[ads47]

Just curious on others thoughts on this. Most people want there cigars to age, and are very concerned with the RH in there humidor. But they store there cigars in Kiln Dried Cedar boxes often times sealed that the wood has a MC or RH of usually around 10%. I liken that to taking a wet sponge (your cigar) and laying it on top of a dry sponge? Most of my smokes that I plan on smoking anytime in the next few months I put in some very well ventilated cedar trays and let them sit like that prior to smoking. Like most I still let most of my boxes sit sealed in my humidor up until that point. But the other day I was working on another wood project and was thinking of how try the wood is yet we want our cigars moist.

so what do you think?

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[Lamar]

As long as the boxes aren't sealed in plastic, the humidity works its way through the box to the cigars. Cigars age just fine in wooden boxes provided that the conditions in your humidor are up to snuff.

 

[ads47]

Well hmm. I agree that the moisture will migrate through the box, the same as wood can be naturally dried in the open air. But that takes years to accomplish. With the wood already being dry, it would by nature absorb any excess moisture before allowing to pass through. Much like a dry sponge, it will absorb till full then water will run through it. I think that it would be interesting to take a two boxes of good smokes same codes etc. Leave one intact for a year and one opened and dumped into a ventilated tray.

just some random thoughts on a lazy day.


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[BayouDawg]

You are assuming that the box is not properly humidified when it gets to you (@10%?). Hopefully, the cigars have been stored at somewhat proper conditions between manufacture and purchase. Thus, the box should already be well acclimated, so there is no issue. If the box were not acclimated, I'd imagine the sticks inside would be in equally horrid shape (@10%!). I would also think that the box would actually insulate the cigars against rapid changes in RH and would help them age better by providing a more stable environment.

Just a guess though…

 

[poker]

Not exactly rocket science since cedar boxes are not "air tight" and cedar is a very porous thus very absorbant. Keep in mind the box was not dried a week ago. Full boxes are stored at the factory level in a humid environment, then stored at a distributer in a humid envionment, then at a store in a humid envionment, and finally to the consumer.
If its good enough for La Casa del Habanos, Habanos SA, & every shop I've ever been to, its good enough for me

 

[ads47]

Oh dont get me wrong, its good enough for me too. Just thought about it the other day when working on anoghter project and thought about how low the content can be in wood.

 

[LeafHog]

While the moisture content of the wood will be quite low compared to that of your cigars, I will guess that the total moisture capacity of the wood is also much lower. If the boxes have been in a controlled environment long enough to stabalize (as has been suggested), then they will not compete with the cigars for moisture. A properly sealed box will be a closed system, so the moisture content will remain constant. A box that has been opened will reach a stable moisture level over time, given that it is in a controlled climate.

Think of it this way, if you put a hot object in a bucket of cold water, the water warms and the object cools to a uniform temperature. The reverse would also be true (cold object / hot water). If you put a an object at room temperature into a bucket of water at room temperature, they both will remain at room tempature. So it is with cigars and boxes. Once they have both reached a stable moisture content, if the environment is held constant, the moisture contents will not change.

 

[CigarTom]

I'm at work right now but as soon as I get home I'm gonna take a hot box of cigars and immerse them in cold water and then immerse a cold box of cigars in hot water. I probably should try a cold box in cold water and a hot box in hot water but its not my job to do everything.

 

[LeafHog]

Smile when you say that, stranger, so I'll know we're friends.

 

[dvickery]

relative humidity is the ratio of humidity in the air to the humidity the air will hold (at a given temperature)...it has nothing to do with the humidity of cedar(which may be 10%)or what % of the air is actually water.

absolute humidity is the % of a substance that is water

i believe this is the case...at 70 farenhiet and 70%relative humidity the absolute humidity of tobbacco is about 14%.(i read this years ago and cant be certain but this is close).

therefore your 10% cedar is just about right(a bit dry) which is why we season a new humi.

derrek