 6 pounds because even though I have a digital scale, I'm too lazy to go and individually weigh each tin I have. So, I figure I have about Forty 2oz. (plus or minus a few bowls) tins, which adds up to about 80 oz. which adds up to about 5 pounds and change. Okay, so I have 5 pounds, not 6, but for argument's sake, let's say it's 10 pounds because that's a nice even number and I'm not that great with math.

Second, take the total weight of the tobacco you have (5, 6, or 10 pounds, whichever sounds better to you) and add that to the estimated total weight of any and all future tobacco purchases you will buy for the rest of your life. I think I will buy 100 pounds (again, I don't really know for sure, but 100 is a nice, round number and I suck at math).

C., add these two numbers together. So, for me, the total would be 110...or 200 pounds (I rounded up to 200 to take into account me possibly winning the lotto and thereby doubling the amount of tobacco that I would buy for the rest of my lifetime--plus, 200 sounds like a nice, even roundish number and besides, I really suck at math.)

Four, take the total number of pounds of tobacco you have now and will ever buy in the future (even if you win the Lotto, or Powerballs, or whatever the hell you call it in your neck of the woods)--so, that's 200 pounds for the average-lousy-at-math Joe, like myself, and divide that number by the number of bowls you think you will smoke for the rest of your life (Lotto or not).

So, let's see...to figure out the number of bowls I will smoke for the rest of my life, I have to first count how many bowls I smoke a day (about 1 or 2, but sometimes none at all, and once in a blue moon, like 4 or 5, when I meet up with my local pipe club...so let's just say I smoke 2 bowls a day--not exactly sure how I arrived at that number but that's a LOT of math to figure out and besides, that "sounds" about average and somehow kind of right, but who knows, I suck at my maths, even though I'm American and technically, should not even be saying, "my maths").

So, two bowls a day. Multiply that by 7 to arrive at your weekly bowl smoking amount (14, or, "20" bowls a week for me--20 is a good round number, plus I just like the sound of the word "twenty" better than I do the word "fourteen". To me, the word "fourteen" sounds odd, even though, technically, I know it is actually an even number--maybe it's because if you divide "fourteen" in halves, what do you get? Two sevens! And both of those suckers are odd. That bird don't hunt! Not the same with good ol' "Twenty." Look around you: ever see a fourteen dollar bill? Nope. Why? Because a Twenty is just way better. Okay, so, I lost my train of thought...

Yeah, so, take the amount of bowls you smoke per week and multiply that by the number of weeks in a year, fifty (or is it 52? like the number of states in our country--no, I'm pretty sure it's 50 weeks per year, not including Alaska or Puerto Rico) and multiply that number by the number of years you expect to live.

Let's see...I'm 44...I'm healthy...I'm a non-smoker...unless you include pipe smoking...and I don't engage in any kind of risky behavior such as promiscuity, politics, religion or dangerous or potentially unhealthy activities, like drugs, or politics (unless you include pipe smoking as unhealthy--but why would you do that? That's just weird).

Anyway, I figure I will live at least another 30 years for sure and possibly even 40 or 50 years (especially if I win the Lotto and can finally afford healthcare). So, let's just say I will live another 70 years, because that's a nice even round number and even though there's an odd number in there, I'm pretty sure it's still even, which makes me want to root for it because it's, like, an underdog. So let's go with 70 years...or 100. Yeah, I like 100 better. So, let's just go with 100 years.

But wait a minute, methinks. What if I don't live to be 144? What if I only live to be 100? or worse yet, 114? That would really suck because I really don't like the word fourteen. Don't believe me? If you say the word "fourteen" over and over again, it doesn't even sound like a real word. In fact, I'm pretty sure it isn't because, again, it just doesn't "sound" right.

Anyway, what if I don't even live past the young old age of 44? What then? After all, life is not guaranteed, no matter how good your maths skills are. ale: Also, why do the emoticons on the sidebar of BoB change from day to day? What's up with that?

My point is nothing is guaranteed. Not even the freaking emoticons on the sidebar.

Wow...that's really depressing...I'm gonna' go open all of my cellared tobacco and smoke like 5 or 6...no, 10 bowls (but definitely not fourteen), RIGHT NOW! I suggest you do the same. ig: Also, while you're still alive, and able to smoke your tobacco, do me a favor and find out why we have a pig emoticon on the sidebar. What's up with that?

Hurry, before it's all gone and you don't have the chance to do it again.

That's funny and very accurate.

 

[Lestrade]

ig: ig: :lol!: ig: ig:

 

[BLM25Super]

Hello, i jarred some stonehaven about a month ago and since that time i have aquired another pound of it and decided to open one of the jars. The stuff is still very moist and looks like small areas on the tobacco have a shade of green mold color. Did i do something wrong . Is it inevitable to have some mold on your tobacco when you age it??? Can i smoke it still?

 

[Anonymous]

I've never heard anyone claiming that un-corking a bottle of wine, pouring a glass out, and re-corking what was left had no effect on the mellowing/melding process.

Same model with tobacco. Both are aging in an oxygen-exhausted environment.

:face:

 

[JT]

I've read some posts and various things on the internet where people say that opening the mason jar stops the aging process. That seems logical, but wouldn't the aging process 'reset' and begin again once you close the mason jar back up as long as the seal is air tight?

The answer to your question is yes, with qualifications. Whether you choose to dip into your jars depends upon what you hope to achieve by aging it to begin with. I mean, you can leave your tobacco in an unsealed bowl on the mantle and it will attain the same chronological age as your sealed jars; but, obviously, it won't be the same. On the other hand, as others have pointed out, it's your tobacco and you can damned well do with it as you will.

So, again, it goes back to what you seek to accomplish by "aging" your tobacco. If you desire to achieve the maximum benefit of aging, put it in a jar and leave it alone for 5 years. If you want to achieve the benefits of long term aging, but can't resist the temptation of instant gratification, store it in multiple jars so you don't have to expose the entire lot when you choose to sample the product. If this doesn't work for, by all means, sample along the way and enjoy, as additional aging will also be realized by opening and resealing the jars, it just won't be the same as if you had left it alone.

Greg Pease provides what amounts to the pipe smoker's reference on the subject, as well as a vast store of other worthwhile reading, at The Briar and Leaf Chronicles.

 

[joshoowah]

Hello, i jarred some stonehaven about a month ago and since that time i have aquired another pound of it and decided to open one of the jars. The stuff is still very moist and looks like small areas on the tobacco have a shade of green mold color. Did i do something wrong . Is it inevitable to have some mold on your tobacco when you age it??? Can i smoke it still?

I have heard that anything Esoterica can sometimes mold when jarred for aging. It does not always happen, but it can happen. This is why whenever I have any I put it in several jars so the whole batch is not ruined. I'd recommend not smoking it. If it is just a small patch though, discard all that have any remnants of mold and see what you have.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Foodsaver vacuum bags? *shrug* Not that it's a solution, but take out the air, take out the surface area?

For really long-term storage and purposeful aging, I have to wonder.

 

[joshoowah]

Foodsaver vacuum bags? *shrug* Not that it's a solution, but take out the air, take out the surface area?

For really long-term storage and purposeful aging, I have to wonder.

I am no expert on air vacuumed storage, but I have talked with those who have it tried it. They claim that it keeps the tobacco extremely well, but has no distinction whatsoever from a fresh popped tin of the same stuff. Thus, if you do not want the tobacco to change, vacuum storage is for you! I'd prefer to have some payoff for long-term aging.

I also think mason jar storage is simply cheaper, but I could be wrong.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I am no expert on air vacuumed storage, but I have talked with those who have it tried it. They claim that it keeps the tobacco extremely well, but has no distinction whatsoever from a fresh popped tin of the same stuff. Thus, if you do not want the tobacco to change, vacuum storage is for you! I'd prefer to have some payoff for long-term aging.

I also think mason jar storage is simply cheaper, but I could be wrong.

Cost for cost, it would wash about the same, considering the storage requirements of the jars themselves, equipment needed, etc etc (really quick mental break down). :lol:

That's a good tip to know, that some "breathing room" is necessary for the anaerobic process--while keeping stuff "fresh" can still be achieved if one so chooses. I suppose I wondered only because of some of the "pack and stuff" method eliminating much of the "airspace" in the jars, for why not just find a method to get it all out of there?

Incidentally, I have used foodsaver bags/machines for food, and you can stop the vacuum process early, leaving a little bit of air space. The only reason why I'm thinking about this is storage efficiency. Jars are tough to stack, place and balance on one another for some, while I could see many pounds of vacuum bags practically stuffed into a thick, cardboard box, labeled and forgotten about much easier (and less heavy).

Just theories and thoughts.

 

[joshoowah]

I am no expert on air vacuumed storage, but I have talked with those who have it tried it. They claim that it keeps the tobacco extremely well, but has no distinction whatsoever from a fresh popped tin of the same stuff. Thus, if you do not want the tobacco to change, vacuum storage is for you! I'd prefer to have some payoff for long-term aging.

I also think mason jar storage is simply cheaper, but I could be wrong.

Cost for cost, it would wash about the same, considering the storage requirements of the jars themselves, equipment needed, etc etc (really quick mental break down). :lol:

That's a good tip to know, that some "breathing room" is necessary for the anaerobic process--while keeping stuff "fresh" can still be achieved if one so chooses. I suppose I wondered only because of some of the "pack and stuff" method eliminating much of the "airspace" in the jars, for why not just find a method to get it all out of there?

Incidentally, I have used foodsaver bags/machines for food, and you can stop the vacuum process early, leaving a little bit of air space. The only reason why I'm thinking about this is storage efficiency. Jars are tough to stack, place and balance on one another for some, while I could see many pounds of vacuum bags practically stuffed into a thick, cardboard box, labeled and forgotten about much easier (and less heavy).

Just theories and thoughts.

You need equipment to jar? I use the jar/seal only and it has always worked fine. Bags are less of a hassle storage-wise, but if jarring seems to be better and more rewarding, why bother? Of course, you will have to figure that out for yourself, which could take a while since you'd have to attempt to age stuff. I have a lot of jars now, but I have kept the cardboard to make it easier to stack (the 12 slot cardboard boxes) and stowed them away in bigger boxes.

 

[Behike54]

BUMP: for a TRUE STORY

There was a guy at my B&M would would by boxes and NEVER smoke them. It got to the point when we would be smoking something good or new, he would should up and say something to the equivalent of, "oh man, you guys are smoking xyz? I don't have any of those.......OPEN." He was like a mooching puppy dog at dinner.

Anyway, he has a coolidor with over 100 boxes.

One hot summer and a slow leak onto a rug in the basement under the coolidor and I think you can see where this is going.

Not ONE SINGLE BOX was salvageable due to mold. Guy smoked NOTHING! The equivalent of getting hit by a bus and not only keeping you from enjoying, you can NOT take it with you!

He was clinically depressed for months. ale:

 

[Hermit]

That sucks, but I can't see how it happened.
A cooler should be air tight.
My coolers sat in my ruined house for weeks
after hurricane Katrina and my cigars were fine.

 

[monbla256]

I'm not as financially enabled as most here to allow me to buy much more tobacco than I can smoke. Besides, thats WHY I buy tobacco, is to SMOKE in my pipe! I have never jarred tobacco, just smoked from the tin, maybe getting ahead by a few tins which "age" till I smoke 'em All this "ageing" and "cellaring" is just a bit OCD to my mind. But, hey what do I know, I've only been smoking a pipe for 40+ years Waaaaay to much work for me It's meant to have fire put to it and be consumed by fire, so get those matches out and smoke