I just put my 200 gram tub of O&G into an air/water tight container and I have never bought in bulk before and i have never had a fresher more powerful hit of O&G before this one. I been missing out by buying the little tins because this 200 gram tub was so much better!
Well, I have not even opened mine at all! So when you get ready for some even fresher snuff!!! There is a certain irony-
I keep my tins in sandwich bags, seems to do the trick.
bish, you mean ziplocking ones, right? I really wouldn’t think and would be surprised if just a regular plain (unzippered) type would work I have some freezer-level zipper bags, quart pint and even gallon sized (I keep my 32 oz cans of NAS zipped in the gallon zippered ones) and sometimes use just regular (not freezer level) really small regular zippered (which I guess probably don’t provide much protection if at all but what the heck) to keep some toques in (they come in zippered bags and I just keep most of them in there, any spares are used same for any additional NTSU and Taxi etc tins)
Ziplock bags will not keep snuff for a long period of time. They are not really air tight. Only a solid container with a gasket will work for extended storage.
I picked up this 2CUP plastic container with a gasket to keep out water and air and it is the perfect size for my bulk orders and it keeps very well.
The smallest canning jars I’ve seen, 4 ounces, they are nice and cheap, rubber sealed on the lid, AND freezable for those who would like to store snus in the freezer or even snuff, if that’s your thing. Just a thought… Being glass, I would think they are less likely to hold a scent compared to plastic too, if you are reusing them for other varieties.
I see how glass containers with gasketed, air-tight lids would be a great way to store snuff for the longer term. I wonder about storing UNOPENED containers for the 6 month to 1 year timeframe. I have purchased some snuffs that probably aren’t appropriate for my skill level, but may be in some months. I realize it will depend on the specific container design and manufacturer, but in THAT scenario, would putting the unopened containers in ziplock bags be good for the 6-12 month timeframe? I have noticed that ziplock bags don’t do a great job on pipe tobaccos (but for me, neither do glass containers, unless they are full or have a source of moisture in them). I also wonder what you folks think of the vacuum bag systems. I am talking about those thick plastic bags coupled with a machine that sucks the air out of the bag and then heat-seals the opening. It obviously wouldn’t be good for anything you might want to use regularly, but what about as a method of ensuring that snuff (in original containers) stays extra-fresh for 6 months or a year (or two)? Any thoughts?
Vacuum bags should work fine because with a proper seal, they’re airtight. However, plastic is more porous than glass, so glass wins out for long term storage. Even if you vacuum seal it, molecules can still get through the material itself, so for longer storage, I don’t think vacuum bags would be appropriate. For a year or two, though, I think it should be fine.
Geraldo, I think if any of the higher level snuffs you are talking about come in ‘tap boxes’ those you will definately want to relocate to something more secure (and even at that when you do get to them consider that they may have already been spoiled before they even get to you and you might consider just re-buying them in a more stable form/bigger packaging anyway… see the "tap boxes are evil’ thread about this) if they’re 50g tubs like the Dholakia’s come in for example, they are dark containers, have screw tops, and I am trusting my 50g containers like this to be good enough for me/mine. Some people talk about putting electrical tape around things, and I haven’t done that yet, but I might for some things, especially when the huge order of 2 lb tubs (2 plain totalling 4 lbs and 1 sweet totalling 2 lbs) come in if they are in the ‘overgrown potato salad containers’ it looks like they might be, I really might try taping those shut
@Geraldo I’m thinking the vaccuum would surely suck out the snuff too as it makes it’s seal, or am I looking at it wrong? Other than the problem of being fragile, how can you go wrong with glass? Would you save a good wine in a plastic wine bottle?
@bart – if that’s just how good wine actually came pre-packaged from the wine manufacturer, I very well might. Since that’s how snuff comes so much of the time and its screw top lids etc on so much of it, I figure I have to have a little faith that (with the exception where it comes to evil tap boxes) that snuff makers know what they’re doing. EDITED to add – AND because I just simply don’t have the kind of storage needed or a place to put them if I did… I have literally 50 2 oz screw-top glass jars (because I purchased all 50 of them as an order online)… a few of them are getting use but there’s no way I could just use from nothing but them, would fill them up really fast and stll not have enough for all my snuff if I tried, and they are see through, letting sunlight hit them if I had them all on my desk where my snuff in their original canisters of about the same size sit all over my desk… I actually tried that, having all the glass jars out here with little white labels on them for these smaller 1.15 and 25g etc ones… but not only was it bugging me to have the sun shining right on my snuffs, I couldn’t very well tell what was what, and yes, it was an accident waitng to happen… I recanted all the snuffs back where they started and I am saving my little jars for when I come across something (or grind something on my own) that has no container at all.
@Bart - I was thinking of sealing unopened snuff boxes in vacuum packing, not trying to put snuff into the plastic bag itself. I have purchased a LOT of little boxes of snuff (essentially samples, mostly 10 g tins and fliptops), and now commentary about shelf life here is starting to concern me… @whistlrr - thanks for your thoughts. Yes, all tap boxes of various designs. I will check out the “tap boxes are evil” thread - thanks for that! And in the same vein as zip lock bags, I can say with certainty that electrical tape is gas-permeable (even when it is waterproof - it isn’t, just “resistant”) so it should slow down air ingress but won’t stop it either. Of course, each layer of tape makes it MORE resistant to air movement. At my last job, we used a silicone tape to airproof certain things when we found electrical tape did allow air in. Believe it or not, silicone caulking when properly applied can be air-proof (or at least, can hold a vacuum) as can silicone grease. In a pinch, we found Crisco also was a great air barrier, but very messy. @shikitono - thanks for your view. Yes, I was just thinking about the 6-12 month timeframe. Maybe I will have to give some thought to a convenient way to use airtight glass containers for these little packages. In the meantime, I will dig my vacuum sealing device out from the back of the cabinet and shop around for more plastic for it…as I do remember it was kinda fun to vacuum seal stuff. The bags are a LOT thicker than ziplock bags, but of course they are still permeable. I just wasn’t really up to decant 30 different 10 g tins into 30 tiny little jars, and then back again for use…
@Geraldo I understand now. whistlrr @bart – if that’s just how good wine actually came pre-packaged from the wine manufacturer But wine DOES come in glass because I would think it is more neutral in it’s affect on the wine and wine can be aged in the bottles. Not many nice wine cellars are aging their wine in cardboard and plastic lined wine boxes. That vintage is reserved for the date to the drive-in. Metal would be a close second. I do have some in plastic right now,but it’s temporary. Maybe one of the manufacturers could chime in, but I would think they do their mixing in large tubs not made of plastic (unless they are continually used for JUST that scent). I’m betting on stainless or stone. I’m not sure, really.
@bart – but Snuff comes in metal, plastic and in some cases, even cardboard why are there no snuffs that comes in glass containers? (I’m sure somebody’s going to pipe up and mention some rare thing most of us have never even heard of and also can’t possibly get, or some snuff that came that way 100 years ago – but before you do – know and remember I’m asking abut the current and well known snuffs we have available now and that we’re each buying and then discussing all over this forum) Go to where the wine is in any store, its all in glass, even the lowly (mad dog 200/20 and the Boone’s Farm etc) but go to any snuff shelf or see them all online and all the snuffs are in plastic, metal (or in the case of ‘the company formerly known as conwood’), flat out cardboard – why is that?
“Grimstone’s Eye” is the only snuff I know of that is currently available in glass decanters. Regardless, I guess the breakage issue may be the best reason folks got away from it, just like canned meat went that direction. Cost I’m sure didn’t help. ex bottled soda pop, glass to plastic. They all work I suppose. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. I won’t be moving my containers, so I’ll go with glass
Bernard Civette and Pariser are both currently sold in glass bottles and both available at Nicotine Rush and Mr. Snuff. These are the best non-bulk containers anywhere IMHO. Kownoer and Kostlich were available this way not too long ago. Some German shops still have them. I’d wish Bernard would go back to them. At least one German white snuff also come in glass. As for US snuffs the answer is simple. Plastic is cheaper than glass, especially when you factor in shipping weights to your costs. Up until the 1980s Levi Garret and Maccoboy were sold in glass bottles. They use cardboard for the dry snuffs becuase they expect that you will use it up in two or three days (orally). They don’t expect it to sit on store shelves for years (even though it does).
Glass containers with screwdown tops for storing bulk. Plastic Tupperware type airtight containers to hold my tins and boxes. That’s it for me. If snuff dries out a bit, I just add some water or…dump it. Snuff is cheap enough. Don’t worry so much about storing, just use the snuff before it gets stale. I’m slowly but surely moving towards the point where I will have all my favourite snuffs in bulk. I’m planning to keep no more than about 40 different ones, all in bulk.
That sounds similar to my plan, Pieter, except that Taxi and Ntsu don’t come in bulk and niether do many of my favorite Bernards.
I have some Levi Garrett in glass.