Short Term Storage

[Fallbeard]

I recently picked up enjoying a pipe. I have been averaging 4 smokes a week. I have picked up about 10 tins of tobacco, which at this pace, should last me quite a while.

I am buying multiples to start building a small cellar and I’ve learned that mason jars or vacuum bags can be great for long term storage. Variety is the spice of life, but I am hesitant to open multiple tins because I don’t want them to degrade in quality during the time it takes me to work through the active tins.

Should I move all the active tins to mason jars to maintain their quality? I’m hesitant to do this because I love looking at and opening the tins, but I don’t want to ruin tobacco as that can get expensive. Or will the tobacco maintain its quality for an extended period of time in an active tin? If so, how long on average? ( I know there are several variables to this question)

 

[Kentos]

The 2 factors I am trying to negate by moving open tins to mason jars is the tobacco drying out, and oxidation of the tobacco.

You may notice that a newly opened tin is light is color, and as it sits it might get a bit darker. Oxidation is a good thing, but too much isn’t for me.

Blends that are wet out the tin, like maybe a SG flake, will last longer than a dryer ribbon cut.

Open tins can last quite a long time, and some people like their tobacco dry anyways. I would suggest you test it out yourself to see what your preference is. If you plan on smoking it over, say a years’ time it might be better to jar those blends. YMMV a lot.

 

[mr_houston]

I’ve got a dozen tins open and in small mason jars. They will last a very long time like that.

If you want to keep them in their tins, you might place them in a Tupperware type box. Otherwise, I think the’ll dry out after a couple of months.

 

[Price]

You can keep them in tins (a rubber band wrapped around the tin helps) for a while - a couple weeks to a few months - varying wildly with the ambient temperature and humidity, cut, moisture in the tin, etc, etc.

Mason jars are your friend. Tobacco will keep virtually indefinitely, and you can pop it to fill a bowl and seal it right back up. You won't get the benefits of aging in this manner, but for maintaining multiple tobaccos as you work through them, nothing beats mason jars.

 

[luvmysuper]

I have tobacco in tins, in mylar, and in Mason Jars.
Mylar is deep storage, tins are longer term and awaiting use, and mason jars for what won't work as original packaging and for use.
If I open a tin, it goes in a jar.

 

[Fallbeard]

I have tobacco in tins, in mylar, and in Mason Jars.
Mylar is deep storage, tins are longer term and awaiting use, and mason jars for what won't work as original packaging and for use.
If I open a tin, it goes in a jar.

Your last comment is what I was looking for. So if I understand you correctly, if you have a dozen active tins you’re smoking, all of them are stored in mason jars?

Since I’m slowly working through my tobacco on hand, should I store 75% of a tin in a larger mason jar and 25% in a smaller jar that I’m smoking? This keeps the larger jar sealed longer, and replenish the smaller jar as needed.

 

[Price]

Your last comment is what I was looking for. So if I understand you correctly, if you have a dozen active tins you’re smoking, all of them are stored in mason jars?

Since I’m slowly working through my tobacco on hand, should I store 75% of a tin in a larger mason jar and 25% in a smaller jar that I’m smoking? This keeps the larger jar sealed longer, and replenish the smaller jar as needed.

If it's going to take you longer than a few months to finish off the 25%, there may be some benefit there. I will do that sometimes when I open up large (8 & 16 Oz) tins, but probably you're fine just putting it all in one jar.

 

[luvmysuper]

Your last comment is what I was looking for. So if I understand you correctly, if you have a dozen active tins you’re smoking, all of them are stored in mason jars?

I rarely have more than half that open at a time. I'm an all day puffer and work through tins fairly quickly. I have a few jars of Codger blends that fill the gap on wanting something "special", I'm not going to get any benefit from trying to age the Codger blends.

Since I’m slowly working through my tobacco on hand, should I store 75% of a tin in a larger mason jar and 25% in a smaller jar that I’m smoking? This keeps the larger jar sealed longer, and replenish the smaller jar as needed.

What this guy below says.

If it's going to take you longer than a few months to finish off the 25%, there may be some benefit there. I will do that sometimes when I open up large (8 & 16 Oz) tins, but probably you're fine just putting it all in one jar.

 

[CANES]

I'll be the different guy here. I have always kept tobacco in the tin after I opened it. I usually finish up the tin before it gets dusty dry anyway. The only times I've ever used mason jars is with bulk blends.

 

[Fallbeard]

Great comments. Thanks for sharing

 

[SwamperWI]

I smoke a few times a week as well. I picked up several 4oz mason jars. Bulk and anything I open goes into them. These small jars allow me to age some even when buying smaller amounts of tobacco. I suspect I will move up to bigger jars at some point. But, still being in the sampling phase of my journey, these are working well for me currently.

 

[Columbo]

I recently picked up enjoying a pipe. I have been averaging 4 smokes a week. I have picked up about 10 tins of tobacco, which at this pace, should last me quite a while.

I am buying multiples to start building a small cellar and I’ve learned that mason jars or vacuum bags can be great for long term storage. Variety is the spice of life, but I am hesitant to open multiple tins because I don’t want them to degrade in quality during the time it takes me to work through the active tins.

Should I move all the active tins to mason jars to maintain their quality? I’m hesitant to do this because I love looking at and opening the tins, but I don’t want to ruin tobacco as that can get expensive. Or will the tobacco maintain its quality for an extended period of time in an active tin? If so, how long on average? ( I know there are several variables to this question)

For most open product, it depends on the factory container, and how long you are going to take in consuming it.

If it’s not tinned or tubbed to begin with (bulk or bagged), then it should be broken down into jars. Bulk packs from vendors (e.g. Boswells, Milan, or an odd measure of a Sutliff bulk) need to be repacked as soon as you get them. Factory sealed bags (at least the Sutliff ones) you can treat as if they are in mylar. A handful of others you may need to open and jar depending on the fragility of the factory bag used.

My practice with loose tobacco is to put frequently accessed blends in a small shallow 8oz wide mouth jar, and the rest in quart jars. That allows the bulk to at least age a little. Once tight in a jar, they will keep indefinitely.

Rectangular tins don’t reseal well once opened. You can use some saran wrap to help for a few weeks. But longer than a month, and they need at least a zip lock HD freezer bag. And much longer than that (3-6 mos.), and they should go in a jar. One exception is recent SG production, which leaves the factory not well sealed. If you are not planning to consume those in a few months, then it needs to be jarred or sealed in mylar.

For threaded round tins, I’ve had good luck just retightening them down, and those can go up to 9-12 mos. You can also slip them retightened into a freezer bag if you like the belt and suspenders approach. Longer than that, and you should consider jarring them. With the paint can types, those can be effectively resealed indefinitely with a sheet of saran wrap and a gentle rubber mallet.

For tubs, you can get them to last 6-9 mos. once opened by dropping the entire opened tub into a gallon freezer bag. Longer than that, and they should be jarred, or mylar bagged. I don’t go too long on my tubs, so at most I’ll use the gallon freezer bags in really dry winter ambients (so the very top layer doesn’t get too dry). I’ll also sometimes ‘stir’ the contents to even out things as it’s going down.

If you acquire your tobacco by the pouch, then treat them like a rectangular tin once opened. Freezer bag or jar, depending on how long you will take with them.

Mylar is a long-term storage format. Once you break the seal on them, they are no better than a zip lock. When I mylar something, I use a zip lock style, so you can at least get a few months out of it once opened. For most beginning tobacco collectors, I think mylar an expensive luxury. Once you start measuring your stash in tens of pounds, a mylar system starts to make more sense. For starting and small cellars, jars are better imo.

Jars are superior in my opinion for flexibility. You can keep opening and resealing them as you go. But they are expensive and heavy. And fragile.

The beauty of most pipe tobaccos are that they are packed too wet to begin with. So some drying as you go through them is actually a good thing, imo. I prefer my tubs more in the bottom half than the top half for that reason.

I neglected to mention, where you stow your stash also is a factor. It’s called cellaring, because traditionally cellars were the most moist, and most humidity stable and cool location for such storage. If you are keeping your stash in a ranch house closet or cabinet in the southwest, it will dry out faster than in a damp basement somewhere in northern New Jersey, or in Florida. And when the house RH drops to 29% in the dead of winter, you need to pay more attention than when it’s 60+% on a humid August afternoon.

But I wouldn’t overthink it. If you have three or four open tins, just slip them into freezer zip locks to start, and evaluate each as you go. A box of 50 freezer bags is cheaper than a few mason jars. If you find them getting too dry for your tastes, then invest in a few jars. Just don’t let them go so long that they turn into sawdust.

Happy puffs!

 

[Fallbeard]

Great points. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences and well-thought comments @Columbo

 

[gpjoe]

Great thread, with great advice.

I've transferred all of my open tobacco from tins, tubs, and pouches to Mason jars. Fortunately, my "cellar" fits on one small bookshelf in the spare bedroom.

With the larger tubs of Prince Albert and Carter Hall, I had to split the tobacco in halves to fit in quart jars, so I have one of each active, and one sitting.

I also have a question regarding CH and PA:

Both are packaged in plastic tubs and sealed in shrink wrap that seems a bit flimsy, and questionably air-tight. Is it ok to leave it as purchased and throw the the unopened tubs onto a shelf in a closet (for long term)?...or better to transfer it to Mason jars?

 

[Columbo]

Great thread, with great advice.

I've transferred all of my open tobacco from tins, tubs, and pouches to Mason jars. Fortunately, my "cellar" fits on one small bookshelf in the spare bedroom.

With the larger tubs of Prince Albert and Carter Hall, I had to split the tobacco in halves to fit in quart jars, so I have one of each active, and one sitting.

I also have a question regarding CH and PA:

Both are packaged in plastic tubs and sealed in shrink wrap that seems a bit flimsy, and questionably air-tight. Is it ok to leave it as purchased and throw the the unopened tubs onto a shelf in a closet?...or better to transfer it to Mason jars for the long term?

I think you can leave it as purchased. I’ve yet to crack open a dry one.

But if you’re planning to go decades with one, and want to be absolutely sure, just drop the sealed tub into a gallon gusset bottom mylar bag and heat seal it for the grandkids.

 

[gpjoe]

I think you can leave it as purchased. I’ve yet to crack open a dry one.

But if you’re planning to go decades with one, and want to be absolutely sure, just drop the sealed tub into a gallon gusset bottom mylar bag and heat seal it for the grandkids.

Thank you

 

[DesertDan]

I live in the desert southwest, so as a precaution every tin/pouch I open, or any tobacco shipped to me in ziploc bags, gets transferred into mason jars right away.