Do you freeze cigars purchased from online vendors

[TBird55]

El Presidente curious if you freeze your cigars that you keep for personal use, ageing?

[Chef]

  On 2/27/2019 at 2:40 PM, TBird55 said:

El Presidente curious if you freeze your cigars that you keep for personal use, ageing?

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From another thread that generated this thread...

 

[TBird55]

  On 2/27/2019 at 5:25 PM, Chef said:

From another thread that generated this thread...

 

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Thank you, I  do remember this, now. I don't freeze my stock, and was starting to second guess myself. Knock on wood, but have never had a beetle, that I  know of from CC. Only once, from an Opus X many years ago

[zyxwvu44]

I did when I first read about the beetles, but then said screw it as I started buying too much! I also keep my house temp not too hot to try to avoid getting into hatching range. If I left my house with no A/c in the summer I would absolutely freeze them upon arrival.

[TheMonk]

Yes, I freeze everything I don't plan on smoking in the upcoming month or so, no matter the origin.

[Chef]

So....

In lieu of this thread, and my paranoid nature, I froze my recent CC purchases, none of which are directly from Cuba.  I used the guide above.  The freezer in my kitchen is set to 0*F, but I froze them overnight.  They're now thawing in my cold garage, which is currently almost as cold as my refrigerator.

[aphexafx]

Howdy, @Chef !  I recommend more time in the freezer.  It takes time for the temperature to drop deep inside the cigars, where the eggs are hiding, and it takes time for the process to fully disable the eggs and larvae.  Those times start once the specified temperature is reached at any specimen.  The cigars and even their arrangement inside the box is like an insulator.  In the box, I would freeze them for a minimum of three days to be thorough.  I leave mine for a week, just because it's thorough and simple to keep track of when they come out.  You can gradually defrost them, but honestly I think that's just one of those things that seems like a good idea and has become standard practice.  It doesn't hurt to be careful.  In reality, if you just pull them and put them out at room temp, still sealed, they will still defrost slowly over several hours.  I've never had a wrapper split.  I honestly doubt that anyone has, in the box.  However you go about it, keep them sealed in your Ziplock/Saran/Foil, etc. until they are fully back up to room temp, to prevent condensation.

Here is a more technical source for those numbers:

https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/cigar-pests.pdf

 

It's not paranoia, buddy.  Just good practice.  ?

[SCgarman]

  On 2/28/2019 at 3:08 PM, Chef said:

So....

In lieu of this thread, and my paranoid nature, I froze my recent CC purchases, none of which are directly from Cuba.  I used the guide above.  The freezer in my kitchen is set to 0*F, but I froze them overnight.  They're now thawing in my cold garage, which is currently almost as cold as my refrigerator.

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See if you can set the freezer to -10 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the box at this temperature for 48 hours. Best thing to do is buy a small chest freezer from a big box store. This way you have extra frozen food storage and a perfect freezer for cigar box freezing.

[argrovesjd]

No, only cigars direct from Cuba.


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[DaBoot]

Do not freeze, but always keep a new order separate for a few months to be safe