Classic tobaccos like jurak are one of my favorite indulgences, but I only ever keep a small amount of it on had at any time because it’s not very shelf stable. Mold has claimed many packages of Desi Murli and jurak in my stash and it hurts every time I have to toss it in the trash. This guide will detail my method for preventing mold and wasted tobacco. Modern tobacco is stable enough to not need this extra care.
The simplest way to prevent mold is with refrigeration. Throwing your classic tobacco into the fridge will prevent mold just like any food product that isn’t shelf stable. But, we can take it a step further by reducing the contact that the tobacco has with the air.
Packing the tobacco tightly into a solid container like the tubs that jurak often comes in is the first step. If you’re dealing with something like Nakhla Zaghloul that doesn’t have its own solid container then just throw it in a piece of Tupperware.
Next we press some plastic wrap into the surface to seal it off even further.
Lastly we seal the container up and throw it in the fridge. It’s as simple as that. It’s not going to completely prevent mold because there will still be small amounts of air that can allow mold to grow, but this should stave it off long enough to prevent wasted tobacco. If we really wanted to take it a step further we could purge the container with CO2 similar to storing wine, but that’s a little excessive.
Let me know if you think you’ll make use of this technique. Have you lost tobacco to mold before? Try this out and you’ll definitely save yourself some frustration.