I have all my tobacco in a cupboard. Tins, mason jars, samples in plastic baggies.... some of it came already dry in the tin (Magnum Opus and Larry's Blend) and some of it is getting dry from simply being in opened tins with poor quality seals, also the stuff in baggies isn't well protected. I was wondering what my best bet is to get some moisture into this stuff. Would a simple bowl of water in the cupboard give off some ambient moisture and help things out a bit? Or do I need to rehydrate individual blends with some sort of dedicated device in each container?
(re)hydrating tobacco?
- Thread starter KarlMaldensNose
- Start date
I have had the Magnum Opus and Larry's Blend and I know the moisture level you are speaking of, yes it was dryer than some but I found to be prefect and ready to smoke, if kept in a mason jar you shouldn't have to rehydrate it, but if you feel the need to add moisture you can put it in a bowl and wet a paper towel with distilled water a cover the bowl with it for a fews hours checking it every hour or so until you acheive the moisture level desired then jar it, if you don't already do so I recommend your jar all of your tobacco, tins with not stay hydrated for long periods, a baggies are worse.
- Thread starter
- #3
I only leave it in the orginal tin if it's too wet and can use some dry time, then I move it to a jar for longer term storage. For the multitude of little sample baggies, I suppose I could plunk them all into a jar together. Never occurred to me to do that with them until now.
The Larry's Blend is actually perfect as is but I wouldn't want it to get any drier. The Magnum Opus, however, was so dry when I cracked the tin that it was a really hot smoke. I need to rehydrate that one for sure.
The Larry's Blend is actually perfect as is but I wouldn't want it to get any drier. The Magnum Opus, however, was so dry when I cracked the tin that it was a really hot smoke. I need to rehydrate that one for sure.
They do sell little humidifier disks that you can soak in distilled water and place into your baggies or jars to rehydrate your tobacco. If you have a halfway decent smoke shop in your area you shouldn't have too much of a problem finding them. Another, slightly cheaper option is wet oasis. You can find it in almost any crafts store. They sell it by the block. It's usually green and it's basically a very dense sponge-like block substance. When its dry you can just cut it into little squares and soak the piece in distilled water and stick it in your jars. What I usually do is cut a small circular piece and stick it into a cleaned out discarded soda cap and stick that in my tobacco jars to resurrect my older/dryer tobacco. Hope that helps. Good luck.
The easiest (and cheapest) way is to place the tobacco in a zip lock bag with a piece of bread. Leave it for 3 days. The tobacco will be perfect. I have tried this method several times and it works great!
P.S. Don't eat the bread!
P.S. Don't eat the bread!
The easiest (and cheapest) way is to place the tobacco in a zip lock bag with a piece of bread. Leave it for 3 days. The tobacco will be perfect. I have tried this method several times and it works great!
P.S. Don't eat the bread!
Wow I never heard this before! I am definitely going to try this! Thanks for sharing.
I would be wary of using any methods to rehydrate that involve foodstuffs - be it apples, oranges (or peels), carrots, pototo slices or bread. This is an excellent way to inadvertantly introduce mold to your leaf - even if the food-stuff shows no signs of growth, spores are present, and you really don't want to smoke Rhizopus Stolonifer and it's fungal cousins.
I tend to use the method outlined by Gregory Pease; simply pour the dessicated tobacco into a bowl leaving some space at the top. Cover the bowl with a damp paper-towel or rag (distilled water is recommended so as not to introduce impurities and molds) and seal (I use saran for this). Check on it / stir it up every hour or so - it usually doesn't take very long to bring blends back to life.
I tend to use the method outlined by Gregory Pease; simply pour the dessicated tobacco into a bowl leaving some space at the top. Cover the bowl with a damp paper-towel or rag (distilled water is recommended so as not to introduce impurities and molds) and seal (I use saran for this). Check on it / stir it up every hour or so - it usually doesn't take very long to bring blends back to life.
+1 to the NO on bread, it is a good way to ruin some tobacco, nothing against the person who suggested it but it just mold waiting to happen.
I do the same thing, only put the wet oasis into contact lens cases that I pick up cheap at the dollar store that I have drilled 3 holes into the lid. You only need one so you can cut the 'L' from the 'R'.
I'll chime in too -I'd be hesitante to use any foodstuffs near tobacco as well, for fear of mold.
I don't use Pease's method, tho it is likely the best method - rather I get distilled water in a spray bottle and spray the tobacco and then reseal it. check and respray as needed (key is not to OVER spray it). often I will bring it to just below the moisture level a new tin/bulk would have... pack the pipe and then breathe through the pipe to re-hydrate the rest of the way. only takes a few breaths into the pipe to rehumidify a bowlful of slightly dry tobacco
YMMV
I don't use Pease's method, tho it is likely the best method - rather I get distilled water in a spray bottle and spray the tobacco and then reseal it. check and respray as needed (key is not to OVER spray it). often I will bring it to just below the moisture level a new tin/bulk would have... pack the pipe and then breathe through the pipe to re-hydrate the rest of the way. only takes a few breaths into the pipe to rehumidify a bowlful of slightly dry tobacco
YMMV
- Thread starter
- #11
Interesting. When I used to smoke cigarettes, if they dried out and felt crunchy, I would grasp the smoke in a closed fist and breathe into the non-filter end of it. Quicky and easily that would make it smokable again.
Regarding the bread, I've seen YouTube videos of guys who have successfully used that method. That's not to say that the possibility of mold isn't present, though. Not all mold is highly visible to the naked eye. I would try the bread method for only a bowl or two worth of tobacco and only if I was going to be smoking it immediately, not giving it time to develop any nasties. I'll give the wet paper towel method a try. Appreciate all the tips so far.
Last edited:
I've used the mini humidifying discs as well, with distilled water. They're simple, cheap, and hassle free; but, so are paper towels.
