Bob_Luken, for the 100ct, I am using the Humi-Care HX10. I am using the green humidifier for my glasstop that I took out of my Man O' War 100ct. Sounds like I need to get some of those boveda packs. Is there a recommended rh for aging vs. "ready to smoke" storage?
Wylaff, I am in southern CA. Humidity is low here. Temp varies, but typically average and not extreme.
Usaf06, thanks I will try that and see if I can get it to be more consistent. Ordering some Bovedas today.
deadman, I only have the analog because they are there, and one fills the whole on the front of one of my humidors, and looks good. The digi I ordered to replace it does not fit, so I it have just sitting inside. The same with my 100ct. humidor. It just sits inside and I move it around to check rh in different areas of the humidor.
Just my personal opinion here and it differs amongst the community, but I would strongly suggest that in the future you not wipe down your humidor when seasoning. The wood lining can check and split and you can have all sorts of hardship.
If I were you, I'd let it dry out for a few days with the lid open; put your smokes in a cooler or tupperdor with bovedas. Once the humidor is dried out, take two or three sponges and saturate them with distilled water.
Get yourself a plastic container lid or equivalent and put the saturated sponges on top of it, then place it in the humidor with your hygrometers. Let it sit for 3-4 days undisturbed...DON'T open the lid during this process.
At the end of day 4, your humidor should be registering a mid 80% RH. Remove the sponges and put your smokes in. Add the bovedas and close it up. The bovedas will bring the RH down within your desired range +/- 1% within 48 hours. As for how many you need, I put in a minimum of one bag for every 25 cigars and 2 for the 100ct box. So if you have 75 cigars, that'd be 5 boveda packs.
Again, just my 2 cents. This is the method that works for me
“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman – or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” – George Burns
Just my personal opinion here and it differs amongst the community, but I would strongly suggest that in the future you not wipe down your humidor when seasoning. The wood lining can check and split and you can have all sorts of hardship.
If I were you, I'd let it dry out for a few days with the lid open; put your smokes in a cooler or tupperdor with bovedas. Once the humidor is dried out, take two or three sponges and saturate them with distilled water.
Get yourself a plastic container lid or equivalent and put the saturated sponges on top of it, then place it in the humidor with your hygrometers. Let it sit for 3-4 days undisturbed...DON'T open the lid during this process.
At the end of day 4, your humidor should be registering a mid 80% RH. Remove the sponges and put your smokes in. Add the bovedas and close it up. The bovedas will bring the RH down within your desired range +/- 1% within 48 hours. As for how many you need, I put in a minimum of one bag for every 25 cigars and 2 for the 100ct box. So if you have 75 cigars, that'd be 5 boveda packs.
Again, just my 2 cents. This is the method that works for me
I like your straightforward explanation, except I got one problem with your method. Like you said, everybody's got their own ideas/opinions, and I don't have a difinitive solution to the problem I'm addressing, but, I would not add the cigars while the humidor is at 80%. You say the bovedas will bring down the RH. Yes, but, the cigars themselves will also be absorbing the same excess humidity. Maybe five bovedas will do the job alone before adding any cigars. Maybe there's some other way. I don't know. But, Whatever the plan is, I wouldn't be adding cigars at 80% RH. For a while at least, the cigars would be soggy. Probably everything would be OK long term and eventually stabilize if he did it your way. But it just goes against everything I know about cigar storage to do what you say you did. LOL
That raises the question @Bob_Luken, how much time does it take for a bunch of cigars to have their moisture content changed? I imagine, the wrapper/binder would happen quickly, but what about the rest of the filler? I say nobody knows for sure.
@peter4jc Yeah I'd have to just guess at answering that question. Most methods in this seasoning/storage quest we are all on is guesswork. There's not enough science and too much of everyone's opinion. Yep,...But, you can take this next bit of opinion to the bank and cash it. There are no absolute right or wrong tricks/tips/advice when it comes to storing cigars except one,.... Bovedas!
@Bob_Luken I never really considered it a danger to put the cigars into the humidor at 80RH, but you make an excellent point. This is exactly why I enjoy and appreciate this forum.
“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman – or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” – George Burns
deadman, I only have the analog because they are there, and one fills the whole on the front of one of my humidors, and looks good. The digi I ordered to replace it does not fit, so I it have just sitting inside. The same with my 100ct. humidor. It just sits inside and I move it around to check rh in different areas of the humidor.
As long as you have a digital one in the humidor to go by.
Hey guys, so here is an update on what worked perfect for MoW 100ct humidity issue. I removed my sticks and stored in a cooler. I then left the humidor open for 3-days. I then re-seasoned by placing I single wet sponge with distilled water in the center bottom of the humi, and placed on a plastic zip-lock bag. I did drain the sponge first in a bowl so it wasn't dripping wet. I let this sit for a solid 4-days without opening the lid. I also had a calibrated digi hygrometer sitting in there with the sponge. At the end of the 4th day, the RH read at 78%. I then removed the sponge, and placed x2 69% Boveda packs in the humi and let that set for another 24-hours. After the 24-hours, the RH read at 70%. I then added my 65 sticks with 3-more Boveda packs. Making this a total of x5 80-gram 69% Boveda packs. After another 24-hours, the RH went down to 68%. I checked a couple days later and it was at 67%. It has been steady now at a constant 67% 6-days after I put the cigars back in. So this method seemed to work great for my situation in Southern CA!
When 1st seasoning a humidor the humidity is usually high. Just add some cigars in there and let the cigars absorb the humidity and regulate it for you.
“Happiness? A good cigar, a good meal, a good cigar and a good woman – or a bad woman; it depends on how much happiness you can handle.” – George Burns
Just this one step cures all the "problem controlling desktop humidity" situations
Glad you're in better shape now. You weren't too far off to begin with. I'm happy with mid-sixties RH myself. Less chance of mold and some say they smoke better.
When 1st seasoning a humidor the humidity is usually high. Just add some cigars in there and let the cigars absorb the humidity and regulate it for you.
When 1st seasoning a humidor the humidity is usually high. Just add some cigars in there and let the cigars absorb the humidity and regulate it for you.
That was me when I first read @edelrionyc post. That might work, if your sticks are drier than they should be, but could be very bad.
When 1st seasoning a humidor the humidity is usually high. Just add some cigars in there and let the cigars absorb the humidity and regulate it for you.
That was me when I first read @edelrionyc post. That might work, if your sticks are drier than they should be, but could be very bad.
Yes. I don't wan't my cigars working for me. I want to do all the work for them so they can just sleep like babies until I light them on fire.
Summer time can be a pain if you're constantly looking at your hygrometers. Just remember they fluctuate up and down during the day. Mine is always 2 percent higher in the morning than it is at midday. Then will rise again after midnight.
Hello. First humidor. Humidity holding for about 35 hrs at 71 without Boveda pack no cigars. I added the cigars(20) and Boveda 72%. Humidity slowing dropping over 35 ish hours from 69% to 66% this morning. Should I take cigars out and reseason it? Add another Boveda pack? Other suggestions??? Thank you all
You didn't say much about what you had already done inside the humidor before and also during the time you achieved 71% for 35 hours. Nothing inside? Did you recently wipe it down with distilled water? There are many ways you could have achieved that reading for 35 hrs and then created a drastic change by adding the boveda and cigars. You may not have fully seasoned the wood and it's still drawing moisture from the boveda and your cigars. I would wait and see. 66% is fine all the time in my book.
If it keeps dropping and gets down to 60%, put your sticks with the boveda inside a ziplock bag, and start over. Don't wipe down. Wipe down creates a false high reading while the wood is still thirsty. Use a small dish with a new clean sponge saturated with distilled water. Might take a couple of weeks but slower is better. More Bovedas is always a great idea. You can have too few, but you can't have too many bovedas. And in my opinion, 72% is too high. I use 65% bovedas. They make 69% too. Good luck, and come back if you have more questions.
P.S. There are so many things that can go wrong with a small glasstop humidor. Sometimes diligent effort is not enough because you might be dealing with a piece of crap. Not your fault. Many times these type of humidors are impossible to control. Google tupperdor. Very little hassle in this type of storage. Use this method while you struggle to conquer the wood humidor challenges. https://www.google.com/search?q=tupperdor&rlz=1C1LENN_enUS682US682&oq=tupperdor&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Mantello 100 Cigar Desktop Humidor Glasstop That was the one I got - think it was a piece? Should I toss the Boveda 72 or use them for now and then transition to the 69? Ty again for all the help and suggestions... kinda fell into this hobby with a Cuban client of mine kept sending me cigars and now I’m hooked!
You should be fine seasoning at 72 then dropping to whatever your preference is. Some people like to stay at 72. That's why they make them. A lot of us prefer a bit lower. If you tend to smoke fast, 72 will slow down the burn a bit. But if you can learn to slow down to a puff a minute or so, you will get a lot more flavor out of something lower.
"Cooking isn't about struggling; It's about pleasure. It's like sǝx, with a wider variety of sauces."
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
Mantello 100 Cigar Desktop Humidor Glasstop That was the one I got - think it was a piece? Should I toss the Boveda 72 or use them for now and then transition to the 69? Ty again for all the help and suggestions... kinda fell into this hobby with a Cuban client of mine kept sending me cigars and now I’m hooked!
I looked up the Mantello 100 Cigar Desktop Humidor Glasstop and it's a good looking humidor but, my guess is 50/50 that you'll have a good seal. Keep trying and see how it goes. And know that with all humidors, and glass tops especially, you don't want sunlight to shine on it at any time. And wooden desktops are harder to maintain when heating and or air conditioning vents are creating air flow on them. And eventually you'll need to take notice of the relative humidity of the room. This will continuously affect your humidors performance.
Storage in a tupperdor is less glamorous than a wooden desktop but it is easier to maintain correct humidity.
I have them in a Tupperware now while i reseason the humidor. What’s the best way to tell the seal? It feels like the humidor has a good seal to it. I keep it away from sunlight and heat/cool sources. Was thinking of maybe storing the humidor in a larger Tupperware or plastic bag (once seasoned) if the seal appears to be lacking.
I use remote sensors in my humidor that tie back to a central display (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FX8ZGOO). I have two humidors that are similar in size, though one is slightly larger. One may be a "75 stick" size and the other a "100 stick" size. I forget.
They are both reasonably full and have been closed for the past couple of weeks, since my latest cigar.com shipment. I have five 72% Boveda packs in each humidor. The smaller reports 65% and the larger one reports 69%. That's all close enough for me.
Cigars are an agricultural product and the inside surfaces of my humidors are wood. Given the natural variation in plant matter, I'm not at all concerned with the state of my humidors' humidification.
When I get a new humidor, I wipe down the inside to season it. I use a barely damp paper towel. Using a wet sponge or paper towel to wipe down a humidor is a recipe for disaster - at least it was for me with my first humidor. I had to toss a fist full of cigars that got moldy when I improperly wiped down my humidor. Dumb mistake, but I learned and those cigars were fairly cheap.
Just FYI, when we recommend a wet sponge it is not to wipe with. You sit it on a platter and allow the humidor to absorb the moisture from the air for a couple of weeks. Even wiping down with a barely damp paper towel can introduce mold, warping, and over-humidification if some spots with others remaining dry.
"Cooking isn't about struggling; It's about pleasure. It's like sǝx, with a wider variety of sauces."
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
I have them in a Tupperware now while i reseason the humidor. What’s the best way to tell the seal? It feels like the humidor has a good seal to it. I keep it away from sunlight and heat/cool sources. Was thinking of maybe storing the humidor in a larger Tupperware or plastic bag (once seasoned) if the seal appears to be lacking.
To check the seal, there is something we call the flashlight test where you close up the humidor with a flashlight on inside while you're in a dark room to see if you can see any light showing around the seal, but since you have a glass top, you'd have to mask off the glass top really well. And there's the old dollar bill test where you close the seal down on a dollar bill and make sure the bill is held consistently snug all around the lid. If it is less snug in some areas and more snug, or loose, in others, this indicates inconsistencies in the seal.
And the glass top might need some silicone sealant but you want to maintain those good looks. You don't want it to look all sloppy with a bad caulk job. You would need to practice on something else before you try to caulk the underside of the lid where the glass and wood meet.
Your idea about storing the humidor inside a larger plastic (tupperware) container or cooler, is the easiest thing you could do. I have a couple of desktops inside my coolers. And if you ever wanted to have yours on display you could do that for a few days and then put it back in the container.
Comments
Wylaff, I am in southern CA. Humidity is low here. Temp varies, but typically average and not extreme.
Usaf06, thanks I will try that and see if I can get it to be more consistent. Ordering some Bovedas today.
deadman, I only have the analog because they are there, and one fills the whole on the front of one of my humidors, and looks good. The digi I ordered to replace it does not fit, so I it have just sitting inside. The same with my 100ct. humidor. It just sits inside and I move it around to check rh in different areas of the humidor.
If I were you, I'd let it dry out for a few days with the lid open; put your smokes in a cooler or tupperdor with bovedas. Once the humidor is dried out, take two or three sponges and saturate them with distilled water.
Get yourself a plastic container lid or equivalent and put the saturated sponges on top of it, then place it in the humidor with your hygrometers. Let it sit for 3-4 days undisturbed...DON'T open the lid during this process.
At the end of day 4, your humidor should be registering a mid 80% RH. Remove the sponges and put your smokes in. Add the bovedas and close it up. The bovedas will bring the RH down within your desired range +/- 1% within 48 hours. As for how many you need, I put in a minimum of one bag for every 25 cigars and 2 for the 100ct box. So if you have 75 cigars, that'd be 5 boveda packs.
Again, just my 2 cents. This is the method that works for me
Glad you're in better shape now. You weren't too far off to begin with. I'm happy with mid-sixties RH myself. Less chance of mold and some say they smoke better.
Also, 35 hours is way too short to call stable. It should be stable for at least week before hand.
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
I would wait and see. 66% is fine all the time in my book.
If it keeps dropping and gets down to 60%, put your sticks with the boveda inside a ziplock bag, and start over. Don't wipe down. Wipe down creates a false high reading while the wood is still thirsty. Use a small dish with a new clean sponge saturated with distilled water. Might take a couple of weeks but slower is better. More Bovedas is always a great idea. You can have too few, but you can't have too many bovedas. And in my opinion, 72% is too high. I use 65% bovedas. They make 69% too. Good luck, and come back if you have more questions.
P.S. There are so many things that can go wrong with a small glasstop humidor. Sometimes diligent effort is not enough because you might be dealing with a piece of crap. Not your fault. Many times these type of humidors are impossible to control. Google tupperdor. Very little hassle in this type of storage. Use this method while you struggle to conquer the wood humidor challenges. https://www.google.com/search?q=tupperdor&rlz=1C1LENN_enUS682US682&oq=tupperdor&aqs=chrome..69i57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
I looked up the Mantello 100 Cigar Desktop Humidor Glasstop and it's a good looking humidor but, my guess is 50/50 that you'll have a good seal. Keep trying and see how it goes. And know that with all humidors, and glass tops especially, you don't want sunlight to shine on it at any time. And wooden desktops are harder to maintain when heating and or air conditioning vents are creating air flow on them. And eventually you'll need to take notice of the relative humidity of the room. This will continuously affect your humidors performance.
Storage in a tupperdor is less glamorous than a wooden desktop but it is easier to maintain correct humidity.
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
They are both reasonably full and have been closed for the past couple of weeks, since my latest cigar.com shipment. I have five 72% Boveda packs in each humidor. The smaller reports 65% and the larger one reports 69%. That's all close enough for me.
Cigars are an agricultural product and the inside surfaces of my humidors are wood. Given the natural variation in plant matter, I'm not at all concerned with the state of my humidors' humidification.
When I get a new humidor, I wipe down the inside to season it. I use a barely damp paper towel. Using a wet sponge or paper towel to wipe down a humidor is a recipe for disaster - at least it was for me with my first humidor. I had to toss a fist full of cigars that got moldy when I improperly wiped down my humidor. Dumb mistake, but I learned and those cigars were fairly cheap.
Just an Old Gnome
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...
And the glass top might need some silicone sealant but you want to maintain those good looks. You don't want it to look all sloppy with a bad caulk job. You would need to practice on something else before you try to caulk the underside of the lid where the glass and wood meet.
Your idea about storing the humidor inside a larger plastic (tupperware) container or cooler, is the easiest thing you could do. I have a couple of desktops inside my coolers. And if you ever wanted to have yours on display you could do that for a few days and then put it back in the container.
At any given time the urge to sing "In The Jungle" is just a whim away... A whim away... A whim away...