Posted: 1/15/2008 7:36:17 AM EDT
| Finally got a 50 stick humidor around Xmas, seasoned it with some beads and a dish of distilled water for 72 hours, currently sitting at about 30 sticks in side and I cant seem to get the humidity above 53%. Any advice from more 'seasoned' smokers about what I can do to get up to a constant 70%? Thanks all. |
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Assuming the hygrometer is accurate and the humi has a good seal, the seasoning probably was not completed. I have found that it takes about a week to saturate the interior wood enough to prevent the drop off you're seeing. A week is relative, dependent on humidity in your house etc. Allow it to get to 70 and stay there for a few days. Then it's ready. Either that or the cigars were very dry when you added them and they are soaking up the moisture from the wood. You can keep adding water to the beads every couple days until it eventually comes up and stabilizes, or take out the cigars and re-season it. FWIW I don't recommend wiping down the inside will distilled water. It can speed up the process a little, put if you get carried away you might over saturate it and cause warping which affect the seal and shorten the useful life of the humidor. A small dish of distilled water and patience is all you need. Once it is where you want it, it should be relatively trouble-free. The beads are IMHO the best way to go for trouble free humidification of a desktop humidor. Hope this helps. Good Luck! |
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After so many desktop and cabinet humidors, I have completely gave up on passive humidifier alone (foam, beads, crystal...etc). Provided that your humidor is in good working condition and the seals are intact, I find a combination of an active unit plus beads work the best. The active unit humidified and circulate the air, the beads help in absorbing excess moisture. Check out this unit:  Cigar Oasis Ultra |
| I think I'll try and reseason it, I'm using a digital Hygromter, that is pretty accurate so I do not believe it is a calibration issue. The seals are good on the humi, so I think I'll just put the distilled water back in and hope for the best. TM for the suggestions and one of the Oasis' will defintely be on the list after bills next month. |
Are you out in a cold and dry part of kali? That might be a part of the problem--is the humi wiped down all around the inside with distilled water and a soaked sponge left in it for a while to acclimate it? I just recently had to reseason my humi's because winter set in here in NC  FWIW I use a paradigm in the smaller humi's......
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If you are in Mojave, just wipe all the sides down with distilled water, and add in your humidifier and a plate or bowl of water, and let the humidor season itself for another few days. The cedar will not warp since it drys out so quickly, plus the base wood is dry, it will amost instantly wick up any moisture on the surface of the cedar. With our humidity, just about the only workable humidifiers are active units plus beads. |
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I know the conventional wisdom is 70% humidity, and for long term storage I think that is fine. But, for cigars I'm planning on smoking anytime in the near term, (like in a 50 stick humi) I think they smoke much better when kept between 65% and 68%, more precise isn't all that important. At least that's my own taste and experience. YMMV. If I'm going to smoke anything that came out one of the long term humi, at 70%, I let it sit out for awhile in order to dry up just a little. I find they light and burn better and more evenly that way. |
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Exact humidity is WAY over rated. I have been in shops with big walk ins and expensive set ups and the cigars were as hard as rocks. I have a 75 stick and a 200 stick humidor and after trying all the BS methods, I took a spray can top (plastic), stuck it in a block of florist foam for a exact fit and filled with distilled water keeping it moist. Refill as needed. My humidors have been used this way for probably 5 years and I do not have a single problem. As long as the sticks ave a somewhat springy feeling when pinched on the end, they are perfect for smoking. I would venture to say my humidity is 70+. I have NO mold, NO bugs, NO bad burns, etc. Forget all that expensive crap. Go to the flower shop, ask for a small block of foam and be done with it. |
Cowboy77 lives in Mohave, which is the second largest desert in the world, hot, windy, and dry in the summer, cold, windy, and dry in the winter, with occational rain follow by flash flood. Humidity routinely runs in the low teens, and times, single digit (Thats why every year we have such specticular wild fire). Passive devices don't work well here, they dry out quickly, and the humidor goes thru large swing in humidity (which is really the bad). The challenge is not the exact humidity (65%, 68%, 70% or higher), the challenge is to maintain a decent humidity (65% and above) to store the cigars. |
I guess you don't need a humidor anymore, like in Ybor city, which cigars are display in the open. So how do you currently store your cigar? |
Humidor arrives on Monday. Previously with a few singles (before I knew better) I did nothing more than put them in a plastic baggy for a week or two or three and they lit and stayed together and tasted fine... So really... you may be right... But I'll be using 2 ounces of 65% beads in a 100 ct humidor. |
I was out at Edwards AFB for several years, which is why I asked if he was in a dry part of that state--hell, that's got to be one of the driest parts of N.A., and I don't miss the heat and dryness one bit. I can say that will be a job to keep your stuff humidified, I also used a room humidifer since I couldn't stand it so damn dry back then... 
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Cowboy77, you find any local shop where you can go try out different sticks yet? |
| Yea, there is no such thing as a local shop around here. Barstow is 40 miles away, with nothing in between (No smoke shops), Victorville (80 miles, shitty smoke shop). I go to Primm, occassionaly, decent walk in but kinda pricey. I do most of my shopping at JR, or when I go back to KY where taxes dont rape you. |
Where in Mohave are you located? I know a few shops down below, which have pretty good selection, which you can try a few different sticks before committing to a full box. |
Tough place, I thought you are North West of EAFB. Looks like Las Vegas is your best choice to find a cigar shop where you can taste some individual cigars. If you happen to venture down to Los Angeles, give me a buzz, and I like to take you to a few shops down that I frequent. |
| I have a really cheap solution for you. For about six or seven years I have ditched all the digital-hygro-super oasis crap and put a custard dish filled with distilled water in my humidor, guess what????? I only have to refill my water every couple of months and it stays between 70 and 75% humidity! Perfect! |
"Down below" Now THAT is a phrase I have not heard since having been out at Palmdale/USAF Plant 42 and EAFB
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I season humidors with a spray bottle from the dollar store, filled with distilled water. I totally saturate the inside and wipe the excess with paper towels. This provides a heavy and uniform moisture layer. I then close the lid for a day and check the humidity with a digital hygrometer. I repeat as necessary to stabilize at 70%. Once I have stability I introduce cigars. Dramatic temperature and moisture fluctuations can result in split wrappers. I'm also a big fan of the cigar oasis products. I use the XL in my upright humidor and the only maintenance I incur is the re-filling of the water. I may have to invest in the XL Plus and gift my XL to a buddy. |
Oh well, I slipped, I work up in that neck of the wood.
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Actually I'm fighting low humidity in Oregon. My house stays about 40% during the winter months and even with a pan of water in the bottom of the humidor I can get 60% tops. The temp also reads 60 degrees though. During the summer months it gets warmer and the humidity goes up where it belongs. I gave up. I enjoy cigars, but I am not sophisticated enough to tell the difference between a cigar that has been at 60% versus one at 65%. I hope I never am, it would really hamper my enjoyment of them if I had to put that much worry into how they're kept. I'll take reasonable precautions, but draw the line when it becomes a pain in the ass. |