Quote:
Originally Posted by mahtofire14
I have decided that the majority of smoking I'm going to be doing will be shifting more towards pipe smoking. I have a decent amount of pipe tobacco but it isn't all in sealed tins. Some are in ziploc baggies. Is there any way to save this or is it pretty much a lost cause now? And does flake last longer in unsatisfactory conditions than regular tobacco? Thanks for the help.
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Hey Pete, great to see you back on the forum, and congratulations on becoming a piper
I think over a period of time, after purchasing samplers online or the same from your local B&M, we end up with a few bags of loose tobacco or flakes. Zip lock baggies aren't the best for holding air out or humidity and temperature inside. So, eventually, the pipe tobacco will dry out on you. The same goes for tins. They don't have the best of seals (well, some are better than others, but may tend to dry out your tobacco over a period of time).
If you're thinking about hanging-on to some of your pipe tobacco from plastic bags or tins, you can always take that first step and hydrate your pipe tobacco. Its easy and simple. Take a small glass or Rubbermaid type bowl and place your pipe tobacco inside. Next, take a washcloth or similar type of cloth, hold it under some hot water until soaked, drain a little water from the cloth, open the cloth out fully, and place it flat over the bowl containing your pipe tobacco. If you're doing this during the weekend, you can check your pipe tobacco every 4 to 5 hours for moisture absorption. If you feel it could use a bit more moisture, mix the pipe tobacco gently and re-soak your cloth again, slightly drain once again, and fully open and place the cloth over the bowl for another 4 to 5 hours. Repeat until you're satisfied with the moisture level of your pipe tobacco. If you're performing this task during the work week, I just soak the cloth, place it over the bowl, and let it sit for 12 hours. I check it a few hours after I return home from work, and sometimes, we're good. Other times, I re-soak and let it ride another 12 hours. You just need to play around with this and dial it in for your own needs.
So, what to do now with your newly hydrated pipe tobacco. Like WhiteMamba, I use Kerr 1 pint wide-mouth jars for all of my bulk purchases and/or tin/plastic bag remainders. If your pipe tobacco has moisture, it will hold for quite some time in a Kerr or Mason type of jar. There are many pipers that use glass jars for long term storage of their pipe tobacco. You can slap a label on the jar with the name of the pipe tobacco and date, and pack it away, to be open at some future date in time aged. This is not to say though, that a Kerr or Mason jar "will not" leak. You just want to make sure you place the top on just right prior to screwing it down. To date, I've yet to have an air leak situation with these jars.
Finally, you don't have to use 1 pint jars exactly. I use these because they hold 4 oz of loose and flake tobacco nicely inside. There are larger glass jars that I'm sure will hold an easy 8oz (if you wanted to break-up that 1 pound of pipe tobacco you recently purchased), or you may want to go with a smaller wide mouth jar just to handle the amount usually found in a tin (which is generally 1.75 oz or 50 g).
And, does flake last longer in unfavorable conditions than regular tobacco (I would think this constitutes ribbon cut, rough cut, etc)??? Since flake is sliced from a tobacco blend that has been pressed together for a long period of time, I would say yes, due to its density from being pressed together. Regular tobacco is thin with many open spaces where air can easily get to all of the moisture and oils, and I would think, dry it out quicker than a blend of tobacco's that have been pressed. At least, this is my thought on the question.
Hope this helps you out a bit Pete
