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How to Season or Condition a New Humidor

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Sourced from here>http://cigars.about.com/od/seasoning...s/0061702c.htm


Now that you have a new humidor, the first thing to do is to NOT put cigars inside. First and foremost, you must season or condition a new humidor before storing your beloved stogies. This is also true for an old humidor that hasn't been used in a while. The cedar inside of a humidor is part of the humidification system, and acts to provide humidity (and flavor) to the cigars, along with the humidification device. If the cedar has not been seasoned, then the wood will actually rob moisture from the cigars, and dry them out. This effect is the exact opposite of what you wanted when you purchased the humidor.

To season a humidor, all you need is some distilled water, a clean unscented sponge and some patience - at least for a few days. IMPORTANT - Do not use tap water in place of distilled water. Start by lightly dampening a clean sponge with distilled water, then lightly wipe down all the cedar wood inside of the humidor, including the inside lid and any dividers and/or trays. Be sure NOT to soak the cedar, you just want to rub it down lightly. Some people are opposed wiping down the humidor, however assuming you’re careful not to soak the cedar and cause it to warp, you’ll be fine. Again, just a light wipe down is all you need to do - this will give it a jumpstart in the seasoning / conditioning process.

Put the wet sponge on top of a piece of cellophane (or plastic bag) and place inside the humidor. Make sure that the sponge is not overly saturated, and not touching any wood.
NOTE: Some people opt for using a shot glass or small bowl. Fill it with distilled water, and place the shot glass (or small bowl) inside the humidor (below the tray if there is one). Be careful not to spill any water onto the Cedar, as it will damage the wood causing it to warp. What you’re doing is increasing the RH level substantially. Your new humidor is thirsty, and will soak up a lot of the water from the humidifier, therefore adding a shot glass of distilled water helps season the humidor faster. Fill your humidification device with either distilled water or a humidifying solution according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure that the device is not overly saturated by letting any excess water drip out (into a sink), then wipe off any drops of water on the outside of the humidification device, and place the device inside the humidor.

Now comes the hard part, (be patient with your humidor, a little work and persistence will reward you with perfectly aged and humidified cigars), close the humidor for 2 days and wait. The next day, repeat the wipe down procedure using distilled water and the sponge, but do not leave the sponge (or shot glass), inside this time, and wait another day.
NOTE: Do not unnecessarily open the lid, you will get best results by allowing your humidor to rest and allow the seasoning process to do its thing.

On the day after the second treatment, it should be safe to use the humidor as long as you cannot feel any dampness on the cedar. If so, then wait one more day before storing your cigars. If you have a hygrometer inside the humidor, ignore any higher-than-normal readings during the seasoning process. If your humidor is reading and holding steady at 70%, go ahead and start filling it up with cigars. Sometimes it’s best to gradually add cigars; for instance, start by adding only 25 cigars. Wait a day, and if your humidity is holding steady at around 70%, feel free to add more cigars. You don’t have to gradually add cigars, it is just a suggestion. However, if the humidity is lower than 72% on the day after the second treatment, then repeat the wipe down procedure for a third time (you may also need to test your hygrometer or recharge your humidification device).

That’s it! You’ve properly seasoned your new humidor. Having followed this guide will take a lot of the headache out of maintaining proper 70% humidity. Assuming you maintain your humidor and make sure the humidifier is always charged, and the humidity % has not dramatically dropped, you’ll never have to season the humidor again.

Some notes pertaining to humidity. Everyone has their own opinion on how much humidity you should maintain in your humidor. The general rule of thumb is 70%. Personally, I feel this is too humid, and doesn’t allow the cigars to burn properly. High humidity % also covers up some of the true flavors from the cigar; plus it can cause mold to grow. I like to keep my cigars at 65% humidity, as I have noticed they smoke best at this point and also burn evenly without constantly going out. The safe humidity range is 60%-70%. Experiment and see what works best for you. Dropping below 60% may cause your cigars to dry out; going above 70% WILL cause mold to grow.

The last point I’d like to touch upon is temperature and deciding where your humidor is going to live. Choose a location that has constant temperature (between 60F-75F is ideal), is away from drafts and out of direct sunlight. If the temp goes much higher than 75F, you’re at risk for tobacco beetles. Tobacco beetles like to lay eggs on tobacco leaf, and if your cigar has eggs in the tobacco, they may hatch at 80F +. If the eggs hatch, the beetles will eat your cigars, and you’ll be left with cigars that look like Swiss cheese. Aside from beetles being a threat, cigars prefer it at 75F or less; this will prevent them from becoming damaged.

That’s all there is to it and I hope you enjoy your new Humidor :laugh:

Christopher :c2:
 
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Very nice write up, I like it very much.

One tip some people do to prevent beatles is to freeze your cigars first. This causes the cells in the beatle eggs to rupture which kills the eggs. I've read that almost all tobacco has eggs and although I can't be sure of how true this is I've never read of someone having eggs hatch after employing the freezer method. Also, I've not noticed the freezer method altering the taste of cigars. I put mine in a ziplock freezer bag first then freeze them and this works pretty well.

Hope that helps.

Chris
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Very nice write up, I like it very much.

One tip some people do to prevent beatles is to freeze your cigars first. This causes the cells in the beatle eggs to rupture which kills the eggs. I've read that almost all tobacco has eggs and although I can't be sure of how true this is I've never read of someone having eggs hatch after employing the freezer method. Also, I've not noticed the freezer method altering the taste of cigars. I put mine in a ziplock freezer bag first then freeze them and this works pretty well.

Hope that helps.

Chris
Thanx for your input Chris :thumbup:

Christopher :badger:
 

captp

Pretty Pink Fairy Princess.
Count, that's pretty much exactly how I've conditioned almost all of my 15+ humis (only use one now, a Montegue end table). You say 60-70%. I think 60 is way to low. 65 is the lowest I can tolerate. I prefer much closer to 70, even a little over, maybe 72. No problems lighting or keeping them lit.
On bugs: ALL cigar tobacco has the bug eggs, no way to get rid of them. One company (forget which one) freezes their cigars prior to shipping to kill the eggs. If you see even one cigar with bug holes in it, take every one out, holes or not, zip lock or tuppeware them and freeze them for about 4-5 days, put them in the fridge for another day (slow defrost). This will kill all bugs, and prevent any eggs from ever hatching.
 

The Count of Merkur Cristo

B&B's Emperor of Emojis
Count, that's pretty much exactly how I've conditioned almost all of my 15+ humis (only use one now, a Montegue end table). You say 60-70%. I think 60 is way to low. 65 is the lowest I can tolerate. I prefer much closer to 70, even a little over, maybe 72. No problems lighting or keeping them lit.
On bugs: ALL cigar tobacco has the bug eggs, no way to get rid of them. One company (forget which one) freezes their cigars prior to shipping to kill the eggs. If you see even one cigar with bug holes in it, take every one out, holes or not, zip lock or tuppeware them and freeze them for about 4-5 days, put them in the fridge for another day (slow defrost). This will kill all bugs, and prevent any eggs from ever hatching.
captp:
Wow...:a47: 15+ Humidors...I should come over to your house and try to 'cabbage' some of your cigars. :hand:

Anyway...thanx for your support and thanx for sharing. :lol1:

Christopher
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"Cigar smoking knows no politics. It's about the pursuit of pleasure, taste, and aroma." Anonymous
 
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I bought a cheapo one off Amazon.

When I got it I took four of those Boveda 70% packs and put all my cigars and the packs in the humi. Any issue with this approach? The humidity seems to be pretty well constant at 70%. The original ones have dried up and I threw them out and replaced them. I buy four, open two and keep the others in cellophane until the two dry out.

I'm not storing anything over about $8 a pop and 99% of them are less than that. I keep them around mostly for guests as I generally smoke a pipe now.
 
I bought a cheapo one off Amazon.

When I got it I took four of those Boveda 70% packs and put all my cigars and the packs in the humi. Any issue with this approach? The humidity seems to be pretty well constant at 70%. The original ones have dried up and I threw them out and replaced them. I buy four, open two and keep the others in cellophane until the two dry out.

I'm not storing anything over about $8 a pop and 99% of them are less than that. I keep them around mostly for guests as I generally smoke a pipe now.

Do you mean that you throw out cigars and add new ones as they dry out, or the boveda packs? :confused1
 

captp

Pretty Pink Fairy Princess.
captp:
Wow...:a47: 15+ Humidors...I should come over to your house and try to 'cabbage' some of your cigars. :hand:[/I]

Not that I have HAD or anything like that:001_rolle. One day at lunchtime (when I still worked) I walked into the smoke shop. Sitting on the counter was a CAO LX2 humidor with 20-30 LX2 lanceros. They said it had just arrived about 15 minutes before I walked in. I took two steps past it, back-pedaled, stared at it for about 30 seconds, (they say my eyes glazed over and I didn't respond to any outside stimulus) gave my check card to Bill and said "Don't tell me what it costs, just sell it to me". That was maybe 4 year or so ago. They tell that story to this day. General rule in RAE's is "If it looks real cool and you want it, get it before Georg sees it".
 
The Boveda packs. ;)

Whew! :laugh:

In that case, even though you didn't use a traditional seasoning method to prep your humidor, it sounds like it is working for you :thumbup1: As long as your cigars aren't drying out and your humity level is staying around 70%, I'd say you are good to go.

I haven't used the boveda packs, but I have used products that I believe are similar and they are usually reusable. You may be spending some extra money unnecessarily if the boveda packs are as well, but you certainly aren't doing any harm to your humidor or cigars so it's your call.
 
Whew! :laugh:

In that case, even though you didn't use a traditional seasoning method to prep your humidor, it sounds like it is working for you :thumbup1: As long as your cigars aren't drying out and your humity level is staying around 70%, I'd say you are good to go.

I haven't used the boveda packs, but I have used products that I believe are similar and they are usually reusable. You may be spending some extra money unnecessarily if the boveda packs are as well, but you certainly aren't doing any harm to your humidor or cigars so it's your call.


Well, I guess I could recharge the Boveda packs... opps.
I've only thrown a few away. Now I'll have two to recharge when I open the new ones so that should work out.
 
Well, I guess I could recharge the Boveda packs... opps.
I've only thrown a few away. Now I'll have two to recharge when I open the new ones so that should work out.

I have used the boveda conditioning system for initial seasoning of a 100 stick humidor. It came with an 80% pack for the initial humidification and a 70% pack to help stabilize things as the cigars were introduced, and a small pack for calibrating the hydrometer. I don't see how to easily recharge them but they did work well.
 
I have used the boveda conditioning system for initial seasoning of a 100 stick humidor. It came with an 80% pack for the initial humidification and a 70% pack to help stabilize things as the cigars were introduced, and a small pack for calibrating the hydrometer. I don't see how to easily recharge them but they did work well.

I'm thinking tupperware and a dish of distilled water.

I looked in my humidor last night and I hadn't thrown the old ones away so I have quite a few dried up ones.

I also noticed some of my cigars were starting to get dry. I pulled them out and put them in double freezer bags with two new Boveda packets. Ordered the seasoning packets and am going to perform the suggested sequence above and see what I come up with. I'm thinking, like someone stated earlier, that I'm keeping the ambient at about 70% but the wood is soaking it up. The seal is good but it is just cedar lined not solid cedar.

I guess I need to pay better attention. I don't smoke them hardly at all anymore and not during the winter (only smoke outside).
 
I guess I need to pay better attention. I don't smoke them hardly at all anymore and not during the winter (only smoke outside).

I'm with you there, I probably smoked about 3 cigars over the winter, and only then in the garage with the door open. Now that the temps are back up in the 60's and 70's here I am on a cigar buying spree and have smoked more in the past 2 weeks than I did in the past 3-4 months :w00t: I have also dropped more $$ on cigars in the past 2 weeks than I care to think about :tongue_sm

I'll be following a careful seasoning regimen with my new humidor, that much is sure!
 

captp

Pretty Pink Fairy Princess.
Well, I guess I could recharge the Boveda packs... opps.
I've only thrown a few away. Now I'll have two to recharge when I open the new ones so that should work out.

Unless you have Boveda packs totally different from what my local shop carries, they are NOT rechargeable. It says on the pack that you shouldn't open or try to recharge them.
 
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