Mason jar question

[nutcracker]

I been jarring rather a lot of tobacco lately. In a 250ml jar I can fit:

-2oz loose ribbon, shag or cube cut
-3oz of the same packed in quite firmly
-4oz packed in with really tight.

So my question is - what is better? Will the compacted tobacco age differently? I imagine it would be like ullage on a bottle and affect the contents. Using fewer jars is a space consideration, but it's more convenient to grab 2oz and smoke it up ....

Thoughts?

[The Poet]

Can't help you with your question, but I do wonder why a nutcracker would use Mason jars instead of Ball. :D

[nutcracker]

..
Just a common misunderstanding among North Americans - a "nut" is a head / cranium / noggin.

Just sayin'

[The Poet]

And I've been off mine for decades. :r

[cthulnado]

Generally, if i only have enough of the tobacco to fill the jar, I don't press it down. But, if I have a lot and the jar needs to be hold it all, I pack it in with all I've got. I haven't noticed any real difference between the two other than needing to let the compressed tobacco rest a bit longer before I pack my pipe with it. I bought a leather "gentleman's valet" and use it for letting the tobacco rest/dry and packing.

[CoffeeWaterBeer]

If I recall correctly, you do want a bit of air if you're going for aging. The oxygen left in the jar is required for aerobic fermentation, and once that is depleted the jar goes into anaerobic fermentation. Less air then would slow down the aging process?

Greg Pease has an article over in the pipesmagazine site that gets into this. Also, I found C&D's post interesting.
http://www.cornellanddiehl.com/the-latest-details.cfm?id=17

[jsnake]

I've always been told to not try to pack them tight and leave some space in there for air. I have a few full jars but I don't try to compact them to fit more. I keep a couple really small jars for a little overflow and use those to sample from.