excess moisture in baccy jars

Just took a couple minutes to check on my stocks, rearrange some jars etc and I noticed a couple seem to have excessive moisture in them, as in the glass is steaming up. Just wondering if I should open them up for a while to bring the moisture down? I'm just worried about mold so looking for some input. I have about 8 jars total and there's only 3 I can tell that have this issue going on.
Picture isn't very clear but you can see the glass is slightly fogged up.

http://i734.photobucket.com/albums/w...mporary_27.jpg

What's the opinion on this? open it up for a while to let it dry out some?

I popped the lids open for the night and it didn't clear so I stirred the baccy up a bit and left the lid open, hopefully it clears. The tobacco doesn't seem to be overly moist so hopefully it'll go away.

I've only ever experienced this with large quantities of SG flakes. And even then, it was really really minimal.

What is the room temp where you are storing your tobacco?

Not certain on the room temp. It's in my office in the basement where it's always cool, I'll see if I can find a thermometer to toss in the room to find out

Can you wipe it off with a clean paper towel? Could it be fogging from the oils/components of the tobacco gathering on the surface? Kind of like how the inside of your windshield gets a film on it after time.

What Mark said - it might not be H2O. But if it is, yes, let it dry out a bit. Excess moisture will eventually turn into mold.

http://colsblog.com/wp-content/uploa.../07/notime.jpg

Air yer jars out a bit, and make sure yer tobacco is never in direct sunlight.

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Originally Posted by bluenoser

Just took a couple minutes to check on my stocks, rearrange some jars etc and I noticed a couple seem to have excessive moisture in them, as in the glass is steaming up. Just wondering if I should open them up for a while to bring the moisture down? I'm just worried about mold so looking for some input. I have about 8 jars total and there's only 3 I can tell that have this issue going on.
Picture isn't very clear but you can see the glass is slightly fogged up.

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Hi Blake,

What mixture is in the jars and how moist was it going in? Air in jars will take moisture out of the tobacco until it reaches rH stasis and if the tobacco was wet you I expect that it can cause condensation.

Following Brandon and Mark's comments; Is it near a heat source? Oil burner or washer/dryer? Was there other tobacco in the jars previously without cleaning (I've done this)?

If it was wet going in, dry all of it some, clean and dry the jar and put it back and see how it does. Of course you could just smoke it all real quick. :)

:pipe::pipe::pipe::pipe::pipe:

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Originally Posted by NeverBend

Hi Blake,

What mixture is in the jars and how moist was it going in? Air in jars will take moisture out of the tobacco until it reaches rH stasis and if the tobacco was wet you I expect that it can cause condensation.

Following Brandon and Mark's comments; Is it near a heat source? Oil burner or washer/dryer? Was there other tobacco in the jars previously without cleaning (I've done this)?

If it was wet going in, dry all of it some, clean and dry the jar and put it back and see how it does. Of course you could just smoke it all real quick. :)

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They're Carter Hall, Captain Black White and the "best of the rest" mix I got from Tobias. The captain black was a little moist when I put it in but no worse than any of my other tobaccos, the other 2 weren't very moist at all. They were all new jars, never used for anything before. Washed out and left to sit (open) for about a week before filling. My office in the basement is in a corner with no window, no heat source, just an unused room I store my hobby junk in (guitars, golf clubs etc...) no heat sources at all.

I've had them open now since about 10 pm last night and the "fog" hasn't dissipated at all. I wiped some with my finger and it almost does feel a bit oily, so maybe empty them out and give them a cleaning?

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Originally Posted by bluenoser

They're Carter Hall, Captain Black White and the "best of the rest" mix I got from Tobias. The captain black was a little moist when I put it in but no worse than any of my other tobaccos, the other 2 weren't very moist at all. They were all new jars, never used for anything before. Washed out and left to sit (open) for about a week before filling. My office in the basement is in a corner with no window, no heat source, just an unused room I store my hobby junk in (guitars, golf clubs etc...) no heat sources at all.

I've had them open now since about 10 pm last night and the "fog" hasn't dissipated at all. I wiped some with my finger and it almost does feel a bit oily, so maybe empty them out and give them a cleaning?

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How's the ambient rH (relative humidity) where you live? They're closed jars but basements can be moist and if you closed them there then the air inside the jars might have been moist.

On the surface it does sounds like heat, perhaps sunlight. Doesn't take much sunlight to cause some mist and there'll be more if the tobacco is moist and less ability to reabsorb it. I'll ruminate and see if I can think of anything else.

The basement's a little more humid than the rest of the house but its still pretty dry. We did have some water leaking in the other end of basement but my office was unaffected. The tobacco was jarred in the room and never leaves it. There's no window in the room and other than the couple minutes it takes me to either pick a cigar or pack a bowl the light's never on.

Correct me if I'm wrong or out of place, but when leaves,tobacco or otherwise ferment (compost) don't they generate a heat of their own?This heat would then release the moisture from the leaves thus creating the fog on the glass due to condensation.

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Originally Posted by Lostmason

Correct me if I'm wrong or out of place, but when leaves,tobacco or otherwise ferment (compost) don't they generate a heat of their own?This heat would then release the moisture from the leaves thus creating the fog on the glass due to condensation.

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Hi Matthew,

There, you're ruminating real well. Fermentation does indeed create heat. If not monitored and it gets too hot it can ruin the tobacco.

In theory, all tobacco will be fermented before processing and can't be re-fermented further but if some leaf was handled improperly??

I'd say that it's unlikely because there are several mixtures involved but it's darn good thinking on the subject.

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Originally Posted by bluenoser

I've had them open now since about 10 pm last night and the "fog" hasn't dissipated at all.

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This would leave me to believe that it's not just water condensation. Possibly PG?

it almost feels oily. I just re jarred them and cleaned the jars and my hand felt oily afterwards.

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Originally Posted by JustTroItIn

This would leave me to believe that it's not just water condensation. Possibly PG?

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Pipe noob here lol... what's pg?

Edit: Google to the rescue, propylene glycol

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Originally Posted by bluenoser

it almost feels oily. I just re jarred them and cleaned the jars and my hand felt oily afterwards.

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Blake, I assume that these are aromatics and that they are the infused essence. Not unusual for some to come off in the container but beading is (unusual). Some aromatic essence is oil based.
@JustTroItIn mentioned propylene glycol that binds with water until ~70% rH when the chemical bonds start to break down and they release moisture. If it's PG then your ambient air is real dry (like Arizona) or your baccy is real wet?

None of them feel all that wet, actually maybe a little dry after leaving them open for a day. The Captain black's an aro, and seemed to be the most fogged, then the other 2 were Carter hall and a random mix from Tobias (Neither aro, as far as I'm aware). Hopefully it's dealt with with the re-jarring, just was worried about it being moisture and molding but seems not the case. Thanks for the help guys. :pipe: