Hi Everyone, I have a question regarding snuff and humidors that I was wondering if anyone has had experience with. I know cigars are supposed to be stored at around 65-70RH and around 70F or a little less. Pipe tobacco on the other hand would become much too moist at this humidity and is better stored just in an airtight mason jar. Temperature is also not as much of an issue as long as you don’t go too extreme in either direction. Snuff I have less experience with but I feel that it is not quite as sensitive to humidity and temperature as cigars are, but more so than pipe tobacco is. Also, some snuff I store in amber glass jars, while smaller portions of what I am currently using are stored in snuff boxes, smash boxes, smaller factory tins, etc. I was wondering if there would be any negative effects of storing all my snuff in a humidor. It won’t matter so much for the stuff in the glass jars, but would help keep the not-so-air-tight containers more fresh I would think. However, different snuffs have different moisture levels and I was wondering if the typical cigar humidity of 65RH would be too much for the snuff and make it too moist? Also, is there an ideal temperature I should be storing it at (like ~<70F like for cigars), or is any reasonable room temperature ok? I live in the desert so it is bone dry here and can get to around 80F or a little higher here in the house in the summer. Thanks for any help!
i think storing in a humidor might affect the scents a little, due to cross scenting and the smell of the humidor. i think refrigerating snuffs in airtight jars does the trick, putting tins in small ziplock bags (not different scents in same bag).
I would imagine that it will be different strokes for different folks, but I store artisans in the fridge in their original tins and everything else at room temperature in a drawer or closet. I decant anything over 50g into glass jars after opening. I want to believe that most manufacturers package their snuff with moisture, temperature, humidity, etc… in mind, and are designed to store well within normal controlled ranges. I would say that as long as your house is normally between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, your snuff should be okay without any added controls. I have seen other comments about this topic where people preferred to store their snuffs in a cooler. I assume that’s to create a small airtight environment that keeps the moisture levels as close to original production as possible. Although, I haven’t heard of anyone throwing in a bag of humidity beads like you would when storing boxes of cigars in a cooler.
be careful with fridges and freezers- pack in airtight containers. Jims post assuming the cooler thing is about being airtight reminded me, many fridges/freezers have anti-frost mechanisms that extract moisture i believe.
Thanks guys, but for snuffs not stored in air-tight containers would 65% RH be too much? I can even imagine filling up a bunch of smash boxes and putting them all in one of those little travel humidors when I go on vacation and things like that.
I live in a very dry climate and keep most of my snuff in cigar humidors and try to raise the humidity to at least 40% since room humidity here is usually way lower than that.
be careful with fridges and freezers- pack in airtight containers. Jims post assuming the cooler thing is about being airtight reminded me, many fridges/freezers have anti-frost mechanisms that extract moisture i believe.
You make me worry now but, at the same time my mini fridge I keep my snuff and, beer in is terrible at keeping humidity out. The little freezer box they put in it likes to turn into a huge block of ice.
Thanks @snuffysmiff. I went ahead and ordered a little Xikar travel humidor and some 65% Heartfelt beads. I will put my snuffboxes and other non-airtight in-use snuff containers inside and see how it does.
I’ve been keeping my snuff in a wine fridge at about 18 degrees Celsius.
I used to keep every thing in the fridge, now I keep dry snuffs out in a large drawer, they are very rarely used, I imagine they will go bad, but have had some in a wooden box for months now, and I leave it in the bathroom. I find it the same sweet cherry every time I take a pinch. Some flavors probably do better than others, it seems like it would take years to ruin. There was not enough room in the refrigerator. The moist tobaccos I have stay in the fridge. While a lot of people on this forum say that they are dehumidifiers and that they some how dehumidify things is incorrect. There is no information on the internet that states that fridges dehumidify, its just not there. So there is apparently some theorizing going on. Fact remains that temperatures in general can draw out moisture in say, bread… Because. The settling of the second starch takes up to a week. As this starch changes, the texture of the bread shifts from soft to hard, or, as we call it, stale. Although stale bread has a dried-out appearance, loss of moisture is not the complete explanation–a loaf will turn stale even in a well-sealed, unopened package. Time and temperature, it turns out, are the key. Refrigerator temperature (40 degrees Fahrenheit) causes the second starch to settle faster. That makes storing bread via refrigeration a mixed blessing. Your bread doesn’t get moldy because the cool temperature slows the growth of spoilage microorganisms, but the bread loses its softness and goes stale in about a day. In other words the humidity levels have nothing to do with your bread or other products drying out. But the ingredients. Keep all containers closed tight.
The temperature where I live (coastal city of Mumbai) of India is ranging from 24 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius in summers. Right now it is 24 degrees Celsius with humidity at around 70%. Can you experienced folks advise if I really need to store the original snuff boxes they come in, in airtight containers or whether just storing them in a cool dark place (like the cupboard) would do? And yeah, you can check up the weather in Mumbai. It’s pretty humid in the summers and rains. Asking this since I read somewhere that in a place like Florida it’s OK to just store snuff in their original boxes and no special storage is required. Considering the above, what is the best way I can store snuff considering I want to store for at least 3-4 years? Thanks in advance.
Sorry I might have have just posted this in this wrong discussion…
I only use a humidor rarely. I use it mainly due to my overly large snuff box, it takes around 3 days worth of snuff. Overnight after refilling I put the snuff box into the humidor to keep the moisture for the next couple of days. I usually use this tin when I have events or go out for a day or two, I mainly keep quite coarse and moist snuffs in it for a short period of time so 70% humidity seems to be fine for the job.