Suggestions for large bulk storage

[Brewdude]

Not sure if this is the right forum to be posting this query, but here goes-

Right now I'm considering going in deep on some bulk blends. Say 5# ea of multiple weeds.

My normal SOP on bulk is to jar them up upon arrival in appropriate mason jars. So, a lb would then go into 64 oz jars providing the cut was such to accommodate them. Sometimes a few spillover oz have to also be apportioned into smaller jars. NBD.

I can plan to divide 5# up into 5 - 64 oz jars. And then smoke them as use dictates. Yet it might also come to needing a great deal of large jars.

What I'm wondering is this - is there a better way to store 5# without breaking it down right away? IOW, store the big bulk in one airtight container until use dictates that I break it down?

A 5# bag of 'baccy will be very bulky, and I wouldn't want to leave it in the big ziplock it came in. And while there do seem to be gallon and larger glass jars, the cost also becomes a factor.

Tupperware won't do IMO.

Looking for a reasonable cost alternative for long term large bulk storage. Or should I just get in the appropriate amount of 64 oz jars?

Any good advice appreciated.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Anonymous]

It's a PITA, but divying it up into a multitude of smallish jars is your optimum strategy.

Reason being that the stuff is aging, undisturbed, from reception date until you're cracking the jar to smoke it. Pint jars are easier, quicker & handier to store, but you're halting the aging process when you open one to withdraw a small jarful to smoke.

Probably depends on how important aging is to you, and whether risk-spreading is an issue.

:face:

 

[Kelhammer]

The five pound bag I bought fit nicely in one dozen, 1 quart jars. I usually use pint jars but for the five pounder the quarts were just right. I figure I have around 6.67 oz in each jar. When I want to smoke one I will prolly empty half the jar and re-seal. Just making sure to empty that jar on my next with drawl. The package for the quart jars, which I retain for storage purposes, is not much larger than the pints.

Andy

 

[Hermit]

Biggest I use are pints; mostly half-pints.
For the reasons Yak stated.

 

[tiltjlp]

I use empty Middleton tubs. The advantage using them, besides being free, is that you can store them anywhere, since sunlight won't bother them.

 

[sisyphus]

Long term storage 16oz. $8/flat of 12 at the store down the street. A flat holds 4 lbs of flake or two pounds of ribbon/ready rubbed. I have a _lot_ of full flats in the basement. Not convenient, but the best approach for your tobacco and for you.

 

[Kelhammer]

I snapped a pic. I just did not want to deal with so many jars. 12 for one blend is to many as it is, at least for me. I wish a few of them had moonshine in them. What a cool box that would make. :silent:

Andy

 

[gandalfpc]

You can keep your baccy short term in a nice tight igloo cooler, but long term mason jars are the only way to fly...

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

When my cellar was at its height I probably had 200 pint jars filled religiously with only 4 oz of tobacco. SG and GH flakes I would cut in half. I did this for the same reason as Yak stated, but it took up a lot of room. I am still a proponent of uninterrupted aging, as to me the more constant a process is, the better the results will be. But I am no judge of this. I've never had two jars, same size, same tobacco, same amount of that tobacco, aged for the same period of time, one interrupted and one not; never smoked from these jars; and given my palate, if I did I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

Fast forward to the last few months. Given that I read over and again that aging will occur differently in these two cases but that both will produce comparable aging results, I'm cramming as much tobacco in pints as they can hold, about a half pound in each. Pressure causes heat; again don't ask me why. I leave headspace to give aerobic aging what it needs and seal the jar.

 

[Gumball]

Has anyone tried using vacuum pack bags? If they can store food then I see no reason why they should not be just as good at storing tobacco. A suitably large bag would allow you to store the whole bulk purchase together.

 

[sisyphus]

Has anyone tried using vacuum pack bags? If they can store food then I see no reason why they should not be just as good at storing tobacco. A suitably large bag would allow you to store the whole bulk purchase together.

The bags are gas permeable.

 

[BigCasino]

actually I don't think vacuum bags are gas permeable, that would kind of defeat the purpose, but I have heard some folks say there needs to be air involved for the aging

 

[Anonymous]

They did come up with a bag material & procedure that was as good as tins are & took up way less space. They had a three-ply construction that locked everything in. It can't have been much more than three or four years ago (?)

But people griped about them.

:face:

 

[KevinM]

I only did this once, but FWIW --

Restaurants get some of their raw material in large glass jars. (gallon?) I once stored a bunch of open pouches in one, and I was surprised how long it stayed moist, even though I was opening said jar a couple of times a month. (So it wasn't bulk tobacco in there.) The lids fit snugly -- they were sealed before the restaurant opened them -- but they won't be airtight on second use. For second use you could seal with a couple layers of saran wrap before putting on the lid. Oh, and I got my jar for free, which is always an attractive price.

 

[i.keenum]

Pickle jar for the win, that is what I'd use.

 

[Brewdude]

Thanks for the responses gents.

So I gather that a single container for 5# of pipe weed is probably not going to be practical. This idea was only my effort to store one large container for an indefinite period until use dictated that it be broken down to smaller sizes.

I'll probably just go with what I already know and trust - jarring it up in 64 oz masons and then breaking them down from there when necessary.

I already do this with lb purchases. And when the head space gets too low I re-jar it into smaller units. Seems to work just fine. Don't particularly want to break it down into 16 or 32 oz jars at the outset.

Still, if anyone has a cost effective way to put a couple 5# loads away I'm all ears.


Cheers,

RR

 

[KevinM]

Pickle jar for the win, that is what I'd use.

Come to think of, it was a pickle jar! Got it from an off campus glorified burger joint and used it to store my tobacco hoard through junior and senior year. Boy was that a while ago :shock:

 

[Slide]

I took a hint from KevinM and used a can to pack tobacco into a jar today. A pint jar will hold a 1/2 pound of ribbon cut with a little head space. So a quart jar with packing the tobacco in could hold a pound.

 

[Brewdude]

I took a hint from KevinM and used a can to pack tobacco into a jar today.

:scratch:

A pint jar will hold a 1/2 pound of ribbon cut with a little head space. So a quart jar with packing the tobacco in could hold a pound.

Dunno about the ribbon cut you're speaking of, but 1# of ribbon from the source I'm going to be using will barely fit into a 64 oz jar. And that's even with a bit of compression.

And some of the other cuts in 1# bulk qty's won't fit into that same 64 oz container. Need to apportion the rest into a 4 or 8 oz jar. Don't mind doing this on lb purchases. But 5# is a whole new concept.

Oh well, it's gonna be an adventure.


Cheers,

RR

 

[Slide]

I took a hint from KevinM and used a can to pack tobacco into a jar today.

:scratch:

A pint jar will hold a 1/2 pound of ribbon cut with a little head space. So a quart jar with packing the tobacco in could hold a pound.

Dunno about the ribbon cut you're speaking of


Cheers,

RR

What I just jarred up today was C&D Bayou Morning. I put a 1/4 pound in two pint jars and then as an after thought decided to see how much I could actually get in the jar. I was able to get the remainder and it weighed out right.

With that said I have no idea if the compressions effect and having less air in the jar will help or hurt the aging of the tobacco.