Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
RH is the amount of water vapor present in relation to how much the air could hold at it’s given temperature, but because the amount of water vapor the air can hold changes with temperature (it holds more the warmer it gets) a steady RH over a temperature range represents a rather drastic difference in the amount of water vapor present.
The debate comes from the question, what if you get away from the 70 degree range. Is 70% still the correct RH % to aim for? On one side, there is a belief that the proper range of humidification is a fixed amount of water vapor and since relative humidity (RH) is a function of temperature, the ideal RH must change when the temperature changes. If you use math and formulas for air it looks something like this.
RH% Temp
50.17 @ 80
53.58 @ 78
57.25 @ 76
61.20 @ 74
65.47 @ 72
70.07 @ 70
75.05 @ 68
80.42 @ 66
86.23 @ 64
92.60 @ 62
99.30 @ 60
Some have even gone as far as saying that charts like this should be used to determine what RH you should aim for.
The other side believes that the RH of 70-73% is always good regardless of the temperature.
The best test I have ever found for if a cigar is well humidified is to hold it, see how firm it feels in the hand and see how tight the band is on the cigar. If the band is snug, but loose enough to spin, it’s about right in my opinion. So, my experience tells me is that what matters is the state of swell of the cigar.
The experiment…
Since both camps seem to agree that a 70% RH is a good number I’m going to try to get close to that.
The hygrometer was calibrated about three weeks ago with a Bovida kit.
I have taken four pairs of cigars from my cabinet humidor that has been under fairly constant 69/69 conditions and placed half of them with the calibrated hygrometer from that humidor into an air tight plastic container. All of these cigars have been in the humidor for at least three months. I note how tight the bands are on the cigars (to detect swelling or shrinking of tobacco) and then weigh the cigars with the most accurate scale I can find to track if water is added or taken from the total weight of the cigars.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3…Cigar4……….Net Weight
Start...69…….69………Snug…..Snug…...Spins….Unbanded…..32.4g
Then I placed the plastic container on top of my TV’s Cable Box/DVR that stays on all the time to raise the temperature to over 90 degrees. I know I have a chance of hatching beetles at this temperature, but if that happens they will be in a sealed thick plastic container far away from where my other cigars are kept. At this point the only thing in the container is the four cigars and the hygrometer. I know that if the only thing in the container was air, as it gets warmer the RH % should drop. But there are also cigars in there, and they contain moisture that they could release, or they may try to soak up more moisture from the air, or they may just stay stabilized with the air. So, this is my first area where I am not sure of what to expect. My guess is that since the container is air tight and water vapor can not get in or out, the cigars will not change in weight at all. If that is the case, I’d expect RH % to drop simply because it is a measurement relative to temperature.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3……..…Cigar4……….Net Weight
1…….93…….59………Loose....Loose…..Very Loose….Unbanded…..32.1g
Day 1-All of the cigars feel good to the touch. Bands are notably less snug on the cigars so the cigars shrank a bit, also lost .3g of weight. So, in a completely sealed environment with no humidification device the cigars dried out a bit. If you look at the RH chart however, the RH was not nearly as low as it should be, so it seems the lost moisture from the cigars is in the air.
Then place some 70% beads into the container and seal it up for a week and check on it each day. First I am curious of how the beads work and want to establish if they always produce 70% RH regardless of the . Second, is that I want to see what happens to the cigars over the week as far as weight and swelling.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3……..…Cigar4……….Net Weight
2…….94…….68………Snug…..Snug…...Spins………...Unbanded…..33.3g
3…….94…….68………Loose....Snug…...Loose………...Unbanded…..32.5g
4…….94…….68………Loose....Loose…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
5…….95…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
6…….94…….66………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
7…….94…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.2g
8…….94…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
9…….94…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
Notes
Day 3- Feels like the bands are about to where they started out, weight is over a full gram up from starting point.
Day 4 to 9- Cigars stabilized, about same feel as when kept at 69/69. Bands may be slightly looser from my checking them every day.
Then remove the beads, and replace it with an Oasis half full and turned off. I'm putting the unit in turned off, to explore how well the Oasis, controls evaporation from it's reservoir when the unit doesn’t run. Then we’ll do the same tests plus weigh the Oasis, to follow evaporation.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3……..…Cigar4……….Net Weight…Oasis Weight
10…….96…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g……….421.8g
11…….96…….67………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.1g……….421.2g
12…...96…….67………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.1g……….420.6g
13…...97…….69………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.1g……….419.7g
14…...97…….68………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..31.9g……….418.4g
15…...94…….70………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..31.8g……….417.0g
16…...95…….69………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..31.7g……….415.5g
17…...95…….69………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.0g……….414.3g
18... These cigars plus control group put into platic bag at room temperature. Numbered randomly 1-8 for testing.
Notes
Day 12 Cigars starting to feel dry, put beeds back in with Oasis.
Finally, we’ll do what matters the most IMO, at the herf at my house on 3/21 I’ll get some people to smoke two cigars side by side, one from the experiment and one from the control group maintained in my regular humidor. I’m mostly curious about draw problems, burn issues and how it changes the taste if at all. All cigars came from the same boxes, so although no two cigars can be expected to be identical, this is as close as we can hope for.
We smoked em, and half the group liked the control group better, half liked the 90+ degree sticks better. I'll contemplate this a while and post my thoughts when I get back from Esteli.
The debate comes from the question, what if you get away from the 70 degree range. Is 70% still the correct RH % to aim for? On one side, there is a belief that the proper range of humidification is a fixed amount of water vapor and since relative humidity (RH) is a function of temperature, the ideal RH must change when the temperature changes. If you use math and formulas for air it looks something like this.
RH% Temp
50.17 @ 80
53.58 @ 78
57.25 @ 76
61.20 @ 74
65.47 @ 72
70.07 @ 70
75.05 @ 68
80.42 @ 66
86.23 @ 64
92.60 @ 62
99.30 @ 60
Some have even gone as far as saying that charts like this should be used to determine what RH you should aim for.
The other side believes that the RH of 70-73% is always good regardless of the temperature.
The best test I have ever found for if a cigar is well humidified is to hold it, see how firm it feels in the hand and see how tight the band is on the cigar. If the band is snug, but loose enough to spin, it’s about right in my opinion. So, my experience tells me is that what matters is the state of swell of the cigar.
The experiment…
Since both camps seem to agree that a 70% RH is a good number I’m going to try to get close to that.
The hygrometer was calibrated about three weeks ago with a Bovida kit.
I have taken four pairs of cigars from my cabinet humidor that has been under fairly constant 69/69 conditions and placed half of them with the calibrated hygrometer from that humidor into an air tight plastic container. All of these cigars have been in the humidor for at least three months. I note how tight the bands are on the cigars (to detect swelling or shrinking of tobacco) and then weigh the cigars with the most accurate scale I can find to track if water is added or taken from the total weight of the cigars.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3…Cigar4……….Net Weight
Start...69…….69………Snug…..Snug…...Spins….Unbanded…..32.4g
Then I placed the plastic container on top of my TV’s Cable Box/DVR that stays on all the time to raise the temperature to over 90 degrees. I know I have a chance of hatching beetles at this temperature, but if that happens they will be in a sealed thick plastic container far away from where my other cigars are kept. At this point the only thing in the container is the four cigars and the hygrometer. I know that if the only thing in the container was air, as it gets warmer the RH % should drop. But there are also cigars in there, and they contain moisture that they could release, or they may try to soak up more moisture from the air, or they may just stay stabilized with the air. So, this is my first area where I am not sure of what to expect. My guess is that since the container is air tight and water vapor can not get in or out, the cigars will not change in weight at all. If that is the case, I’d expect RH % to drop simply because it is a measurement relative to temperature.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3……..…Cigar4……….Net Weight
1…….93…….59………Loose....Loose…..Very Loose….Unbanded…..32.1g
Day 1-All of the cigars feel good to the touch. Bands are notably less snug on the cigars so the cigars shrank a bit, also lost .3g of weight. So, in a completely sealed environment with no humidification device the cigars dried out a bit. If you look at the RH chart however, the RH was not nearly as low as it should be, so it seems the lost moisture from the cigars is in the air.
Then place some 70% beads into the container and seal it up for a week and check on it each day. First I am curious of how the beads work and want to establish if they always produce 70% RH regardless of the . Second, is that I want to see what happens to the cigars over the week as far as weight and swelling.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3……..…Cigar4……….Net Weight
2…….94…….68………Snug…..Snug…...Spins………...Unbanded…..33.3g
3…….94…….68………Loose....Snug…...Loose………...Unbanded…..32.5g
4…….94…….68………Loose....Loose…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
5…….95…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
6…….94…….66………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
7…….94…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.2g
8…….94…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
9…….94…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g
Notes
Day 3- Feels like the bands are about to where they started out, weight is over a full gram up from starting point.
Day 4 to 9- Cigars stabilized, about same feel as when kept at 69/69. Bands may be slightly looser from my checking them every day.
Then remove the beads, and replace it with an Oasis half full and turned off. I'm putting the unit in turned off, to explore how well the Oasis, controls evaporation from it's reservoir when the unit doesn’t run. Then we’ll do the same tests plus weigh the Oasis, to follow evaporation.
Day…Temp…RH%..... Cigar1…Cigar2…Cigar3……..…Cigar4……….Net Weight…Oasis Weight
10…….96…….68………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.4g……….421.8g
11…….96…….67………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.1g……….421.2g
12…...96…….67………Loose....Snug..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.1g……….420.6g
13…...97…….69………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.1g……….419.7g
14…...97…….68………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..31.9g……….418.4g
15…...94…….70………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..31.8g……….417.0g
16…...95…….69………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..31.7g……….415.5g
17…...95…….69………Loose....Spins..…..Loose………..Unbanded…..32.0g……….414.3g
18... These cigars plus control group put into platic bag at room temperature. Numbered randomly 1-8 for testing.
Notes
Day 12 Cigars starting to feel dry, put beeds back in with Oasis.
Finally, we’ll do what matters the most IMO, at the herf at my house on 3/21 I’ll get some people to smoke two cigars side by side, one from the experiment and one from the control group maintained in my regular humidor. I’m mostly curious about draw problems, burn issues and how it changes the taste if at all. All cigars came from the same boxes, so although no two cigars can be expected to be identical, this is as close as we can hope for.
We smoked em, and half the group liked the control group better, half liked the 90+ degree sticks better. I'll contemplate this a while and post my thoughts when I get back from Esteli.
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