Pine Pitch Preservation?

[RedBear1313]

Hey guys, after you've gone through all that trouble to collect yourself a bunch of pitch, how do you guys preserve it?

Anyone know the best way to store it long term if you don't have an immediate use for it?

I have some in some mason jars but what about temp? climate?

somewhere warm? cold?

I thought about the fridge but I wonder if that will make it rigid and unusable over a long enough period of time?

keep it in its natural state or render it down and clean out the debris before you store it?

[bowtarist]

I'd say your last sentence would be the best idea. It can be kept in its natural state as well. IMO, dp

[Dharma]

I collect pinyon pine sap here in Arizona. It'll keep in its natural state for years once it dries. The best way to get it is find the dried "tears" that collect at the bottom of the tree. This is the way Beduoins collect frankincense and myrrh. If you get the viscous sap, you have to spread it out on canvas and let is sun dry. Once it's dried, you can keep it in a mason jar or bucket with a lid.

[TacticalFate]

If you want to keep it gooey, put it in a plastic bag. Otherwise just put it in any container, my favorite is big plastic cups

[lostarrow]

 Pine pitch is the ultimate preservative. You don't need to do anything to it except use it before it turns to stone (amber) Shelf life of several thousand years. Make it into glue sticks , or just leave it as is . Even when it crystalizes you just heat it up and it goes all gooey again. I heat  it with a heat gun ,on a piece of tinfoil. the tinfoil also has some crushed black charcoal (powder it with no lumps.) Once it gets soft ,stir it together with a popsicle stick. As it cools ,start to collect it onto the stick . It will reach a point where it magically cools and comes of the foil absolutely clean.  Some like to add bees wax to make it softer. Use the dull side of the foil. It's the non stick side. Always keep a fire extinguisher on hand or do it out side . it can be flammable , though I've never had this problem.

[RedBear1313]

I used a bit of what I had to make string wax.

used a tiny amount of lard so I could melt the pitch and clean the debris out before I added the beeswax.

did it in a barbecue smokebox I bought at wal mart, perfect for that kind of stuff.

after it cooled it shrunk down enough it popped out of the smokebox nice and clean.