I have been microwaving cigars with excellent results for some time now. So good are the results that I'll try to explain the procedure and why it renders such a good cigar.
We've all heard that the best thing is to let your cigar 'rest' after rolling. Absolutely true and the reason for this is to let the cigar shed some of the moisture in the leaf to reach a point of proper dryness for smoking. If you have the time of 3 or 4 months this certainly works PROVIDED the environment they are stored has a RH low enough. (Lower RH does the job faster.)
First, let look at what a microwave does and doesn't do...
Not to get too technical but it's important to understand what's happening.The microwave works by vibrating the water molecule using a radio frequency. That's it, nothing more. A myth that many people grasp onto is that it works using radioactivity or that it alters the molecular structure in some way. False. It simply causes a vibration between the molecules. There is NO "nuking" happening. The microwave has an a technical advantage in that it heats the entire cigar at the same time. It doesn't just heat the outside, it heats the center also and that's a good thing. It's important to understand that this procedure works ONLY if your cigars can benefit from being overly moist or on the higher side of normal.
Remember, your tobacco is probably already fermented and is several years old. Once rolled, any further aging will probably do very little to improve the smoke. The main reason you put them away to 'rest' is to get the moisture level lower all the way to the middle of the cigar and uniformly so.
If you could do a time lapse of the normal 'age drying process' you'd see the cigar drying from the outside in to the middle over a few months. The center core would be the last to dry and this does take some time to get a uniform moisture level throughout the cigar. So the uniformity of the microwave is a big plus in speeding up the process.
So... if your put a new cigar in a microwave and mic'd it for a SHORT period of time you could turn the internal moisture to steam. The problem is and why many have failed with this experiment, once it's moisture is turned to steam, the steam must be removed or the cigar will just re-absorb the moisture. Nothing gained and you end up with a molested cigar. Not good. Another fail is to give the cigar too much time and it will super heat the steam and ruin the cigar. Literally cooking the cigar.
My first success was to punch or cut the end of the cigar and them mic it for only 10 seconds. (standard household microwave heats one cigar very quickly) then remove the cigar and blow in the end to remove the steam from inside the cigar. You can actually see the steam blowing out the end if you do it under a light. (I blow it into the vent fan under the microwave and can clearly see the steam blowing out).
Then, another 10 seconds and blow it out again. By the third time the steam had diminished to little to none coming out. Stop, it's done. Let it cool for half an hour and it's ready to smoke. Like it's rested for 4 months. Yes, it really is that easy.
I had cigars that were bitter and un-smokable turn into very good tasting cigars in less than a minutes time. NO, it doesn't turn every crap cigar into a Padron. It simply brings the moisture level down. This however, can make a HUGE difference in how it smokes. It not only tastes better but it will burn better also. (If your cigars are aged well there will be NOTHINg GAINED by doing this procedure. This process is for any cigar that may be overly moist. If the cigar has a bitter taste this may be the answer to correct it. I promise, the results have been astonishing.
Taken one step further...
Doing one cigar at a time is fine but what if you have a bunch of cigars to do? I have a vacuum pump that I rigged up where I can put 15 cigars (or more) at a time. I microwave the entire bunch and then immediately put on the lid and pull a vacuum. This sucks out all the steam and air from the very inside of the cigar.
After vacuuming, upon opening the valve, fresh 54% rh air from the room goes rushing back into the cigars. This does a very thorough vacuum of the internal of the cigar all the way to it's core and replenished with low humidity. The cigars are remarkably dry and ready to smoke.
Note: After rolling fresh cigars I wait a day or two for the outside wrapper to dry before microwaving.
My set-up...
We've all heard that the best thing is to let your cigar 'rest' after rolling. Absolutely true and the reason for this is to let the cigar shed some of the moisture in the leaf to reach a point of proper dryness for smoking. If you have the time of 3 or 4 months this certainly works PROVIDED the environment they are stored has a RH low enough. (Lower RH does the job faster.)
First, let look at what a microwave does and doesn't do...
Not to get too technical but it's important to understand what's happening.The microwave works by vibrating the water molecule using a radio frequency. That's it, nothing more. A myth that many people grasp onto is that it works using radioactivity or that it alters the molecular structure in some way. False. It simply causes a vibration between the molecules. There is NO "nuking" happening. The microwave has an a technical advantage in that it heats the entire cigar at the same time. It doesn't just heat the outside, it heats the center also and that's a good thing. It's important to understand that this procedure works ONLY if your cigars can benefit from being overly moist or on the higher side of normal.
Remember, your tobacco is probably already fermented and is several years old. Once rolled, any further aging will probably do very little to improve the smoke. The main reason you put them away to 'rest' is to get the moisture level lower all the way to the middle of the cigar and uniformly so.
If you could do a time lapse of the normal 'age drying process' you'd see the cigar drying from the outside in to the middle over a few months. The center core would be the last to dry and this does take some time to get a uniform moisture level throughout the cigar. So the uniformity of the microwave is a big plus in speeding up the process.
So... if your put a new cigar in a microwave and mic'd it for a SHORT period of time you could turn the internal moisture to steam. The problem is and why many have failed with this experiment, once it's moisture is turned to steam, the steam must be removed or the cigar will just re-absorb the moisture. Nothing gained and you end up with a molested cigar. Not good. Another fail is to give the cigar too much time and it will super heat the steam and ruin the cigar. Literally cooking the cigar.
My first success was to punch or cut the end of the cigar and them mic it for only 10 seconds. (standard household microwave heats one cigar very quickly) then remove the cigar and blow in the end to remove the steam from inside the cigar. You can actually see the steam blowing out the end if you do it under a light. (I blow it into the vent fan under the microwave and can clearly see the steam blowing out).
Then, another 10 seconds and blow it out again. By the third time the steam had diminished to little to none coming out. Stop, it's done. Let it cool for half an hour and it's ready to smoke. Like it's rested for 4 months. Yes, it really is that easy.
I had cigars that were bitter and un-smokable turn into very good tasting cigars in less than a minutes time. NO, it doesn't turn every crap cigar into a Padron. It simply brings the moisture level down. This however, can make a HUGE difference in how it smokes. It not only tastes better but it will burn better also. (If your cigars are aged well there will be NOTHINg GAINED by doing this procedure. This process is for any cigar that may be overly moist. If the cigar has a bitter taste this may be the answer to correct it. I promise, the results have been astonishing.
Taken one step further...
Doing one cigar at a time is fine but what if you have a bunch of cigars to do? I have a vacuum pump that I rigged up where I can put 15 cigars (or more) at a time. I microwave the entire bunch and then immediately put on the lid and pull a vacuum. This sucks out all the steam and air from the very inside of the cigar.
After vacuuming, upon opening the valve, fresh 54% rh air from the room goes rushing back into the cigars. This does a very thorough vacuum of the internal of the cigar all the way to it's core and replenished with low humidity. The cigars are remarkably dry and ready to smoke.
Note: After rolling fresh cigars I wait a day or two for the outside wrapper to dry before microwaving.
My set-up...
