Vacuum Sealing :: Pipe Tobacco Discussion (2024)

I pretty much have read exclusively about jarring tobacco for aging. Have I somehow missed conversations about vacuum sealing it? On the surface it would seem effective and allow you to access the tobacco in smaller quantities during the aging process vs opening a jar and having to begin the process once again. What am I missing?

I'm pretty sure some folks here use a vacuum sealer and mylar bags for storing. Didn't Peck bag up his Strang? That said, I think jars are cheap, easy, clean, stack well and have a nostalgic feel to them. I wouldn't imagine that either is better for the aging process.

The reason you don't hear about people vacuum sealing tobacco in order to age it is the fact that the removal of the air actually hinders the aging process the tobacco actually needs the air in order to properly age

Yes, you can vacuum seal but it will not allow the tobacco to change with aging since you are removing the oxygen that the aerobic organisms need to turn the blend into something truly special. I personally would only ever consider vacuum storing aromatics.

Understood! Thank you for the responses!

By the time pipe tobacco reaches the customer, it is already years old and has undergone a good bit of aerobic fermentation, or whatever changes occur in the presence of oxygen. What happens when you seal up a tin or jar is that eventually the oxygen gets used up by the bacteria causing the aerobic fermentation, resulting in an anaerobic atmosphere, and the aerobic bacteria cease to function. Then the anaerobic bacteria (or enzymes...I don't know) kick in. This is what happens when you age a sealed tin or jar of tobacco.
So, yes, vacuum sealing is a good idea if you want to induce anaerobic fermentation. Better yet, flush the tobacco and container with CO2 before sealing it, and you'll be off to the races.

Tobacco is rarely years old when it reaches the customer. Air is needed to start the aging process so vacuum sealing is not a good idea. Plastic bags that are normally used with vacuum sealing will allow gases to escape so don't use plastic bags for any kind of long term storage.

When I saw Sparks and Woods first discussing mylar bags on here, I was skeptical. It wasn't in the forum common knowledge yet, but after looking around and talking to others that keep their own cellars, I think it's a valid and safe way to age your hoard. Esoterica uses them. I would just not vacuum seal them, unless you don't want the effects of aging.

Me personally... I have a whole barn of jars, tens of thousands, so I won't be buying into a new method. My granddad used to buy up estate jar collections as the folks died off that were into living the canning lifestyle. So, I've inherited a lifetime supply. But, mylar is an industrially accepted method. I wouldn't negate it. I would just point out to folks not to confuse mylar with plastic ziplocks.

I'm going to buy some bulk My mix 965 and Luxury bull's-eye flake and those bags look like the ticket to me. You can seal them up date them and put them in a box in the to of your closet and forget about them for a few years. I might do this with some of that Escudo that's been on sale just seal the tin and all in the bag incase over the years the seal on the tin gets popped or lets go. That's go me excited about getting more bulk from my local B&M.

Keep in mind that (to my knowledge) there aren't any published scientific studies on aging pipe tobacco. And certainly no studies on what happens to tobacco in a sealed tin. There are some good studies on aging cigar tobacco, but they do not shed any light on what goes on with pipe tobacco after tinning.
What biological or chemical processes are going on? What atmospheric changes occur inside the tin? Over what period of time? How do these processes effect flavor? Which of these processes have the greatest impact on flavor? What role, if any, do the various insecticides/herbicides/fungicides/humectants/casings/toppings used in tobacco cultivation and processing play in the aging process?
There is anecdotal evidence that the most profound and preferred flavor changes to pipe tobacco occur under an anaerobic atmosphere. But without some studies that actually measure gas content in the sealed container containing aging pipe tobacco, we don't even know if that is true.

I don't understand why anaerobic fermentation doesn't work and that aerobic fermentation is the only thing that works. Seems to me they both work or my vacuum sealed tins wouldn't age at all which isn't true because every time I open one it proves that it works.

Yeah I'm not certain I'm understanding either. I was just gifted an 8oz bag of Penzance. How does it come? Vacuum sealed. Anyone who's aged it in its bag has done so vacuum sealed. I think it ages in the absence of oxygen...? What am I missing?

There is only a slight vacuum used to seal the tins so there is still some air left in it to aid aerobic fermentation which after the oxygen is used up can then allow anaerobic fermentation to begin. Or so some such as Mr. Pease contend.

Those bags don't pffffft... like vacuum sealed coffee does when you cut the bag. The vacuum sealers that I've seen at the stores will suck it out good.

There is only a slight vacuum used to seal the tins so there is still some air left in it to aid aerobic fermentation which after the oxygen is used up can then allow anaerobic fermentation to begin.

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Correct. Except that some tins aren't evacuated at all, like C&D and Sutliff (And McClelland?)
But the assumption is that the O2 remaining in the tin or bag is eventually used up by the aerobic bacteria, and then an anaerobic process begins. But we don't know if that's really what happens. Or, if it is what's happening, how long it takes for that O2 to be consumed and for the anaerobic process to begin.
If I ever win the lottery, I will do the necessary research. Until then, keep on guessing.

These 8oz packs of Esoterica are SERIOUSLY vacuum sealed. There isn't a single bit of air in there. None. If this was a bad thing for aging why'd they do it?

This discussion will not change my behavior one iota. I will continue to enjoy my tobacco in any and all means of transport and storage.

We're not trying to change you mustanggt. That is something that you will have to do for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns6OAytgKwc​

Yep, just do what you want. It's your money. Put it all in tupperware for all I care. :wink:

If this was a bad thing for aging why'd they do it?

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but, if I am not mistaken, your question was already answered on here. It does not have all of the air removed. I have a pile of those bags, and when I open them, they do not "phhhht" like coffee does. And, as described by one of the tobacconists, when those tins are tinned, they had some air in them, but they air gets used up as the magic bugs use it up to establish the perfect environment for aging. But, the initial air was required, according to smarter people than me.

When I put my tobacco in jars, there is no seal directly after I cap them, but given a few weeks... "ting" the air is used up and a vacuum is formed.

Is it ok to remove it all in the beginning?

Should you do exactly what I am doing? No way. Try vacuum sealing a couple of hundred bucks worth of your own tobaccos and report back in a few years.

Me, I can't afford risks like that, but I will anticipate your report.