Lower humidity/ Loss of oils?

[Lucass111]

Question for you all. I have recently lowered my RH to around 62% at about 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit, my question is when should I be concerned about loss of oils in my cigars? Am I safe?

 

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[Bucky McSwensen]

For smokable in the next few years I think you are good to go.  Long term aging I keep mine at 65+.  I think you need low 50s for drying out oils to really kick in.  Curious what others experience as well

[Islandboy]

Not sure about oils, but just going by flavor and smokability I’ve settled on 65 as my personal sweet spot. 69 = too wet with poor burn & inconsistent flavors, 62 = too dry with loss of flavor & burning too quickly.

Using Boveda packs, I tried each of these 3 settings for at least a year to come to this conclusion.

[inter4alia]

19 minutes ago, Islandboy said:

Not sure about oils, but just going by flavor and smokability I’ve settled on 65 as my personal sweet spot. 69 = too wet with poor burn & inconsistent flavors, 62 = too dry with loss of flavor & burning too quickly.

Using Boveda packs, I tried each of these 3 settings for at least a year to come to this conclusion.

I came to the exact same conclusion using the same trial and error method. All 65% bovedas for me now. My temp range is the same as the OP for most of my stock. 

[CaptainQuintero]

  I don't think so, I went down to 54% add a test in a desktop over the course of a year and the flavours just got more and more intense. I noticed at that point that wrappers began to get a little frail.

  Beyond that I couldn't find any negatives, if anything there were solid positives right across the board

[HumidorJuan]

 A smaller gage imo calls for 58-62RH to open it up a touch, where I can take a robusto or anything 50size and higher and smoke them at 68-70RH. I want a thicker gage to have a bit more moisture so it doesn’t burn too hot. I think some vitolas flavour wise are great when they’re a bit dryer too. Get a bit more of a toasted tobacco vibe. 

[TheMonk]

62% RH should be fine, but IMO it should be achieved at a lower temperature, 72 F is too high. HSA recommends 16-18º C, which roughly translates to 60-65 F, and that has been my personal experience as well. Closer to 60 for longer term ageing, between 65 and 70 F for shorter term storage and smoking.

[JLinz]

2 hours ago, TheMonk said:

62% RH should be fine, but IMO it should be achieved at a lower temperature, 72 F is too high. HSA recommends 16-18º C, which roughly translates to 60-65 F, and that has been my personal experience as well. Closer to 60 for longer term ageing, between 65 and 70 F for shorter term storage and smoking.

I would be interested in more views about the temperature side of this equation.  It seems there is a strong consensus (or at least majority view) on RH.  However, what about temp?  Do others think 65-70 F is materially different say than 70-75 F (assuming product has been frozen)? 

[Deeg]

For those of us who live in hot climates and have to rely on tupperdor and desktop storage, temperature is a much bigger issue than RH.  You can just choose your Boveda and dump it in, but it costs a lot of money to cool an entire apartment or house to 68 degrees when you’re at work all day.

[SCgarman]

1 hour ago, Deeg said:

For those of us who live in hot climates and have to rely on tupperdor and desktop storage, temperature is a much bigger issue than RH.  You can just choose your Boveda and dump it in, but it costs a lot of money to cool an entire apartment or house to 68 degrees when you’re at work all day.

Use a wine cooler and convert it. Much cheaper than central AC turned down to 68

[SCgarman]

10 hours ago, Lucass111 said:

 

Question for you all. I have recently lowered my RH to around 62% at about 68-72 degrees Fahrenheit, my question is when should I be concerned about loss of oils in my cigars? Am I safe?

 

Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

 

 

 

62% would be the lowest RH I would go, not because of the oils but the wrappers become brittle and may damage/lose pliability.

65% at 70 degrees F works just fine for me!

[Deeg]

13 minutes ago, NYgarman said:

Use a wine cooler and convert it. Much cheaper than central AC turned down to 68

Wine coolers ain’t cheap on a teacher’s budget!

[inter4alia]

16 minutes ago, Deeg said:

Wine coolers ain’t cheap on a teacher’s budget!

Plus they really don't hold much. 

[Bucky McSwensen]

Rtic coolers are great and they have random sales. Costco has a really well insulated (7 day ice retention it claims) cooler for 99 but its ugly.  I throw an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel in a ziploc bag in mine when the internal temp hits 70 on a hot day.  Cycle through that process until the heat wave dies down.  Rest of the year it's good to go on temp.