Kyle Weiss
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- Sep 18, 2011
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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)
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)