If I can smell the tobacco...

[momus]

Hi everyone. I'm new and posted a little intro post on the welcome board. I've got a question about mason jars. I've filled some jars up with C&D Epiphany and they've been sealed for about four months now. I heard somewhere that if you can smell the tobacco it's not sealed correctly. Well, I can smell the tobacco through the mason jar. Now, I did not worry about dropping the jars in boiling water and doing the vacuum seal since I read a few articles that suggested that was not ideal (one was with G.L. Pease discussing it, although he was discussing vacuuming sealing with plastic bags-not mason jars- and the need for air to be in with the tobacco). Is that the reason I can smell it through the jar? Or am I making a mountain out of a mole hill and I shouldn't worry about it. Thanks for any input

 

[Smokntaz]

If the mason jar is properly sealed then you shouldn't smell the tobacco! Personally I just hand tighten the top and the gas exchange does the sealing for me! Were the lids brand new when you sealed the jars? They are not recommended for reuse if you are planning to cellar the jars for any length of time.

 

[momus]

The mason jars were new. Hmmmm....I'll just have to really check the seal. Maybe more elbow grease...I just checked them today on a whim...

 

[ZeroContent]

sometimes I find that the lids were over tightened during packaging and the sealing compound is super compressed which isn't a problem when I can food since i'm going to put them into the hot water. One thing you could try is take just the lids and pop them into some boiling water to soften the compound then take them out and dry them quickly and while still hot re-seal the jars, that way you're just heating the lid and not the jar and contents. OR just go buy a box of new lids, they're usually only a buck or two and since they're not packaged onto jars the compound with be in perfect shape and will easily conform when applied to the jar.