A Pipe Blend Storage Jar for a Large Batch

[deluxestogie]

Storage Jar for a Large Batch of Pipe Blend

For years, I've kept my pipe blends in 1 quart Ziplock freezer bags. These work fairly well to maintain humidity over the short term. My desk in my study supports a small avalanche of impromptu pouches and cascading Ziplocks. They're cheap.

Part of the beauty of just using Ziplock bags is that it accommodates my ceaseless tinkering with new blends. But when I make up a huge (1/2 pound to 1 pound) batch of a favorite, such as Pearl of Shibam, it sits in an oafish 1 gallon freezer bag, and it lasts a fair bit longer than the moisture that the polyethylene bag (even at "freezer" thickness) can maintain. I've looked for practical solutions for storage of larger quantities without much success.

I recently stumbled into a "Straight-sided, thick-walled, colorless and transparent polystyrene jar from US Plastics.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23556&catid=604

It's a challenge to determine the dimensions of these jars. The separately-sold lid that is specified for each jar will indicate the outside diameter in millimeters, followed by thread pitch(?). So with a bit of math, you can determine the outside diameter of the jar, and just guess the height from the image. Most of the jars are way to tiny to be practical. I selected the 16 oz. Polystyrene Straight Sided Thick Walled Clear Jar with 120/400 Neck (Cap Sold Separately) Item #: 71073. Its interior dimensions are about 4-5/8" wide x 2-1/8" deep.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=128656&catid=604 ($2.23 each)

The matching 120/400 cap that I selected comes with a liner. 120/400 White Polypropylene Ribbed Cap with F217 Liner Item #: 66215.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=123219 ($0.77 each)

The specified "16 ounces" is fluid ounces. But it surely will hold more than a half-pound of leaf. Perhaps a whole pound, if manually compacted in there. [A small coffee can fits nicely inside, for compacting the blend.] These jars are FDA approved, so they are safe for contact with your tobacco.

Keep in mind that the weight specified on the commercial tins includes all the water that you pay for. Your home blend will not be as wet.

The bad news is that shipping significantly increases the cost. For shipping to me, one jar and one lid would cost $11.00 in shipping cost. I fiddled with quantities and projecting the shipping. My conclusion was that the smallest quantity that makes shipping costs tolerable was 6 jars and 6 lids. Purchase plus shipping came to about $30, which is $5 per jar/lid combo. That's not too bad for a permanent jar, but 6 jars are more than I really wanted. So I now have 6 jars.

One particularly nice aspect of such a wide jar is the ease with which you can fill a pipe bowl, without spilling tobacco on the counter or desk.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

3.33" circular removable labels for inkjet or laser.

https://www.onlinelabels.com/Products/OL375WR.htm

If you buy a tiny number of sheets (say 10), they will cost about $1 per sheet.

Bob

 

[ChinaVoodoo]

Bob, this is an awesome jar. Big wide opening. No more pouring tobacco onto the table to fill my pipe.

I suspect that being plastic, the plastic will brown if exposed to sunlight and tobacco. I know tea totally does that (I worked in a cafe). But it's not like I care what the jar looks like. Someone else might, so I thought I would mention it.

 

[deluxestogie]

"Crystal-clear" polystyrene is not particularly UV-stable, so outdoor applications are a problem. Many kitchen gadgets with a clear container, such as a food processor or cheap coffee mill, use the material. They do eventually (after 5 to 10 or more years) yellow a bit and become somewhat more brittle, even indoors. But compared to the plated steel cans in which pipe tobacco is sold, the polystyrene lasts longer.

So don't leave these jars on a sunny window sill, or your dashboard.

I'll post more about these when I've played with them for a few more days or years. The cap with a liner seals well enough to hold water, with the jar inverted.

I'm also considering the 12 ounce jars, which are about 3-1/2" diameter and ~3-1/2" tall, sized for an 89/400 lid.

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=33765&catid=604

Because of their smaller size, you have to purchase about 10 of them (with lids), for the shipping cost to make sense. Their cost is not much less than that of the 16 ounce jars. The only 89/400 cap with a liner (at US Plastics) seems to be a black one:

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=76175

It would have been smarter of me to purchase a mix of the 16 ounce and 12 ounce jars initially. But that's pipe tobacco under the bridge, at this point.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

It's been a year since my original post. The wide-mouth jar shown in the first photo is still wonderful, crystal clear and my favorite container for a fulsome batch of pipe blend.

If you are one of the rare individuals who mixes up a multi-pound batch at once, then one or more of these large, square, pinch-grip canisters may be both ideal for daily use, as well as efficient in storage space.

They are available in virgin form from U.S. Plastics, for a bit over $2 each.

64 oz. Clear PET Square Pinch Grip-It Jar with 110/400 White Ribbed Cap with F217 Liner | U.S. Plastic Corp.

These wide mouth canisters have easy-grip ribs molded into the sides and are perfect for the packaging of nuts, candy, pet treats, and more.

www.usplastic.com

But Walmart sells salted peanuts or honey roasted peanuts in those same jars. For under $6, you get 2-1/4 pounds of nuts, and a free jar. The drawback to the nut jar (same jar as those sold by U.S. Plastics) is that the label simply cannot be removed by soaking or peeling or any other means, except with some pretty intense chemicals, like GooGone.

The jars are perfect as kitchen canisters for dried beans, rice, etc. But the label will still be there. If you rank utility and economy above aesthetics, they are hard to beat.

Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

For storing small test blends up to about 25 grams these 50ml centrifuge tubs from Amazon work great. 50 for $16 bucks ($0.32 each). Also works great for storing seeds, casings / toppings, etc.

 

[deluxestogie]

50ml centrifuge tubs

I can't blend a batch that small. I think my thumbs are too big or something. Maybe it's my flaked obsidian measuring tools.

awesome jar. Big wide opening... I suspect that being plastic, the plastic will brown if exposed to sunlight and tobacco.

It's been about 1-1/2 years since I started using the big 16-oz polystyrene jars for pipe blends. Although I don't have them sitting out in the sun, I have taken no precautions about possible environmental exposures. They show no significant discoloration or changes in transparency at this point.

Bob

 

[Damanadaplaya]

I grow my own tobacco, and make a pressed cake to navy cut shred. The last batch was assisted with some brandy. After I cut it, I sat it under a light for a day, dried it completely. I stored it in a large mason jar. That was weeks ago and it’s awesome. The big problem with storage is letting humidity IN, then you can’t get rid of it. I lost a batch, that I put a lot of work into, because I stored it in plastic peanut can, with a snap lid. Never again.

 

[deluxestogie]

The big problem with storage is letting humidity IN, then you can’t get rid of it.

Good observation. This is entirely a matter of ambient humidity...either too high or too low. And the tobacco's hygroscopic properties, which vary with temperature, and even more with casing ingredients. It's sometimes difficult to predict for a specific leaf or blend.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

"Crystal-clear" polystyrene is not particularly UV-stable, so outdoor applications are a problem. Many kitchen gadgets with a clear container, such as a food processor or cheap coffee mill, use the material. They do eventually (after 5 to 10 or more years) yellow a bit and become somewhat more brittle, even indoors. But compared to the plated steel cans in which pipe tobacco is sold, the polystyrene lasts longer.

So don't leave these jars on a sunny window sill, or your dashboard.

I'll post more about these when I've played with them for a few more days or years.

It's been about 4 years since I purchased the large, plastic jars. Below is a photo of one of them today.

Still clear and transparent and non-brittle. By contrast, the printed label shows a bit of age.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Rust Resistant Screw Lid Tin Cans

"These seamless containers with screw-top, threaded covers are made of tin-plated steel. They are coated with an exclusive rust-resistant finish. Tins have no sharp edges, all edges are rounded and are seamlessly formed from .24mm metal. Price includes container and cover, which are shipped assembled. Dimensions are outside measurements. Rust Resistant Screw Lid Tin Cans are finished with an exclusive transparent coating to prevent rust from developing."

https://www.papermart.com/p/rust-resistant-screw-lid-tin-cans/147115

Item	Size	Diameter	Depth	Qty	Each Price	Price
6578800P	16 oz	4 3/4 ''	1 3/4 ''	24 each / package	$1.82	$43.68

Bob

 

[loui loui]

Glass is nicer than plastic. Ikea got large and cheap clip top jars aka Kilner jars.
For long term storage glass is the best if kept in a dark place.

 

[Chumco]

In the pipe smoking community two piece canning jars are the gold standard. I've tried a couple other kinds of jars but have had problems with all of them.

I haven't smoked raw, homegrown leaf so maybe I'm missing something, but usually when a blend dries out it loses a noticeable amount of flavor and gets a harsher quality to it, so these jars solve the problem of it drying out.

I've been curiously wondering about plastic jars but I'm a bit worried that either the plastic itself or the seal will be too permeable and will let it dry out over the course of a year or so.

 

[Redleaf]

In the pipe smoking community two piece canning jars are the gold standard.

Excuse my ignorance but what exactly is a “two piece canning jar” ?

 

[Plinsc]

Ring and lid

 

[Chumco]

Sorry, a two piece lid. Standard canning/mason jar. I specify two piece as opposed to something like a jam jar since a regular lid like that will wear on the gasket with repeated openings and they don't create as tight of a seal.

 

[AceFour]

I use quart size ball jars or 1/2 gallon/1 gallon mylar for the deep storage

 

[Figuring it out]

I've been reading up on the difference between mason and wrek jars, and it seems like the wrek must be better at keeping a seal between repeated openings. The mason 2-part lids have such thin sealing material that it gets displaced faster than the thicker wrek jars seal would. I haven't found anything definitive on if this is the best approach, but my shredded tobacco is in a ziploc inside of a wrek jar.

 

[deluxestogie]

Storage Jar for a Large Batch of Pipe Blend

Nearly six years after purchasing these jars, and using them regularly for pipe blends, they are still as good as new. Good investment.

Bob