I am a collector of sorts - meaning I buy more tobacco than I need. For those rainy days, just in case, in the event of … and so on. This means that I currently have 10 lbs of pipe tobacco stored, and more is on the way. What about snuff? Can it be stored for years and years, or is it one of those things that just need to be used while fresh? No doubt tobacco is getting more and more expensive, and if snuff really grabs me, I would like to stock up on the ones I like early on. Those drums don’t look too bad 
Yes, if stored in good conditions - airtight containers in a cool dark environment - much the same as wine. I have some thats nearly 30 years old that is still good and I recently traded some 1980 snuff that was specifically sold by Tranters in the 80’s as ‘vintage’. Also (to an extent) if it has dried out somewhat you can put moisture back in as you would with old pipe or RYO tobacco, although, for my taste, I always think that some part of the flavour or ‘nose’ is affected when you do this. The best approach is to never open the container and just leave well alone. Small tins will often slowly lose their integrity or even weld themselves shut over time and plastic flip tops are not truly airtight in any case. If you want to do this seriously, I recommend that you buy in bulk in half/full pound drums (1kg approx) and leave to mature. Most manufacturers would supply like this - I get 1/2 pound cannisters of Wilsons snuffs for this reason. Something else to bear in mind - small chemical changes occur when anything is aged, so some snuffs tend not to work out as well as others. I find the best for laying down are the more flavour rich varieties. As with all things involving taste, this is a very subjective area and I’m sure other members will disagree or have their own views.
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I had a feeling the same would apply for snuff as for pipe tobacco, so that’s great to know. I would prefer to keep the moisture level constant rather than add to it later. As you say, with drying, something more than just moisture disappears. I have only seen a couple of these drums you speak of. Do brands like Molens and F&T come in these sizes as well? With pipe tobacco, it’s actually the unflavored tobaccos that benefit the most from aging. The flavored ones become flat and boring. Interesting. Thank you for the feedback.
Wilsons of Sharrow make F&T so I imagine they would, they are pretty helpful via email on their website. Not sure about Molens but over the years Ive found that most companies are pretty customer focussed and happy to supply as required. Obviously, we all have different tastes. The 1980 vintage that I traded was a plain tobacco that I thought was very boring, but Roderick - who I traded with - really liked it.
Roderick, I live in southern Sweden - the home of IKEA I use bail top jars for all my pipe tobaccos and I’m sure it would work equally well with snuff. In fact I have written a small article about jarring tobacco ( http://slartie.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/put-that-in-your-jar-and-store-it/ ). I’d avoid opening the jars. If it’s an airtight seal, the moisture level should be constant. Fresh air will stop the aging process and only slowly restart. If snuff is anything like pipe tobacco, well aged snuff should be divine. The snuff tin with humidor crystals is actually a great idea. I come across some bone dry tobacco from time to time, and I usually rehydrate it with some moisture coins. The problem with those is that you either have to use a lot of them or change them fairly often before the tobacco has absorbed enough moisture to get its springy texture back. A tin full of crystals would just be what the doctor ordered. Thanks for that. Oh - Let me know if it would be possibly to get samples of each of the flavors you have (and of course what the price would be). They all sound delicious, but given the chance, I would start out with some small samples to figure out what I like best.
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Slartie, I find myself in almost the same situation. I have way more snuff than I could possibly go through within a year. Maybe even two. There are so many kinds I want to try. When I find one I like, I buy a lot of it. The way I store snuff that I’m not currently using is by using a vaccum food sealer. Just stick the snuff tins or boxes in the plastic bag, suck out the air, and seal it. Should keep it good for a looooong time. -Bill
That sounds like a very good system - I guess it would keep indefinately
Food quality bags. FoodSaver is the brand I use. You can also make the bags pretty much any size you want. The best part is that the scents don’t escape the bags. So none of the snuffs will ever ‘cross paths’. It’s a rather cheap method and it works. I’ll take some pics later to show as an example. If you buy a vaccum sealer, I should point out that it’s worth it to buy a better one. You really do get what you pay for with these. I spent about $95 on mine. But I mostly use it for food.
It has literally been years and years since I saw a vacuum sealer last. I like the idea a lot, though. If I happen to find some snuffs I like, that won’t come in drums I’ll have to keep an eye open for a vacuum sealer. Thanks for the tip.
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I have heard of using a potato or a piece of carrot. I imagine you could use a small sliver off a turnip or beet or any light scented veggie for that matter such as an immature zucchini thats still pretty solid?. But you also can add a drop of something like grapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil to the snuff, this I have tried and it does work. Also a bean with natural oils or moisture will help. Such as tonkin, vanilla or coffee bean. I have used things such as orange and apple peelings, flower petals, mint leaves etc. Even a small damp piece of sponge like the size of a peanut. You could moisten the sponge with just plain water or even oil mentioned earlier. Check out this old post “adding new life to snuff” Boy I sure would like to use that 1850 to do some of my mining. ;~) Are you pulling out iron ore down there?
slartie, here is another option. Here is a link I posted before on the Tightvac jars … watch the commercial.
I’m having the hardest time taking those TightVac jars seriously The price alone makes me think that a cheap vacuum sealer would be a better deal. That, and I have a ton of empty bail top jars.
I imagine one could create a strong partial vacuum by “canning” the snuff as one would do with jam. Put the covered snuff jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes then seal.
Actually, many vaccum sealers these days come with a feature that will vaccum jars too. No need to use the old “canning” method. Besides, that doesn’t work too well for dry goods. Remeber not to buy the cheapest sealer you can find. Trust me, you’ll regret it. Middle of the road works just fine.
does anyone use a pressure cooker and “can” there bulk snuff like a jar of jam? I figured long term this might be the best. I’m canning mine right now.
I don’t think canning snuff would be a very good idea. You’re not supposed to expose it to high temperatures if you can avoid it.
Maybe if you were to tap out the lid of a mason type jar and pull a vaccuum through a threaded nipple fitting on the top? I keep bulk in mason jars but have never thought about going to that extreme.
I think if you’re going to heat it and can it, you should also pickle it in boiling brine as well. It works well for my Jalapeno peppers. As a further precaution, I’d also put the can in a lead chest buried at least 6 feet under. No seriously, don’t heat the snuff! You could store it in a vacuum in the deep freeze if you were really concerned.