Yet Another Mylar Bag Thread w/Pics!

[shanez]

Just for those that are curious:

Here's what $65 gets you:

A bx delivered with 100 8'x12" 5mil bags and 100 500cc oxy absorbers:



The bags can be written on nicely with a sharpie and it doesn't smear when dry (only takes a couple seconds to dry) and I use the sealer on my 15 year old foodsaver V3480:



I do double seal the bags (no vacuuming) although I don't think this is necessary. Drop in a oxy absorber which I also don't think is necessary but I do it anyway. 10-15 minutes later and I have several pounds of tobacco ready to be put in a plastic tote for storage:



For those that want to vacuum seal but don't want to purchase an expensive sealer the embossed bags (from Discount Mylar Bags) do vacuum in an ordinary foodsaver brand sealer. Here's a pound of Esoterica in the original bags vacuumed sealed in the mylar bag:



I only did the vacuum seal for demonstration purposes as I don't think it necessary although it might save some space.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Why would you drop in an oxygen absorber? Isn't oxygen a necessary ingredient in the adding process? Do you think a few cubic inches of air that's sealed in the bag is going to dry out the tobacco?

 

[BROBS]

he throws one in on the outside with sealed tins and bags.

 

[shanez]

Yes. I'm sealing factory sealed bags and tins. The oxy absorber really only removes air from the mylar bag outside the factory tins/bags. This, as I said, is probably unnecessary but it does help remove wasted space from within the bag without the pressure of vacuum sealing so I'll probably keep doing it this way.

I get zero tobacco smell from my cellar since I started putting everything in mylar bags. 7 mil bags would probably be even better but they won't work with my existing foodsaver machine.

 

[BROBS]

man for the cost I just jar my stuff and leave tins unopened.
Maybe I should try it.. but for one I don't want my cellar to look like the back room of a balloon shop.

 

[logs]

Very nice job; I'm sure it works great. I just wish mylar bags were transparent. I find them incredibly ugly and makes everything look like an MRE. But jars are ugly too, so what can you do?

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I have a buddy who processes my deer for me, and he uses these bags. The first year he did this for me, I had no idea what was going to be in each bag, because he didn't label any of them. Each meal all that year was like an episode of "Chopped." Oh look, tonight we will eat.... neckbone!!

 

[3rdguy]

I have processed deer with a friend. About every 5th bag I write raccoon, possum etc.

I do like seeing through the bag myself if a problem arises, seeing the tobacco darken...wondering why I have too much time on my hands...etc.

 

[SpookedPiper]

Thanks for the update and pictures. I smell tobacco in my cellar but can't find the culprit, so a mass mylaring is coming!

 

[burleyboy]

Now you are prepared for the times when tobacco will be an illigal substance. The DEA’s sniffing dog’s will have a bad time finding your cellar.

 

[cigrmaster]

I would rather stick an ice pick in my ear than go through all that. All these years I have never had a tin or a glass jar fail.
Ten years from now they will discover that all the mylar bags ever made were in a plastic factory in Chernobyl and it is all contaminated. Don't say I didn't warn you.

 

[crashthegrey]

This is definitely a cool idea.

 

[litup]

I started using mylar bags like this primarily for my Esoterica bags and for some of the other packages that don't make for good long term storage like Sam Gawith 250 gram boxes or the 100 gram tins of Solani. I'm happy to report that it did stop my cellar from smelling like tobacco.

I agree with other comments that it's a lot of work and not necessarily a better option than jarring tins or leaving the tins as they are.

 

[shanez]

I don't really see mylar as better or worse than jars. I think it's a matter of preference. I like that the bags weigh far less, are easier to store, and don't break when you drop them. OTOH, once you open a bag it's trash at that point. The jars might even last longer too.

The above is 6.25 Lbs of tobacco done in 10-15 minutes and will last who knows how long in the cellar so I don't mind the effort. It works out to roughly $1/Lb of tobacco for this storage. I posted this for those who are interested in/curious about mylar bag storage (vs jars). Those that have a pantry/closet/basement shelf for storing jars, well that's a thing of beauty. I don't. My bags are in plastic totes:





The bags take/keep the sharpie writing incredibly well which was one of my concerns when I first started doing this.

You can see in the above pics how the oxy absorbers have pulled the bags just a bit tighter and made more room. I was able to fit a few extra bags per tote once they had done their thing.