Dry boxing

[thecapo]

Any help would be appreciated:

I have a fully temperature controlled winador that humidifies and de-humidifies.

Everything works great. Temp control as well. This is all thanks to Pigfish.

Temp is set at 68f and humidity is set at 63rh.

The cigars taste a little wet and tough to draw. This is to the point of not enjoying any smoke that I pick out.

How long should I dry box a cigar for?

[potpest]

I'm suprised that your cigars taste wet at those levels, I smoke at around 65f 62rh and I find my stuff to be on the dryer side. Would it not be preferable to try a slightly higer temperature and a slightly lower rh in the wineador than dryboxing under conditions out of your control.

Also how long have your smokes been in the wineador? If it's not long it could be that they have been stored with a higher moisture content and need time to acclimatise to that environment and 'dry out'.

[thecapo]

I'm suprised that your cigars taste wet at those levels, I smoke at around 65f 62rh and I find my stuff to be on the dryer side. Would it not be preferable to try a slightly higer temperature and a slightly lower rh in the wineador than dryboxing under conditions out of your control.

Also how long have your smokes been in the wineador? If it's not long it could be that they have been stored with a higher moisture content and need time to acclimatise to that environment and 'dry out'.

1.5 years

[JohnS]

Isn't it pretty humid down in Florida right now?

If it is I'm thinking that dry boxing won't help much once you start puffing on a cigar in a humid climate.

This is exactly what I thought. Ambient humidity has to be taken into consideration too. In this environment, bringing down the rh to 59 or 60 (in your wineador) won't harm them when you choose a cigar to smoke.

[thecapo]

This is exactly what I thought. Ambient humidity has to be taken into consideration too. In this environment, bringing down the rh to 59 or 60 (in your wineador) won't harm them when you choose a cigar to smoke.

I will try that. It is humid here in Florida, but when I cut the cigar right out of the humi it seems very tight and heavy.

When I light it the taste is not what I prefer. It taste very unpleasant.

[stogieluver]

Something's just not sounding right about your setup, but as to the ambient rh, your house should be in the mid to high 50% rh range if you are centrally cooled, as I would expect you would be in Florida. No one gets more humidity than those of us who live along the Gulf Coast in Alabama, and my house (centrally heated/cooled) usually runs in the high 50's rh year round. When I drybox, which is not very often, all I do is take a stick out of the humi (65%/70 deg f), and lay it out in the open for a day or two. Check you ambient rh first, but again, your sticks should be about perfiect in the setup you say you have.

[thecapo]

Something's just not sounding right about your setup, but as to the ambient rh, your house should be in the mid to high 50% rh range if you are centrally cooled, as I would expect you would be in Florida. No one gets more humidity than those of us who live along the Gulf Coast in Alabama, and my house (centrally heated/cooled) usually runs in the high 50's rh year round. When I drybox, which is not very often, all I do is take a stick out of the humi (65%/70 deg f), and lay it out in the open for a day or two. Check you ambient rh first, but again, your sticks should be about perfiect in the setup you say you have.

Ambient Rh 51%. The set up is very solid with a very high end cooler and mechanics.

65% of my CC are HQ and the rest are PSP. Maybe to much oil!

Not sure.

Thanks for the input.

[stogieluver]

Ambient Rh 51%. The set up is very solid with a very high end cooler and mechanics.

65% of my CC are HQ and the rest are PSP. Maybe to much oil!

Not sure.

Thanks for the input.

Quite welcome, but not sure how much help I was. None better at setup than Piggy, that's for sure, but I'm baffled by your problem with wet sticks. To answer your question regarding time to drybox, I think that the consensus here that I've read in other threads regarding dryboxing, of which there are many, is 24 to 48 hours. Do a search for dryboxing, and you should find lots of opinions. Good luck! I hope you find the solution.

[thecapo]

Quite welcome, but not sure how much help I was. None better at setup than Piggy, that's for sure, but I'm baffled by your problem with wet sticks. To answer your question regarding time to drybox, I think that the consensus here that I've read in other threads regarding dryboxing, of which there are many, is 24 to 48 hours. Do a search for dryboxing, and you should find lots of opinions. Good luck! I hope you find the solution.

Thanks again.

[dflan82]

Something's just not sounding right about your setup, but as to the ambient rh, your house should be in the mid to high 50% rh range if you are centrally cooled, as I would expect you would be in Florida. No one gets more humidity than those of us who live along the Gulf Coast in Alabama, and my house (centrally heated/cooled) usually runs in the high 50's rh year round. When I drybox, which is not very often, all I do is take a stick out of the humi (65%/70 deg f), and lay it out in the open for a day or two. Check you ambient rh first, but again, your sticks should be about perfiect in the setup you say you have.

I do the same as Stogieluver and it has worked for me this far.

I have also heard of people putting their cigars in a ziplock bag and then placing them in the refrigerator or freezer for a short period of time (20 mins up to a couple hours) to expose them to the cold dry air. I have never done this but might be worth a try.

[earthson]

How young are these sticks? Some cigars less than a year or 2 old have a very high oil content and this needs to cure out. The PSP sticks from here are a prime example of this.

Now, if you're dealing with stock over 2 years old that you've had for a while, I'm stumped!

[thecapo]

How young are these sticks? Some cigars less than a year or 2 old have a very high oil content and this needs to cure out. The PSP sticks from here are a prime example of this.

Now, if you're dealing with stock over 2 years old that you've had for a while, I'm stumped!

Good point. All my old stock are fine. I have been trying boxes for 2013-14.

Your thought.

Although, I have smoke the Por Larranaga 2011 ent. And still very tight with an above average wet flavor.

[CaptainQuintero]

First thoughts would be to trust your senses; if the cigars feel too humid, smoke too humid and have trouble staying alight then they probably are too humid.

It sounds like your hygrometers are out of whack

[kgoings]

I keep my humidor around 62RH, but I like my cigars a bit more dry. I usually put my cigars in a 5 cigar travel case for a day or two before I smoke, and the difference is night and day.

[Dbone]

Remember that's relative humidity. Take a cold coke out of the fridge and it will sweat if the air temp is warm.

I usually fill my three finger cigar case in the evening and will enjoy them over the next 3-4 days. The latter smoked ones are usually more enjoyable than if I took one right out of the humidor. Cigars ROTT are usually quite good in my experience for the same reason. Does acclimating the cigar to the smoking environment help? Seems to work for me.

[soutso]

Hi,

I have a also recently completed a project with Piggy. From my understanding now that you have temp and RH control you have the ability to dry your cigars to your taste.

You could increase your temp or decrease your humidity or perhaps even both. That will be your best option given that you have the ability to do so.

Cheers

[soutso]

I might add, if you choose to change your settings you may consider to choose several smokes and place them in an open tray on your top shelf. These will acclimatise quicker than your stock protected by boxes

[soutso]

I might add, if you choose to change your settings you may consider to choose several smokes and place them in an open tray on your top shelf. These will acclimatise quicker than your stock protected by boxes

[soutso]

I added that point so much it came up twice! Lol

[clickbangdoh]

I live in Florida as well, and dry boxing is something I do with just about all my smokes. I tend to store around the %65 RH mark, and all my cigars, NC and CC seem to benefit from the lower RH. Dry boxing gives me more consistent burns and better flavor, especially during the summer months when the humidity outside approaches 100%!

[PigFish]

There are several issues at play here. First is temperature.

I hammer my customers some to adopt 'my' position on temperature. I don't believe in refrigerating cigars. Lowering temperature causes two issues. First it makes the migration of water from the cigar to the atmosphere more difficult. This is because water is motivated to break bonds with tobacco by temperature and vapor pressure. The more energy you put in water, the more it will freely move from a bonded state to a free state. Since it must remain in an equilibrium state based on the nature of the cigar as a hygroscopic material, it will never just 'dry' out if it is supported by vapor pressure, rH.

Erik, bump your temp up first!

You run the exact setup I do with exception that I run a heater in my boxes. Try 70˚F.

Currently for the sake of argument I run the exact same setup at 70˚F and 60.5rH. If I were to move to 63rH, I believe that I would find my cigars too wet... That does not take into account the differential in temperature.

What is too wet or too dry is not for me to determine for others. Those are my settings and I like them. I have long since lost the gloss from the idea of dry boxing.

Here is one last test Erik.

Take one of the cigars that you have that is newer and perhaps too tight and douse it before smoking it. Yes, douse it... If this has an effect, and it is long shot but here is how the theory goes.

Your newer cigars may be in a transient state of water migration. Please don't read this as 'sick period' as I believe those theories to be absolute BS...! By cooling the cigar, you may be slowing the evaporation process and simply not waiting for your newer cigars to acclimatize. It may take them a year to 'degas' at this temperature. If you are drying first the wrapper and the binder, you may be lightly squeezing them until the filler degasses.

Just a thought!

Cheers! -Piggy

[thecapo]

Thanks Ray.

I will move temp to 70 instead of 68.

[PigFish]

It pays not to overlook the obvious. It also could be your palate and not your cigars. Smokers experience burn out and runs of bad cigars. It just happens! Not all of these problems are traceable to 'one's' humidor. You should bum a cigar from a mate and see if it is you or your cigars... ancillary, but food for thought nonetheless.

-R