Can a tin dry out completely?

[zonomo]

The very first tin I ever tried was Moontrance. I really liked it but I only smoke it occasionally. Today I decided to smoke some and when I opened the lit, the tobacco was crisp dry. It looked to be sealed properly but I wondered if there is a shelf life for tobacco once its been opened. The paper and the small cardboard lid were also discolored brown. They were both white when I started. Any ideas?

 

[KevinM]

Possible. A B&M in my employer's neighborhood was going out of business and evenyually put remaining tins on sale for an absurdly low price. Sone of them were stored just above the peripheral lighting and just below the ceiling. They'd been there for ten years of so. Crispy would be an understatement. So given inhospitable conditions, it's possible. How inhospitable do they have to be? I dunno.

 

[sisyphus]

once a tin is unsealed the tin is good for about a month. You need to buy some mason jars. Cheap and everywhere and your tobacco is good indefinitely in them.

 

[monbla256]

Yes they can dry out even if not having the seal broken. I have two un-opened tins of BS 759 that I got when a B&M was closing shop back in '78. This is what is left of a dozen tins I bought and last year when I opened one it was bone dry. A few days of re-hydrating in a jar got it back to smokeability and I'm sure this is what I will have to do with these last two tins I have of it in the future. The purpose of the tin from the blenders side, was to contain a measured amt. of 'bac in transit to a retailers shelf and from there to the consumers home or place of storage. NOT LONG TERM storage!!  :twisted: 

 

[Brewdude]

Z-

There's loads of good info here on BoB about re-hydrating dry baccy.

One technique I've used successfully is this-

Put the toby in a bowl and spread it out to a more or less uniform thickness.

Get a plain white washcloth or towel (gotta be white), moisten with distilled H2O (like from a spritzer bottle), do not oversaturate!

Place over bowl, making sure the cloth does not touch the toby.

Leave for say 4-8 hrs. Take off cloth and check for moistness. Repeat as necessary.

This has worked really well for me on the rare occasions I've had to rehydrate crispy baccy. Of course the question is always "what would it have been like before it lost all it's moisture and aroma constituents"?

Can't answer that. Only can tell you this technique works for me.



Cheers,


RR

 

[Northern Neil]

Zonomo, the answers above prety much nail it. I'll just reiterate, once opened the tin should be finished in less than a month. If it's going to take longer, transfer to mason jar. If the tin has not been opened, depending on the style and most new tins, should be fine for long term aging.

 

[sisyphus]

the only time I can see rehydrating tobacco is when it's something irreplaceable. The damage is done when the tobacco loses its moisture, throw it out and buy another tin.

 

[zonomo]

once a tin is unsealed the tin is good for about a month. You need to buy some mason jars. Cheap and everywhere and your tobacco is good indefinitely in them.

I did not know this. I have a ton of mason jars for my bulk tobacco. I didnt know that once I crack it, I needed to smoke it. Recently, I opened 3 tins of Sutliff tobaccos but now after your post, I'm going to Mason them. Thanks!

 

[zonomo]

Z-

There's loads of good info here on BoB about re-hydrating dry baccy.

One technique I've used successfully is this-

Put the toby in a bowl and spread it out to a more or less uniform thickness.

Get a plain white washcloth or towel (gotta be white), moisten with distilled H2O (like from a spritzer bottle), do not oversaturate!

Place over bowl, making sure the cloth does not touch the toby.

Leave for say 4-8 hrs. Take off cloth and check for moistness. Repeat as necessary.

This has worked really well for me on the rare occasions I've had to rehydrate crispy baccy. Of course the question is always "what would it have been like before it lost all it's moisture and aroma constituents"?

Can't answer that. Only can tell you this technique works for me.



Cheers,


RR

You totally answered my question before I asked it! Thanks.

 

[zonomo]

Great help everyone - I appreciate it.

 

[docwatson]

once a tin is unsealed the tin is good for about a month. You need to buy some mason jars. Cheap and everywhere and your tobacco is good indefinitely in them.

I did not know this.  I have a ton of mason jars for my bulk tobacco.  I didnt know that once I crack it, I needed to smoke it.  Recently, I opened 3 tins of Sutliff tobaccos but now after your post, I'm going to Mason them.  Thanks!

Brewdude uses the same re hydrating method that I do and it has never failed me, he gave you some very good advice IMO. As for the Sutliff blends, many of them contain a fair amount of PPG and do not really need any further storing in glass jars like some of the tobaccos without the PPG because they will not dry out even after many months of being opened. I can attest to that. LOL
And I am not saying they are bad blends, there are a number of Sutliff blends that I thoroughly enjoy, they are just manufactured using that extra ingredient.   

 

[zonomo]

Thans Doc. Understand.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't go the drying out/not taking care of tobacco route. I would never leave a tin open for an extended period of time. I crack a tin and put in a half-pint jar, always. Well, if I really like the tin art I might leave the tobacco in it for a day or two, but that really is my limit. But others are nowhere near as careful as I am, and they seem to have methods that work for them.

 

[Dramatwist]

once a tin is unsealed the tin is good for about a month. You need to buy some mason jars. Cheap and everywhere and your tobacco is good indefinitely in them.

Well said.

 

[zonomo]

I don't go the drying out/not taking care of tobacco route.

I don't either. I just didn't know in this case but will now put my tinned tobacco in a mason jar after I open. 95% of the tobacco I smoke is from bulk. I'm am going to try and rehydrate and see what happens but I may just toss it. Thanks.

 

[Dramatwist]

Sure. It'll turn to dust just like the rest of us.

 

[zonomo]

So I followed everyones advice here and re hydrated my Moontrance. It worked perfectly as explained. I decided to mix it with a fresh tin of Moontrance and mason jar it. Thanks for the advice everyone.

PS Took all of my opened Sutliff tins and masoned them too.