A Tobacco Rehydration Trick

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Kyle Weiss

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Everything has been done before, I'm pretty sure of it. I don't care, I just wanted to share my on-my-own discovery.

I live in Nevada--land of hot summers, cold winters, and dry...well, everything. Keeping tobacco at least pliable and smoke-worthy is a task. Sometimes, and I know you know what I mean here, there's a tin that just escapes into the ether of your cellar, behind a book on the shelf, under the couch. Maybe the cat swatted it someplace, or the dog buried it. With jars, once in a while an errant, rebellious piece of tobacco perfectly disallows the seal to...well, seal. Who knows. It just happens...usually with a favorite blend, no less. You find said tin, open it up half-happy, half oh-crap-this-is-going-to-be-dry.

The problem has been in the past, the complexity of the "tobacco sauna." Bowls, hot water, covering, heating, condensation, more water, towels, bags...the better half knocking it around and sloshing water where it ought not to go. Too much trouble.

What I do is this:

* Get one whole square of toilet paper, fold four times.

* Run folded square briefly under water. Lightly press out any over-saturation. Square should be damp without dripping. When in doubt, press more water out.

* Place damp square in the tobacco tin (50g), on top of the cardstock-type "lid" that came with the tin (which is on top of the dry tobacco, of course), which the original paper/cardstock "caddy" is still in place surrounding the tobacco.

* Place tin in a ziploc sandwich bag in a cool place.

* Wait roughly 24-48 hours, checking halfway, and depending on how dry your 'bacca was to start, and how much there is.

* You have re-hydrated tobacco. Remove the (likely dry) toilet paper square, and store as you normally would.

* For jars or tins without paper/card lid: 4oz--merely cut a piece of recipe card (or use a cut-to-fit business card) and lay it on top of the 'bacca, square on top of that and close the lid. For 8oz or larger jars-- use two damp toilet squares. You may have to open the jar and mix the stuff around and wait an extra day, depending on fullness. No ziploc needed for the jars.

* Tip: Keep old tobacco tins and their paper caddy/shrouds once you've finished--they work great for this re-hydration. C&D and Pease tins are great, because the paper caddy inside is sturdy, and you can take the label off and use masking tape to identify contents.

There you have it. What is happening is the paper in the tin, the stuff the tobacco came nestled in, disperses the moisture being added, without it unnecessarily saturating the tobacco directly. In a sealed container, thirsty, dry leaves plump up quickly.

How did I discover this? By trying to use those metal hydration buttons (...you know the kind...) that cost fifty cents or a buck per, in the same manner. It sort-of worked, which was encouraging, but you can never tell if one button is better than another (no idea what the filler material is, almost like volcanic perlite, and they seem to soak up varying amounts of water. There's just no way to tell. This way, moisture is known and regulated.

I experimented with a few different materials, sizes and moisture amounts, coming to this, and you have my best results.

Hope that helps someone. Try it, if you like. It's cheap and easy, no real trick to it, all you have to do is wait.

8)
 
Good procedure.

Better (IMHO) & much more nearly immediate gratification :

Over a sheet of paper (to catch & save the little crumbs), put dry tobacco in a wire spaghetti drainer. Hold same in steam column of furiously boiling tea kettle.
Maybe 10-15 seconds. Tobacco on the bottom will be about soaked.

Transfer to glass jar & seal. Inside will (initially) steam up like the mirror in the bathroom after a shower.

Wait one half hour for moisture to re-distribute itself evenly. Check result. If OK, smoke. If dry, repeat. If moist, leave lid off for x-teen minutes until right.

:face:

 
I put mine in tupperware.

Spray a fine mist of distilled water on the underside of the lid.

Replace lid.

Repeat as needed.
 
Dutch":ng047rky said:
I put mine in tupperware.

Spray a fine mist of distilled water on the underside of the lid.

Replace lid.

Repeat as needed.
That sounds better than the towel over the bowl method.
 
I guess if you use toilet paper in a bowl of rope tobacco, it doubles as a conversation piece. ;)
 
I use almost the exact procedure, but I don't use a zip lock baggy. I use a half sheet of paper towel, wet it the same way. Fold it in half or quarters. Then I set it over the tin and just force the lid back on. It makes a decent seal and my baccy is re-hydrated in pretty much the same time. Pick this up of the internets.
 
Hahaha, toilet paper and rope tobacco. :lol:
facepalm.gif


The main reason why I like this technique (full-well knowing it ain't new), is the simplicity. Instant gratification? Not really, but it doesn't require any special method, tool or time. It's fold, wet, place, seal, come back in a day. I like that.

Then again, it puts another positive tick next to the guys who have a few tobaccos in their rotation rather than just one or two. :p (...to Yak... ;) ) Heheheh.

The "tobacco sauna" method I had been doing was a pain, and in dry-arse Nevada, it took overnight to give any real results (which were usually still this side of too dry). Hence why I suggest the ziploc baggies, they are insurance the desert air ain't messin' with my 'bacca.

Thankfully, I devised a working method, may everyone have theirs! (...dare I suggest people post to this thread for a local compendium of their own techniques?) *shrug*

8)
 
the TP rips to easy for me, paper towel stands up better and holds more moisture. 1 to 2 days in the middle of desert (Tucson), and I'm good to go. No ziplok required and I can reuse the paper towel. I've used the same paper towel at least 8 times. Just some food for thought.
 
This isn't really a re-use and "to keep continually hydrated" thing, it's more a simple rescue remedy. You must be pretty rough on TP to not be able to separate a single square, fold it, and wet it. :p

If TP ain't workin', use something else. Or use the metal button things bought for a buck. Again, not a new trick, the single TP square seems to merely control exactly how much moisture is introduced, as only so much water can be absorbed. Hell, pieces of brown paper bag, cotton balls or any other readily-available absorbent type stuff could be used, too, I would guess. This isn't rocket science, I've just gotten very satisfactory results.

Necessity = Mothereffer of invention, and all that. :lol:

8)

 
I take a pretty casual approach to rewetting open tins that have dried more than I like (happens easily here). Since some time in '07, I've been folding a small square of kitchen paper, running it quickly under the tap (moist, but not dripping wet), and placing it directly on top of the tobacco in the tin. My tobacco is back to form the next day (remove paper if you remember) & I've never had any issues with mold, etc.
 
I can imagine how hard that is living in Nevada. I did a contract last year in Denver and vowed never to complain about the humidity again. Speaking of which, it is 80% humidity here in NC. Last steamy throws of summer!

Great method BTW!
 
Doesn't anyone use the old 'slim slice of apple' thing any more? Either a half inch slice or cut that in two for a lesser amount of weed...toss it in the jar or the ziplock, works either way. Let it sit overnight. Viola!

I used to do that and it works perfectly...plus, use a Fuji - cause you get to eat the rest of the apple, and they're the best! Good and good for ya!
 
The apple thing brings up statements like mold and what not.

My thought is this, if you are not going to smoke it now, why are you rehydrating it?
 
1) No mold. Let the apple sit in there overnight then toss it.

2) You re-hydrate it so that the next time you want some you don't have to go through the same thing again...and again...and again. Think of the guys that bitch if they have to go to the 'trouble' of rubbing out a flake! What if they had to rehydrate their tobacco each time they wanted a bowl! Makes no sense to me doin' it THAT way.



BTW: Watching Oregon's first game of the season...against the fine Arkansas State team...UofO is up 50 to 10 at the half! Ouch!
 
YES! :cheers:

The apple slice was my tried and true method in the 90's - I was too cheap to buy those button rehydrators. An old man at the B&M told me about the apple slice method years ago, and I've never had any problems with it.
 
Something wrong with Ball/Mason jars ?

:face:

:cat: :cat: :cat: :cat: :cat: :cat: :cat:
 
Yak":5zb3jfm6 said:
Something wrong with Ball/Mason jars ?

:face:

:cat: :cat: :cat: :cat: :cat: :cat: :cat:
No, not a problem at all. That's what I use today - and I don't have this problem.

This was back before I really started cellaring tobacco and only bought enough at one time to last for a month or two. Back then I usually left the tobacco in the Zip-Lock bags that I got from the B&M. If I left it in there too long, they dried out a little too much (cheap-ass bags). If I'd have put the smaller baggies inside a tupperware container, larger Glass jar, or even a Freezer Bag they would've held up a little better, of course.

But then, I didn't put a lot of thought into tobacco storage back in those days...
 
A person is almost guaranteed to have TP. Not always an apple.

Plus, TP won't as readily transport a mold spore, no matter how short/long the piece is in there--once the moisture has migrated to the tobacco, the square is dry, and mold just isn't a problem--even if you forget about it. It's adding the right amount of moisture (and trying to keep other organic compounds out)...

...but again, this is just me. Throw a friggin' salad in a jar or spray it with Visine with it for all I care. I'm sure it's all been done with varying success to someone. :lol:

"Simplicity begs for complication and customization." *shrug* Meh.

(...also, Yak, I just don't have space for jars AND tobacco, so I had to improvise...tins and ziplocs have been great during this dry summer so far...it's just an excuse to consider moving again, just for tobacco space... :lol: )

8)
 
I use Oasis florist foam. Granted not as inexpensive as TP, but has some advantages...and it won't break the bank...I paid $2 for three large blocks. Just make sure you get the "wet" variety that florists use to keep flowers fresh. It's exactly the same thing you find in top end, expensive humidifiers.

I charge a suitable chunk with 50-50 distilled water and propylene glycol. The PG will retard mold, and will absorb or express the water giving a constant RH of 72%. Put a wax paper barrier between the tobacco and the oasis, seal the container and forget about it...it won't get overly moist or dry. For about $5 you can build a few hundred top notch humidifiers.
 
Still pattin' myself on the back for simplicity, if y'all don't mind. :lol:

Provided this isn't a technique someone uses to maintain tobacco moisture, there'll likely be zero problems with mold. Pipe tobacco, I've discovered, is really apt at keeping itself moist and mold-free, provided the container is sealed right.

So far, the one square of TP, with the moisture pressed lightly out, ends up mysteriously dry, and the tobacco mysteriously and perfectly moist.

Pure voodoo. I love it. :twisted:

8)
 
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