Squid's Mold Experiment

[architeuthis]

I'm beginning my first (and hopefully last) "mold experiment" today. I have an old 75 count humidor that I'm pumping up to 75-80% RH and around 75 degrees. It's empty at present except for four large flat credo devices brimming with tap-water. Once I get some colonies of mold growing I'm going to add cigars. I've got a decent stock in Don Tomas Maduro Robusto's, so I'll use these as I know what they are supposed to taste like. I'm going to try generating various amounts of mold on the cigars and smoke them to determine how the mold affects the taste. Also I'll be doing some cleaning off of the mold to see if it's successful even after giving birth to a large mold colony. I'm not sure I can create my own green mold that gets into the binder and filler, but I am positive I can reproduce the white fluffy type of mold. I suspect that some of you might want to see PICTURES of this gory deed, as well as get my results reported. I'll keep all the information in this one thread to make it easy to follow.

I have no clue of the time frame this will need, but I'll report as often as there's something to report. Granted I don't have the most refined taste buds on earth (golly, I can't tell the difference between a cigar lit with a $200 torch, a disposable lighter or a cedar stick) but if there's anything in the least noticable I'll be typing it here. I recently got two boxes of these cigars so there'll be enough to keep several "control" groups at various stages of this experiment.

I'm hoping that the results of this will be able to give us all some sort of current real-world standard by which to judge the entire mold issue. There's been everything from rumors, old stogie-smokers tales and casual nonchalance to mild concern, hysteria at the briefest indication of mold and even the mass throwing away of cigars. In any case, besides giving some entertaining and possibly useful information to everybody, I'm pretty durn curious about this myself, not having ever had any mold issues to speak of.

Oh, and if something really nasty happens to me as the result of smoking a cigar that's all green and fuzzy, my wife has instructions to post my final report (but no pics of me as the body in the box) in my absence. :barf:

And before any wise-ass asks, if I kick the bucket during this deal, I *AM* being buried with all my cigars, so NO you can't have them! :bigeyes:

Thanks.

 

[cvm4]

Thanks for taking one for the team! Let us know how it goes

 

[Irritech]

This ought to be very interesting. IMO this is the biggest threat to cigars these days. We still have the occasional beetle story, but much more about mold. Thinking about it now, I wonder if the new humidi-packs have anything to do with the recent mold outbreak. Probably not, but it sure seems like there has been an increase in mold at the same time there has been an increase in humi-packs.:angryteet

 

[smokey the bear]

good luck

 

[AZsteelman]

yikes

 

[tobby4]

have fun... let us know

 

[architeuthis]

have fun... let us know

Fun? FUN??? *F*U*N*?!?!?

This is a SERIOUS experiment! Here I am possibly sacrificing my very LIFE for the cause, and you tell me to "have fun"???

<G>

Just kidding...

 

[MichiganM]

Best of luck, keep us updated.

 

[tedski]

While I commend your curosity and desire to assist others in this hobby, I'm not sure this is something I'd take lightly. Mold spores can be a very nasty thing when they get into the lungs.

While your chances of something serious happening might be rather small ... this is sort of like purpously standing under a large tree during a thunderstorm.

 

[Greg]

Do you want to make the list for the Darwin Awards?

This is NOT a good idea. If you would like me to pull up some literature for you I can, but take my word for it, breathing in mold spores is a bad, bad idea.

 

[Electric Sheep]

Dude, you're in Houston...if you want mold to grow on cigars, just put'em in a box on the front porch. As humid and hot as it is there, you should have mold within days.

j/k :grin:

 

[acaffey]

I won't share the whole story with you, but I lived in a shiot apartment in school and there was a serious mold problem resulting from a leaky pipe in the wall. It was behind a bookcase in a bedroon adn my roommate had to throw EVERYTHING away because of the spores. Bedding, clothing, everything. There was even mold found on the inside of his stereo speakers.

I would want to have as much to do with mold as I would a VD.

 

[caudio51]

This is very interesting. If you can please take some pictures

 

[Wasch_24]

Sounds like this may be a bad idea. :dunno:

 

[caudio51]

I was thinking the same thing....mold can be very serious, if not deadly

 

[Electric Sheep]

I would want to have as much to do with mold as I would a VD.

Between those two choices, I'd rather have the mold! :sarcastic

 

[architeuthis]

Thanks to everybody who has expressed concerns about this. I should have given more detail in my initial post; and since I'm at work I can't take the time to detail it all now. Suffice to say that I am well aware of the possible risks, which is part of the reason for this experiment. I will be running this whole thing for real, complete with professional lab analysis of the mold before I do any smoking of moldy sticks. I just wanted to drop a brief note to thank everybody for their concern and to let you know that I'll give the details after I get home tonight.

Thanks again.

 

[architeuthis]

Okay, I'll explain the process now. First off, my first career was Remodeling/Rennovations which I did for 20 years. The last ten years were almost exclusively flood or water damage repairs. Approximately half of the jobs I did required at least testing for toxic mold if not actual toxic mold removal. I have years of first hand experience with mold of all different types, so I do have the ability to make this experiment without being in any real danger of getting my lungs infected.

Secondly, I am doing this all in as controlled an environment as I can manage without the bother of an actual clean-room. This is why I'm growing mold cultures in 4 separate dishes in an otherwise clean empty humidor. (It was suggested that in Houston, leaving cigars just out in the air will sprout mold which is true, but it won't necessarily be a mold that isn't dangerous. Another reason for the control.) When I get the mold going I'll have it tested. If it is the same stuff that we all breathe in Houston every day then ir's safe to inhale when it's on a cigar. After I add the cigars I'll have any mold generated on the cigars tested again to make sure there isn't mold from wherever the cigars were produced that's different from the original. At this point if all checks out it's safe enough to smoke them even in a very fuzzy state.

I will be separating off a few at a time at various stages of mold development and storing them in a much cooler environment to stop the mold from rapid growth. These will be used in the mold cleaning part of the experiment. At each step along the way, if my experience tells me something looks doubtful, I'll have another comparison test run. At any time if a dangerous mold develops I'll report that fact and throw the whole mess away. (I'd not repeat this experiment, so if bad news develops early I'll not have any real data.)

My mold testing will be done by friends at MD Anderson and Texas A&M lab facilities. The testing will be done free since I don't really need detailed analysis and because these friends are also cigar smokers, and interested in this experiment. I'm having each sample tested by both places as a further prevention of any nastiness.

All in all I feel that the worst thing that can happen here is that dangerous mold grows and I throw it all away before any real data is collected. Second worst is that upon success, I get sick to my stomach smoking a moldy stick and throw up a few times. <G> I have enough confidence in my experience and my methodology to do this with just about zero fear of anything harmful happening.

I hope this explanation shows that I'm not really as stupid as I look. :stretchgr

Thanks.

 

[tobby4]

Yea, I figured you were bright enough not to smoke toxic mold...

 

[architeuthis]

Yea, I figured you were bright enough not to smoke toxic mold...

I had a guy working for me once who hated wearing a full respirator during the tear-out phase of rennovations. He got rather sick and ended up quitting; said it was too dangerous, but like an idiot refused to wear the mask. I'd have fired him if he didn't quit first.