Blindly and carelessly relying on the number on my hygrometer digital screen, I managed to dry out my batch of cigars. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince of the town called Dryville, CC.
For about two years, I've stored my cigars in a glass jar (rubber seal + clasp) with a water pillow polymer humidifier. The humidity was monitored with an inexpensive and small thermometer / hygrometer. The temperature reading sometimes seemed off but the RH reading was checked against another - pricier - unit and the two humidities never differed by more than 1 %. That arrangement was working out quite well for me until I started getting concerned that my cigars were over-humidified. First, there was the RH reading which was about 75 %. Beside that, it also seemed that my cigars were blooming out at the ends. The latter is harder to confirm, of course, so it may well be attributed to the psychological effect that the overly worried cigar aficionado will see what he already thinks he is seeing.
During smoking, I never had any major problems that would indicate overhumidification, yet I still tried to tackle the problem by leaving the lid of the jar ajar for 24 hr periods of time. The RH dropped down to about 74 % and following the pyshological effect described in the previous paragraph, the cigars seemed much healthier, too.
This was going on for about a month or two, then I packed up my stuff and moved to another town for 6 months (where I am at the time of writing this post). I took my cigars with me, of course, but as the glass jar is not that suitable for travel, I packed my cigars in a Travel Caddy 10 ct travel humidor. I took out the foam separating panels and managed to fit all my collection (about 20 cigars) inside. As I had been warned that overhumidification can be an issue in travel humidors, I was even more wary of the high RH numbers on the hygrometer. So I made a point of leaving the humidor not completely closed. The RH dropped down to 65 % and I was feeling relieved.
Until I tried smoking the cigars. Despite the optimal RH level, the cigars were all crackling alarmingly when I gave them the squeeze test. When I looked at the polymer humidification pillow, I noticed that it had dried up completely.
My first action was to regenerate the pillow and close the humidor lid. I also wetted the humidification foam pad of the humidor itself. This took place about two or three weeks ago. Since then, I have repeated wetting the humidor humidification foam several times. So far, all of the cigars still crackle when squeezed, though the RH has, according to the apparently not very accurate hygrometer, risen up to 75 %.
My question to you, storage and humidification experts, is the following:
At what rate, or within which time scale should I expect the cigars to regain their normal humidity levels?
Should I be patient with my current humidor solution or should I move the cigars to a different container (all I have at my disposal right now are tupperware containers)?.
For about two years, I've stored my cigars in a glass jar (rubber seal + clasp) with a water pillow polymer humidifier. The humidity was monitored with an inexpensive and small thermometer / hygrometer. The temperature reading sometimes seemed off but the RH reading was checked against another - pricier - unit and the two humidities never differed by more than 1 %. That arrangement was working out quite well for me until I started getting concerned that my cigars were over-humidified. First, there was the RH reading which was about 75 %. Beside that, it also seemed that my cigars were blooming out at the ends. The latter is harder to confirm, of course, so it may well be attributed to the psychological effect that the overly worried cigar aficionado will see what he already thinks he is seeing.
During smoking, I never had any major problems that would indicate overhumidification, yet I still tried to tackle the problem by leaving the lid of the jar ajar for 24 hr periods of time. The RH dropped down to about 74 % and following the pyshological effect described in the previous paragraph, the cigars seemed much healthier, too.
This was going on for about a month or two, then I packed up my stuff and moved to another town for 6 months (where I am at the time of writing this post). I took my cigars with me, of course, but as the glass jar is not that suitable for travel, I packed my cigars in a Travel Caddy 10 ct travel humidor. I took out the foam separating panels and managed to fit all my collection (about 20 cigars) inside. As I had been warned that overhumidification can be an issue in travel humidors, I was even more wary of the high RH numbers on the hygrometer. So I made a point of leaving the humidor not completely closed. The RH dropped down to 65 % and I was feeling relieved.
Until I tried smoking the cigars. Despite the optimal RH level, the cigars were all crackling alarmingly when I gave them the squeeze test. When I looked at the polymer humidification pillow, I noticed that it had dried up completely.
My first action was to regenerate the pillow and close the humidor lid. I also wetted the humidification foam pad of the humidor itself. This took place about two or three weeks ago. Since then, I have repeated wetting the humidor humidification foam several times. So far, all of the cigars still crackle when squeezed, though the RH has, according to the apparently not very accurate hygrometer, risen up to 75 %.
My question to you, storage and humidification experts, is the following:
At what rate, or within which time scale should I expect the cigars to regain their normal humidity levels?
Should I be patient with my current humidor solution or should I move the cigars to a different container (all I have at my disposal right now are tupperware containers)?.
