OK, very simple essential issue here. How long can snus be stored: at room temperature, in a refridgerator(sp?), in a freezer? Should one put snus in a different container (glass, airtight plastic such as Tupperware etc, or perhaps simply putting each tin in a ziplock baggie? Perhaps vacuum sealing? I think this kind of info could be helpfull to many, but yes I have a personal issue here as well. Long story short, I had put many tins in my refridgerator and due to a mild but annoying oral injury I had to lay off of the snus, the cigars and the pipes for several months (a bummer!). Anyways now I wonder how good would it be to try using it now. I mean this load of snus cost me a lot of money, and I don’t like to be wasteful anyways, however I don’t know if I should just try some or not- because of at least one issue, the way that it’s produced so I hear leaves the product potentially vulnerable to bacteria or  mold or such. Should I worry just about the taste and potency- or should I be wary about microbial concerns etc? This seems so much trickier than dealing with the keeping of nasal snuff, pipe tobaccos and cigars! Also I would be simply curious about how some of you folk keep, carry and use the Swedish snuses. Any replies would be appreciated!

Post this up on the snuson forum!

thank’s Ansel, I just did a search before posting and nothing popped up. I’ll try to figure out how to copy and paste this whole entry if possible…

@Mr. O … you can post/search this up on snuscentral.org as well … but basically, room temp - a few days to a week.  Whenever possible, keep refrigerated.  You have a “best before” date on the bottom of the can … before that date, fridge is fine … but in general, when i get an order, i immediately place the cans in a Vacuum bag, usually 2 rolls per vac bag, remove the air, seal, then toss in freezer for, depends on who you ask, some say indefinitely, but really, up to a year or so … for freezer storage.  

when i am ready to open another can - i grab one of the freezer bags, open, then reseal, placing the can in the fridge for use.  only when i am out and about or at the office, is the current can i am using not in the fridge.  when i get home, back in the fridge.

i will say, if the rolls of unused snus you have were in the fridge, should be good for use.  your concern is a couple of things — there is potential for bacterial growth with moisture, but the main concern for raising the levels of tobacco specific nitrosamines(TSNA’s) … but nothing like to the levels of cigarettes.  It is considered a food product in Sweden, or treated as such, so controlled environment is optimal.  Fridge should be ok though — and for the extras, go ahead and seal and place them in freezer.  i think you will be fine.   there are smarter folks than me both here and elsewhere that can elaborate as well.

i go through a can in 2 - 3 days, so in reality, i could leave it out in room temp during that time, but prefer not to.  hope that helps.

Vacuum packed in the freezer it will keep for many years. so far just sealed in a bag and in the freezer seems good for years. I just pulled a roll of Pall Mall snus out from June 2009, and they are perfect. I do mean perfect, same damn taste as new. My freezer is a chest and kept at -12.

Thank’s folks! I perhaps should bring up another factor, do to my “eclectic nature”, impatience, and plain old curiosity. I end up having at least a few open cans at a time, so these are typically sitting in the fridge simultaneosly(sp?) and therefore for a longer time, and with broken seals. Oh and also, since I don’t quite yet know my favorites, I have always bought a selection of single cans- never by the roll- so they’re also missing the outer wrap found on the outside of intact rolls. If my local shop had a better selection, I wouldn’t buy in bulk through the mail, and could get that wide selection, which I drool over.

 I wonder if I can get away from the daily ciggies now!

Open cans you are not going to use soon, I would suggest keeping them in a ziploc type bag in your fridge. If the seal isn’t broken you should be fine for 2-3 months without the bag.

Ok, I guess I bagged a fair number of them, mostly I think those in the cardboard cans. Guess I’ll just have to try out a bunch and see which pasta still sticks to the wall, if you will. Aaaargh… Hope not too much was wasted. Also, has the shipping from Sweden really gone up a lot since last year?  And does anybody have any suggestions for some to try? I’m pretty much sticking with portions for now, and I seem to like most of General’s offerings. I’d try most anything with an average to high potency. At any rate thank’s for your input people!

Try the Lab Series stuff. 02, 05, 06, General Long sterk… Thunder Original, Odens Extreme. If you want to get crazy try Grov Svart and General Strong White.

Shipping went up due to the PACT act forcing us to use UPS. UPS charges a lot more than USPS/Swedish Post.

I make big snus orders and the price of shipping has gone up minimaly but is worth it to get it in three days over having to wait a week or longer. Plus it’s nice to get snus that is fresher then when it’s shipped from sweeden.

Thank’s for the suggestions bigmick! I had some long portions from General, and I think one of the Thunder’s. I’ll have to get some of the others when I order…

Bob, where are you ordering from where the stock isn’t coming from Sweden? I’m wondering about that because it originates from there anywhere, and if you’re getting from  a US warehouse isn’t it taking a longer trip and/or potentially sitting longer in the US warehouse because I would guess the turnover rate is faster in a Swedish warehouse/shipping center. I just ask because somebody should try to figure out for sure how to get the freshest stock for sure. Anyways the last, (and first) time mail ordering was from snuscentral, as they appeared (to my inexperienced eyes) to be one of the best places to deal with.

Also I wonder if after doing the math, does it really pay(shipping rate wise) to place many fewer, but larger orders, or are the savings minimal?

My orders from Sweden arrive in 3 days from shipment. If ordered on a business day it ships next day at the latest.

Like Whalen, I have snus bagged and frozen for years that still tastes great and has a nice nic hit.
Right now I’m using a can of Onyx from 2009.
I usually take a can out of the freezer and let it spend a day in the fridge slow thawing before I open and use it.
Works great for me…

Thank’s for the info! Also I would assume to keep said can in a ziplock bag while thawing to retain the moisture level right? I think I’m getting the basic protocol down here. What about those metal snus cans (from icetool?) are they just accessories, or do they actually have some kind of better seal or something to protect the snus? So I suppose I’ll just go back to snuscentral and try somehting new as well as some more general mint etc.

@Mr.O no need to baggie a thawing can. It’s still sealed and won’t lose any noticeable amount of moisture.Heck my favorite thing is to take one portion from a can as I pull it from the freezer.

 Icetool cans are mostly an accessory. The new slim cans do have an O-ring seal that does seem to help slow moisture loss, but I’ve never had snus in one more than 2-3 days, so can’t speak to long term storage. Open snus just doesn’t last that long in my pocket. Although the Icetool cans do add 20 points to your snus cool factor.

Also keep the snus off of your person…if possible. A can of snus will dry much faster in your trouser pocket than if you place it on your belt in a holder or on the desk top.

@ Mr.O

The Ice Tool cans are excellent for snus storage. I kept my ice tool can in a leather holder on my belt. Worked great!

That’s good to know! It’s good if I can justify buying one as they do look rather neat! Guess it’s ok, I’ve spent more than that on pipes right? So they are really sturdy right? I mean if I did happen to have one in my back pocket for some length of time, for some reason or other, and it got sat on millions of times,  or if it was to be stepped on etc. it would remain rather intact right? I hope? Also what about the icetool prismakers, especially the stainless steel models, I’d choose steel over aluminum 99% of the time. Also are there any reccomendations for someone who really likes peppermint a lot, wintergreen sometimes, and spearmint very seldom. I also am drawn to the Catch eucalyptus although they’re probably a bit smaller than I would prefer. Or perhaps the Thunder Raw Frost~ which sounds promising. As always thank’s for your feedback!

Thank’s Micheltn! Hey, folks, what about the products like Catch Dry? Does it’s moisture level affect it’s shelf-life? I wonder if one could use some sort of strong alchohol (strong whiskey, everclear, 151 rum, vodka…) as a preservative for snus, like in a glass jar, with just enough alchohol to treat the product. Ok there would be some limiting factors with this, I’m just airing out an idea, but for example, some premium soy sauces use alchohol as a preservative instead of sodium benzoate(sp?) etc… thank’s for listening

@Mr.O

I’d probably not recommend adding any liquid to your snus unless you are really hard up for it. Snus is kept moist by using glycerin and water during the manufacturing stage. If you add alcohol to your tobacco you may end up with a mess but feel free to experiment and see what happens. Also if you add too much alcohol you will end up making a tobacco tincture, but you’d have to add a lot and that would be obvious.

In the past, I would order my snus from the Northerner, it would take 2-3 weeks to arrive from Sweden and clear customs, I would order 10 cans at a time. All my snus would arrive with excellent moisture levels and I would store the unopened cans in the freezer. They would stay excellent for 10 -12 weeks as I would go through them. The one thing that made the most difference to an opened can was to keep it away from heat, including your own body heat!

The icetools and cans are made from Finnish Steel which is some of the best steel in the world. I’ve had my can for so long that the ones they offer now are a different style, but aside from a poorly designed hinge pin which I fixed easily ( my  can has a used portion space on the top, the new ones do not I believe.) the can has held up perfectly for a long time now. I’d have no hesitation in buying any icetool products, they are excellent and worth the price.

Thank’s for the input! It looked to me like the currently available models were aluminum, which made me skeptical to purchase- maybe I need to shop for one from different sources. A steel model would make for a more likely purchase…

@Mr O , they are made with really good aluminum. Thick and fairly heavy. You won’t damage it in the normal course of events.

Good to know! What about that, I want to say it’s something like the “bullet stopper” from General. But I’ll probably go with the Icetool if I get one. I’d think it (including the snus) would be ok in the pocket of my overshirt- can’t think of a milder temperature area on my person… Anybody here use the loose snus? I’ve got some, but haven’t attempted it yet. I just wonder if the icetools work any better than my plastic “prismaster”. Figured not to buy a nice one until I see how well I can get the loose snus to be managable for me. But you can save some money going with the loose it seems, right?

That video is charmingly banal. I thought the kid was going to take some, which would have fit in with the times.

The General “Bullet-Proof” can is a huge heavy monstrosity that is good for holding portions for few days, or a paper weight. Very cool, but to much to carry in a pocket daily.
The prismaster is to the Icetool what Bic lighters are to Zippos. Both get the job done. The Prismaster is fussy about being clean and the pris it makes are large and for some people require some extra fiddling. I always advise buying a prismaster first or learning to handbake, until you KNOW that lös is for you, then you can invest in an Icetool.( I prefer the aluminum Icetools, 3ml or 4ml sizes.)

just hand bake it. It’s pretty easy to do loose snus. I pinch alittle more then I want pull off the rest. Then gently shape the pinch. Most people press too hard. For practice start the pinch with the prismaster dump it out into your hand then perfect the pinch. It’s way easier then it seems like it would be. Why go with hand made over tool assisted? Cause you can get a better pinch that holds up longer.

I think it lasts longer than is usually stated, just left out in the air. As a Brit I can only be arsed to buy snus/dip or chew now and again, and as a not too fussy and infrequent user I just leave the packet out for weeks sometimes, espcially if I am using a couple or three and the flavour gets better when its been in the air a touch. It wasn’t sold, used or enjoyed centuries ago because it was foil wrapped and x-rayed but because it was good and hit the spot. Let it breathe a touch.

Thank’s for your input people! I think I’ll probably just get the Icetool can one of these months, and leave it at that for a while. But I’m a sucker for nice accessories, so who knows…

I finally splurged on a fancy red Icetool can and I have enjoyed it for about 6 months now. I find it quite nice and handy.

Cool! Just might have to pick one up!