So I just went a little overboard on pipes and cigars and ended up buying about a dozen different blends or pipe tobacco, and I just realized that I bet it's going to come in nice little plastic baggies that will puncture pretty easy. I'm thinking now about ordering some canning jars for storage. All of my selections were in the 2-4 ounce range since I wanted to tray a large sampling without getting stuck with a blend I don't care for. What size jar should I get, 1/2 pint, pint, quart? I'd thought about tupperware, but that seems to be more expensive, and I figure the more I save on storage, the more I can spend on my ADs. What do you use or recommend?
'Bacy Storage
- Thread starter ketsco101
- Start date
You are right on the money deciding to go with mason jars. Pint size would be best, a good rule of thumb is that 2 to 2.5 ounces of loose 'baccy or 3 to 4 ounces of flake will fit in an 8 ounce jar. You could get half-pints if you want to split up your samples, i.e have one jar to smoke now and age another jar.
+1 this is how I have been doing it
Commander Quan
Commander Yellow Pantyhose
And get the wide mouth jars. It's way easier to reach down to the bottom than with the regular jars.
+1 Kerr Wide Mouth half-pints are the ones I get. The Ball short & wide ones are cool looking, but cost more 'round here.
+1 on the wide mouth canning jars with standard canning lids (not plastic). I was going to say how they keep tobacco fresh for years, so to check, I just opened a pint jar that was closed and forgotten over a year ago. Only oddity is the top 1/2" is somewhat dry, and that extra moisture seems to have moved to the bottom 2". Can't say more, since all the others have been opened at least once since then.
Ball vs Kerr... I have dozens of these and use them for everything: food, tobacco, screws, loose change. I've seen people nail the tops to the bottom of a shelf and screw in the bottles--good for screws and small parts, or even a cheezy undercounter spice rack. Only difference is the Kerr sides are smooth and the tops have less writing, so it's easier to write on them with a magic marker. The tops are interchangeable between both brands, certainly for the wide mouths which I mostly use. It cleans off with alcohol--black anyway, but not blue. The wide mouths (1/2 pint and pint) are also freezer safe, though the capacity is really 6 & 12 oz.
Ball vs Kerr... I have dozens of these and use them for everything: food, tobacco, screws, loose change. I've seen people nail the tops to the bottom of a shelf and screw in the bottles--good for screws and small parts, or even a cheezy undercounter spice rack. Only difference is the Kerr sides are smooth and the tops have less writing, so it's easier to write on them with a magic marker. The tops are interchangeable between both brands, certainly for the wide mouths which I mostly use. It cleans off with alcohol--black anyway, but not blue. The wide mouths (1/2 pint and pint) are also freezer safe, though the capacity is really 6 & 12 oz.
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Unanimous on the Mason Jars.
- Thread starter
- #8
I use the Ball jelly/jam jars. Like this
I like the smallest ones, two jars will hold an entire 50g tin of tobacco. This allows me to have one I smoke and one I set back for a while. I don't smoke a lot so using a small jar is nice because there's not a lot of head space to suck out moisture, so by the time I get to the bottom of these tiny jars, the tobacco is still almost exactly where I like it moisture-wise.
I like the smallest ones, two jars will hold an entire 50g tin of tobacco. This allows me to have one I smoke and one I set back for a while. I don't smoke a lot so using a small jar is nice because there's not a lot of head space to suck out moisture, so by the time I get to the bottom of these tiny jars, the tobacco is still almost exactly where I like it moisture-wise.
for storing bulk one of my friends used a ammo can, they have a nice watertight seal and are fairly cheap at a surplus store. plus they wont break if you drop them.
On the issue of tobacco storage
If one were to buy a pipe case with a tobacco pouch, to lug around Oktoberfest for 5 days, would one need to get one of those humidifiers? Or could one just leave his tobacco in a zip lock bag inside the pouch? I'll be rocking corncobs just in case I lose everything in drunken debauchery.
If one were to buy a pipe case with a tobacco pouch, to lug around Oktoberfest for 5 days, would one need to get one of those humidifiers? Or could one just leave his tobacco in a zip lock bag inside the pouch? I'll be rocking corncobs just in case I lose everything in drunken debauchery.
It wouldn't hurt to have one. But tobacco in a zip-lock bag will be ok for a week or two.
Zip lock bag it is. Thanks for the info.
That right there is the best reason to smoke cobs. Drunken debauchery! Have fun!!! Pretend I bought you a pint or 6!
Commander Quan
Commander Yellow Pantyhose
Oktoberfest is 16 days. Don't cut yourself short.
Thanks. I'll have a liter or two in honor of my B&B brethren.
I'd die of alcohol poisoning if I stayed a week, let alone 16 days.
My wife and I where there back in '99 and it was an experience.
The amt of people, the steins of beer, endless tent "beer halls" and wenches dressed up like St Pauli girls EVERYWHERE. I am 5'9" and I felt like a hobbit among these tall Teutonic blonde goddesses.
I will say that it was loud, festive and packed - but orderly. I have been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Fantasy Week in Key West - both of those were out-of-control alcohol fueled madness. Oktoberfest was an enormous drunken party that stayed under control - it certainly wasnt "Beerfest"!
I dont recall much smoking in Germany - not like France and Ireland where they smoked like it was their job.
The amt of people, the steins of beer, endless tent "beer halls" and wenches dressed up like St Pauli girls EVERYWHERE. I am 5'9" and I felt like a hobbit among these tall Teutonic blonde goddesses.
I will say that it was loud, festive and packed - but orderly. I have been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Fantasy Week in Key West - both of those were out-of-control alcohol fueled madness. Oktoberfest was an enormous drunken party that stayed under control - it certainly wasnt "Beerfest"!
I dont recall much smoking in Germany - not like France and Ireland where they smoked like it was their job.
Apparently tents have designated smoking areas. I'm going with my father who I got back into smoking pipes. He was the one who actually brought up the subject of bringing pipes with us.
And yeah.. I totally feel you on the hobbit thing. I'm also 5'9" and I felt the exact same way when I was in Iceland. Even worse... I'm 28 and still get carded most of the time and get shocked looks when they find out my age.
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- Thread starter
- #19
I use the Ball jelly/jam jars. Like this
I like the smallest ones, two jars will hold an entire 50g tin of tobacco. This allows me to have one I smoke and one I set back for a while. I don't smoke a lot so using a small jar is nice because there's not a lot of head space to suck out moisture, so by the time I get to the bottom of these tiny jars, the tobacco is still almost exactly where I like it moisture-wise.
Yeah, I'd bought some of the small jars already, just to find out that either I was sent generous 2 oz portions or I can't even squeeze one ounce per jar... I've got some pint size jars in my amazon cart now, but now that you mention splitting the stash into a smoking jar and an aging jar, I may just get some more of the small jars... ah, such decisions...
Probably a weird question, but is it okay to store ziplock bags of tobacco inside the mason jars? I have some samples (thanks again Capt) that are annotated and in ziplock bags that I would like to be sure store well for awhile. I have mason jars large enough to put the ziplocks inside. Would rather do that than empty the ziplocks into the jars and relabel everything (perhaps I am lazy). Am confident that that would solve the explosure to air aspect, but don't know if the plastic would transfer taste to the tobacco over time.
