mold/fungus in tobacco mason jars?
Eric
growing in them over time? I have some with tiny black dots no larger
than a period at the end of this sentence. There are also small bits
of tobacco stuck to the sides of the glass so I am unsure if it is
tiny bits or something growing...help?
NICHE541
I would take it to the microbiology department of a local college and
let them take a sample. There will be someone there that has the
credentials to analyze it.
John in the Indian Nations
Mike Stanley
Mold can certainly grow in mason jars of tobaco. I'm no biologist but
I don't believe you have mold there.Probably just tiny specks of
tobacco. If it is mold though, you can't do much about it and it will
grow! Mold is,in my thankfully, limited experience, greyish in color
and kind of "fuzzy" Of course there is such a thing as black mold. I
would imagine the tobacco stuck to the sides of the jar mean your
tobacco may be a little moist. Are these jars sealed in any manner
beyond just screwing the lid on? I have canned some tobacco and
actually have jars and more tobacco i want to "put up" this Sunday. I
boiled my jars and lids for around five minutes. You could just put
them in a dishwasher too.I held the jars with a towel and dried the
inside as well as I could with paper towels. Put the tobaco in and
closed the lids. You get a partial vacuum and I haven't had any mold.
I have to date only canned Virginia Flakes like BBF and FVF. I hope it
isn't mold. Good luck.
Mike Stanley
Michael K.
presents itself. That is, you KNOW when mold is present. That said, I
have had mold occur in my jars, but only in one - ~1.5 oz. of GLP
Mephisto. Don't know how it gets there, but it definitely is able.
.m
Terry McGinty
"Eric" <egeo...@satx.rr.com> wrote in message
news:270337de-e1d9-4ed0...@f19g2000yqo.googlegroups.com...
If it's mold you will know it when you smoke it; Not good! I doubt the
little black specks are mold, though I suppose it could be. Mold usually
appears as grayish fuzzies. On the other hand, virginia when it is aged for
some time may get tiny sugar crystals that are whitish gray but will glisten
in sunlight; that's good. If you see that glistening you know it's sugar
and not mold.
Jim Beard wrote in answer to a question on this many years ago, "Use a
strong magnifying glass. If you see little white (or green or variegated
color) hair-like rods with little balls on their ends, it definitely is
mold." I've never tried this but trust Jim's expertise.
Being one allergic to mold I'm diligent about sterilizing canning jars
before putting tobaccos in them. If The jars are taken out of the
dishwasher and tobacco is immediately put in and capped with rubber & metal
tops a slight vacuum is created. It works for me. I have McClelland's 5100
that have been in the jars for 8 years and they've aged just fine.
I suspect that the clinging to the sides of your jars was due to moisture on
the glass and when the jar was moved the tobacco clings to the sides. Terry
shakenbake
Just out of curiosity, what deos moldy tobacco smell and taste like?
I may have had a tin and not known it.
Mark McKay
soapy water with a little bleach...rinse them well...smell test them
before filling....of course he said air dry them....I got impatient
too....wiped them with paper towels....and the towels might have mold
spores...so far so good but its early...I think it might be rare...I
donno....long time cigar smoker...only had the dreaded bacco bettle one
time....good luck....:)
Mark McKay
moldy bacco....kinda the same thing as cheese and what is that other
moldy stuff????Yogert????.....:)
Joe
> On Apr 23, 5:35 pm, Eric <egeor...@satx.rr.com> wrote:
>> I keep my tobacco in mason jars in a closet. Do they get stuff
>> growing in them over time? I have some with tiny black dots no larger
>> than a period at the end of this sentence. There are also small bits
>> of tobacco stuck to the sides of the glass so I am unsure if it is
>> tiny bits or something growing...help?
>
> presents itself. That is, you KNOW when mold is present. That said, I
> have had mold occur in my jars, but only in one - ~1.5 oz. of GLP
> Mephisto. Don't know how it gets there, but it definitely is able.
It got there because Mold spores are, quite literally, everywhere.
They exist in pretty much every tin of tobacco you own. If you allow
the conditions to be "right" for mold, it will grow.
Especially when using glass jars, be absolutely sure to store them in
a cool, dry place, not even within earshot of direct sunlight.
--
Joe - Linux User #449481/Ubuntu User #19733
joe at hits - buffalo dot com
"Hate is baggage, life is too short to go around pissed off all the
time..." - Danny, American History X
Joe
No, smoking moldy tobacco is just a plain bad idea. It will taste
like shit and be dangerous for your health.
Eric
to worry about now...some of them have a slight haze on the glass too
but those seem to be the wetter ones...probably PG. By the way. most
of them have been sealed up for 3 years or so, and I didn't do
anything special when I canned them, but I will probably take your
advise for future cannings. Thanks again!
Going camping tommorow morning and I'm going to take a few of my
favorites with me that I hadn't opened in a long time.
Matteo in Italy
I've (luckily) never had moldy pipe tobacco. However, I have had a
batch of cigars go bad and infect my humidor. I've since sequestered
the offending cigars (By the time I got back from my trip that was
anything not in cellophane) in large bail-top jars.
I brushed the mold off with a rag upon removing them from the humidor,
and I brush them off again when I want to smoke one. I had to throw a
handful away because they were too far gone. There is usually a little
mold left in the foot of the cigar that I can't get, but I still smoke
em. The mold hasn't had a major recurrence but that's only because I
haven't humidified those offending cigars, so they are quite drier than
they should be. They still make decent yard smokes.
I travel to much to maintain my cigars... Pipes & pipe tobacco are so
much easier. But, lesson learned. I'd rather have mutiple humidors
with a few cigars each than risk (about 2 boxes) of cigars going bad.
Joe
Matteo, look into Heartfelt beads:
http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/default.asp
These are far better than using the old florist-foam based credo's
with PG and Water. I use the 65% RH beads for my extensive cigar
collection. It takes maintenance from a Pain to literally nothing. I
add a little water about once a month, the Humidity never strays from
65%.
They are worth every penny.
shakenbake
I inadvertently found out just last night that I did, indeed, had
either moldy or spoiled tobacco in one tin that I had opened. The
first can was rusty on the inside and outside, with a hole rusted
through. I opened another can of the same blend, for comparison, and
it was worlds apart from the previous can. The rusted one had very
dark tobacco, with the cut edges a graish whitish colour. The tin had
a very strong and pungent odour, almost like concentrated carnations.
But, it was not very pleasant to smoke. However, the second tin had
beautiful tobacco colours (for a VaPER plus other good weed), and the
scent of fine, aged tobacco. naturally, after my discocvery, I tossed
the contents of the first tin.
Live and learn! Mold can happen even in a tin.
Briarroot
>
> Just out of curiosity, what deos moldy tobacco smell and taste like?
> I may have had a tin and not known it.
>
Like nothing you'd ever want to smoke again - or smell, for that matter.
I can't describe it, it just smells *wrong* You'll know it when you
find it.
I've never had mold appear in a jar that I sealed myself. Over the
years though, I have cracked open a few tins and discovered mold - ugh!
Moisture is the culprit; mold won't usually grow on dry substances.
Never add moisture to tobacco you intend to store for long periods of
time. And keep those jars tightly sealed.
Regards,
Tim Parker ... Samuel Gawith: Scotch Flake in a Barling billiard
--
"Socialism, like the ancient ideas from which it springs, confuses the
distinction between government and society. As a result of this, every
time we object to a thing being done by government, the socialists
conclude that we object to its being done at all." - Frederic Bastiat
Matteo in Italy
cigars (Some over 8 years old!) due to lack of oversight.