Freezing but still beetles show up?

[txaggie9307]

Hey guys,

Because of our 100 plus degree days in Texas, I have been freezing all of my cigars in my deep freeze for 2-3 days before humidor storage. My question is this: Has anyone frozen cigars in this manner (fridge 1 day, deep freeze 2-3 days and then fridge 1 day, 1 day at room temp) and had beetles show up after the treatment?

 

[twenty5]

You are still getting beetles?

What kind of cigars are we talking here? Like Padrons/Opus/Tats or 16$ bundles?

 

[jsnake]

That sounds like the way I did mine. Can't remember if I went from freezer to the fridge at the end or not. My humidors got too hot when the weather changed a few years ago. (I now keep them in the basement where it is always under 70 degrees) I lost 5 cigars to beetles and it freaked me out.

Since then I have not experienced any issues. My humidors were upstairs in my bedroom but now they are in the cool basement. I think my temps got up to 85 in my room when the seasons were transitioning and we went from AC to opening the windows. Be sure to keep your temps down.

 

[txaggie9307]

No, I am not getting beetles (knock on wood). I was just curious if beetles had shown up after someone had frozen with the proper methods...

 

[jmatkins]

No, I am not getting beetles (knock on wood). I was just curious if beetles had shown up after someone had frozen with the proper methods...

At that point you should not get bettles. I have only had 1 case of them but was in a closed bag. I hope I never see them again.

But I guess if the temp and humidity get up high they could come back but I don't have that much experience with them.

 

[twenty5]

If you are still worried about beetles after the normal fridge/freezer/fridge method, myself, craig mac and scittles are in the process of developing a fool proof beetle prevention system.

As you can see, this "Beetle Deletion Room" is added onto your house, apartment or trailer. Cigars are placed from the exterior into a drop box as to avoid home contamination. From there, there are several steps to completely rid the cigars from the beetle eggs with a couple safety measures in place (poison dispensers, etc.) to insure there is no possible chance of infestation. After you collect the box from the industrial freezer (36 day process) you exit through the decontamination room where you could properly burn your clothes to prevent bringing beetle egg remains into your home or "safe zone" as we call it.

Like I said, these are not finalized but there is obviously a market for these and we are well on our way.

 

[jmatkins]

That is great!!!! Trying not laugh too much at work. Very good!!!

If you are still worried about beetles after the normal fridge/freezer/fridge method, myself, craig mac and scittles are in the process of developing a fool proof beetle prevention system.

As you can see, this "Beetle Deletion Room" is added onto your house, apartment or trailer. Cigars are placed from the exterior into a drop box as to avoid home contamination. From there, there are several steps to completely rid the cigars from the beetle eggs with a couple safety measures in place (poison dispensers, etc.) to insure there is no possible chance of infestation. After you collect the box from the industrial freezer (36 day process) you exit through the decontamination room where you could properly burn your clothes to prevent bringing beetle egg remains into your home or "safe zone" as we call it.

Like I said, these are not finalized but there is obviously a market for these and we are well on our way.

 

[keinreis]

fool proof way to keep beetles away...

 

[Tnt Cigarguy]

I have heard he is going to have these for sale very shortly.

 

[twenty5]

I have heard he is going to have these for sale very shortly.

This is true, pricing will be tiered depending on package level. There will also be Limited Editions available. Estimated starting MSRP is $39,999 for a basic "Trailer Edition" up to a starting price of $79,500 for a basic "Home Edition".

Could you afford not to do it?

 

[ciggy]

^^^^^ Bwahahahahahaha...Smartass!!!

I've never heard of beatle issues after freezing and you did it right, sooooo...now you just need to buy some beads dude!

 

[Alwayslit]

From what I've heard if the freezer is not 20 below 0 then the eggs will not be destroyed.

 

[Herfin' Harg]

fool proof way to keep beetles away...

I can't wait to blog about this! Woo!

 

[Jwrussell]

From what I've heard if the freezer is not 20 below 0 then the eggs will not be destroyed.

Incorrect. Temp definitely plays a role, but the above statement is too broad. Most home freezers aren't cold enough to kill the bad guys immediately, which is why you have to adjust how long the cigars are held in the freezer depending on the temp.

Care of Windsorlacorona over at CW from a few years back:

There is a direct correlation between the time it takes to kill and temperature. The colder the temp, the shorter it takes to kill eggs.

The figures below are time to kill 95% (abbreviated LT95) of eggs exposed to the environment. Keep this in mind when applying these figures to cigars because 1) we want to kill 100% of eggs and 2) any eggs inside our cigars have a thick layer of insulating tobacco that must be cooled before the eggs will reach that temperature.

5c (41f) requires ~12 days (275 hours)
0c (32f) requires ~9 days (220 hours)
-5c (23f) requires ~4 days (100 hours)
-10c (14f) requires less than 24 hours
-15c (5f) requires less than 24 hours
-20c (-4f) requires less than 24 hours


The length of time you should freeze your cigars depends on the temperature your freezer is at. I highly recommend that everyone using their freezer to treat cigars keeps a fridge/freezer thermometer in there so they know roughly what temp range their freezer runs at. These are available at most grocery stores, usually with baking supplies. From experience I have seen home freezers that run anywhere from 1 degree below freezing to as low as -25c.
Right now I am trying to get data on how long it takes a cigar to go from room temp to 5c, and from 5c to -20c. Based on data from other consumables I estimate it would take a cigar at least 24 hours to reach the same temperature as the freezer (equilibrium) when it is moved into the freezer from the refrigerator. Based on this alone one should add 24 hours to amount of time cigars are kept in the freezer.
The times given above are to kill 95% of eggs. I have not found times required to kill 99.9% of eggs but doubling the LT95 for that temperature should be more than sufficient.

So, to the original poster, the question is: what is the temp of your freezer? If your temps are low enough, you should have nothing to worry about. But to really know if you are freezing long enough, you need to measure the temp in your freezer.

 

[CWS]

From what I've heard if the freezer is not 20 below 0 then the eggs will not be destroyed.

Bingo. Most home freezers will not get cold enough.

 

[Alwayslit]

Incorrect. Temp definitely plays a role, but the above statement is too broad. Most home freezers aren't cold enough to kill the bad guys immediately, which is why you have to adjust how long the cigars are held in the freezer depending on the temp.

Care of Windsorlacorona over at CW from a few years back:




So, to the original poster, the question is: what is the temp of your freezer? If your temps are low enough, you should have nothing to worry about. But to really know if you are freezing long enough, you need to measure the temp in your freezer.

From what I've understood it's not time in the freezer that will crack the eggs, it's the temperature. Yes, most home freezers aren't cold enough which is my point.

 

[Tobacco Giant]

If you are still worried about beetles after the normal fridge/freezer/fridge method, myself, craig mac and scittles are in the process of developing a fool proof beetle prevention system.

As you can see, this "Beetle Deletion Room" is added onto your house, apartment or trailer. Cigars are placed from the exterior into a drop box as to avoid home contamination. From there, there are several steps to completely rid the cigars from the beetle eggs with a couple safety measures in place (poison dispensers, etc.) to insure there is no possible chance of infestation. After you collect the box from the industrial freezer (36 day process) you exit through the decontamination room where you could properly burn your clothes to prevent bringing beetle egg remains into your home or "safe zone" as we call it.

Like I said, these are not finalized but there is obviously a market for these and we are well on our way.

LOL - and the paranoia continues.

 

[bigbwalls]

LOL! (Applauds) Well done, twenty5. Well done.

 

[hawaiian]

I'm not sure where I got this from but this is telling me my freezer gets cold enough to kill the eggs. Right now my freezer is at -4F and I leave my cigars in there for at least 3 days to make sure they reach that temp.

5c (41f) requires ~12 days (275 hours)
0c (32f) requires ~9 days (220 hours)
-5c (23f) requires ~4 days (100 hours)
-10c (14f) requires less than 24 hours
-15c (5f) requires less than 24 hours
-20c (-4f) requires less than 24 hours

 

[Fia]

I'm not sure where I got this from but this is telling me my freezer gets cold enough to kill the eggs. Right now my freezer is at -4F and I leave my cigars in there for at least 3 days to make sure they reach that temp.

5c (41f) requires ~12 days (275 hours)
0c (32f) requires ~9 days (220 hours)
-5c (23f) requires ~4 days (100 hours)
-10c (14f) requires less than 24 hours
-15c (5f) requires less than 24 hours
-20c (-4f) requires less than 24 hours

No need worry now that you have the temp controlled humi. What are you going to do with the old wine fridge since your not using it? :stretchgr