Freezing

[Rushman]

Question. We know freezing kills beatles, eggs, larvae, etc.

We also know that proper freezing and proper thawing has no ill effects on the cigar.

Besides possible ill effects of the aging and maturation of the cigars (limitation thereof), what ill effects might come from long term freezing of cigars.....like 3-6 months?

More of a theoretical question, but thanks in advance for your thoughts on the matter.

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[MrDowse]

I would guess that freezer burn is the biggest risk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezer_burn

If it can happen to food in unopened packets, surely it can occur in cigars? I think the only way to avoid it would be vacuum packing them.

[Rushman]

I would guess that freezer burn is the biggest risk

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezer_burn

If it can happen to food in unopened packets, surely it can occur in cigars? I think the only way to avoid it would be vacuum packing them.

Sure, if properly packed, should still last months before there is risk of freezer burn.

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[Ginseng]

Freezer burn is inevitable. Think of it as slowly freeze drying the tobacco (i.e., sublimation...oops, I mean this sublimation). Ever had "Astronaut Ice Cream?"

Wilkey

[bbc]

For what it's worth I used to have a roommate who would buy cigarettes on sale in multiple cartons and freeze them to supposedly keep them fresh. No ill effects on those over a couple of months...but its not the same.

[SerieT]

has anyone every wondered if cigars who were frozen age the same compared to cigars aged the conventional way?

[canadianbeaver]

Why would you freeze them beyond the killing of the critter stage at all?

In the specialty coffee biz, we never freeze coffee beans and discourage anyone from doing it. Of course once the coffee leaves us, folks do whatever they want. It is not freezer burn that is a main concern but freezing tends to dry everything out and absorb all odors in that compartment over time.

The 2 days in the fridge/4 days in the freezer/2 days in the fridge or a similar variation does not seem to have this effect.

[warren516]

I thought Rob was going to conduct a taste testing between cigars that were frozen and ones that were not.

Did this ever happen?

[rfenst]

Wouldn't a vacuum packed box of cigars avoid freezer burn during long term freezing?

[Jnaube]

That is a good point. i sppose a vacuum sealed bag is a solution. But for myself, I would not leave my cigars in the freezer for more that 3 days.

[nikesupremedunk]

Also, all the cigars are frozen before it leaves cuba right? So theoretically you don't have to worry about beetles even if it's high temp no?

[Hamlon]

Also, all the cigars are frozen before it leaves cuba right? So theoretically you don't have to worry about beetles even if it's high temp no?

Yeah, nowadays. But what if your factory frozen box from 2010 was stored next to older, not frozen cigars at your vendor?

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[Guest Robo]

Wouldn't a vacuum packed box of cigars avoid freezer burn during long term freezing?

I'm no authority on the subject, but here's my 2 cents: I would think that there would still be air in the box, between the cigars and even within the individual cigars that would contribute to freezerburn. For sure a vacuum seal would help to avoid freezerburn as compared to without a vacuum seal, but I would not age cigars in the freezer indefinately with a vacuum seal. That said, if I did have a vacuum sealer, I would vacuum seal the box before putting them into the freezer and follow the standard 2 days in fridge, 4 days in freezer, 2 days in fridge method.

[canadianbeaver]

I have a bit more to add, and this pertains to custom rolled cigars. Recently I have been fortunate to buy fivers of these and the supplier tells me to freeze them right away 2/4/2 and even then keep then Ina zip lock bag.

In Nino's beautiful photos of his multiple cool odors I see each box is wrapped in plastic as well.

[seanbeer]

the question is why would you want to freeze your cigar longer than it is needed to kill the eggs.

I have a friend who never freeze his cigars but he just keep them in a zip lock box by box and in a normal domestic fridge (i guess around 10C?) and he has never seen a single beetle this way. He has boxes from the 80s, 90s, all kept this way, we are talking about 10s of boxes. I have smoked many of his stock, all aged beatifully.

all he does is put it in a room temp humidor 1 month prior smoking to let them get back to perfect humidity for smoking.

as for myself, i use the frdige / freeze/ fridge process whenever something come in, and then each box in its seperate zip lock with a 65 boveda pack. i have been doing this for 2 years now, and they go throught temp cycle of 10C to 33C every year, nothing proplematic so far, so good..

[nikesupremedunk]

What year did HSA exactly start freezing cigars? I am curious because I gave up tinkering with my wine cooler and now leave it unplugged and temperature is around 85 degrees. So far haven't had any problems and it's been a few weeks already.

[Duane]

How does the ammonia get away from your cigars if you keep them all in ziplock bags wont the air go stale.

Young cigars i thought need time to age to get rid of the ammonia, isnt ziplock non porous?

[Wil]

How does the ammonia get away from your cigars if you keep them all in ziplock bags wont the air go stale.

Young cigars i thought need time to age to get rid of the ammonia, isnt ziplock non porous?

Hey Duane, this discussion may answer some of your questions.

[seanbeer]

It depends on your goal, aging in air tight take longer but is suppose to be better, ever suffed a cigar aged in a tube from the 60s 70s? awesome...