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Coolidor Humidification
- Thread starter jsm11
- Start date
jsm11
Secret Squirrel
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2014
- Messages
- 707
I move every 18-24 months....MadMonk said:
The day I land a long term DOE construction project the Aristocrat is a day 1 purchase...absolutely beautiful woodwork.
I love the space in the coolidor, so much better than having them stuffed in tupperdore's, small humidor's, etc.
madurotrout
Padron Fan
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2014
- Messages
- 525
Congrats on the pick up!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2009
- Messages
- 1,297
I have never regretted going the coolidor route. I hope the long term dream comes true. In the mean time, congratulations!
Gern Blansten
Active Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2011
- Messages
- 999
Congrats on the cooler! Love the ease of use, even throughout a Minnesota winter!
When I got my cooler my humidity was a touch high too. If my memory serves me, BBS asked if it was full (it was not) and then suggested I fill it with my old tuppador and other like items to eat up some of the volume. Brought the humidity in check within a couple of days.
When I got my cooler my humidity was a touch high too. If my memory serves me, BBS asked if it was full (it was not) and then suggested I fill it with my old tuppador and other like items to eat up some of the volume. Brought the humidity in check within a couple of days.
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2005
- Messages
- 9,765
Bubble wrap is an excellent and highly inert way to fill up the coolerdor's unused air space. No reason to humidify space you're not using..... 
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2005
- Messages
- 9,765
Less air space = less space the beads / etc. have to humidify and control. You should see quicker recoveries when the cooler gets opened, better consistency when closed.
Getting RH right isn't rocket science but it can be a little frustrating. If your ambient RH is lower than the RH you want it the cooler, it's pretty simple. Just leave the lid open for an hour or so, close it up, let it sit overnight and check it in the AM. I'd repeat this until the RH is at or maybe a point below your set point. Then leave the cooler closed and let the beads do their thing over time. If it's not high enough, go buy a new synthetic sponge (cheap in the kitchen department of the local grocery store). Moisten it with distilled water (NOT filtered water) and put it on a small plate in the cooler. Leave it there for 24-48 hours and then see how the RH is doing. Leave the moist sponge in the cooler until the RH is at or maybe a point above your desired set point.
If your ambient RH is above the desired set point, you're going to need to dessicate the cooler. Something like this works well in those circumstances.
And now, for my standard RH rant.....
So many guys get freaked out about a point or two in RH (like I used to) and it's just needless. With time you realize that a couple points really doesn't matter. I know, there are guys that swear they can taste the difference a point of RH difference. Respectfully, I don't believe them. If you round up a hundred experienced cigar smokers and ask them what their preferred RH is, you'll get answers anywhere from 58% to 75%. Maybe higher and lower. Point being, it's all about personal preference, what you want from your smokes. In this case, there is no real 'right' and 'wrong'.
Most guys target 65% as that's more or less in the center of the range. The simple facts are that if the RH gets below 60% or so, the oils that make the cigar taste good will start to dry out, exponentially faster and faster as RH goes down. Above 70%, risk of mold growth becomes an issue, and goes up exponentially as RH goes up. If you can maintain the RH within a two to three point range between those limits, you're golden. Your goal should be consistency, rather than some specific absolute value. Wrapper leaves are surprisingly thin, and surprisingly fragile. Big changes in RH, either dry sticks in a 'wet' environment or to a lesser degree, the converse, can cause wrapper problems. Cigars are also highly hygroscopic and as you know, take time to equilibrate to a new ambient RH. One function of 'putting them down for a while' is to allow the cigars to come to the same RH as the storage environment. For a full box of cigars, that can take months.
Temperature swings can also destroy wrappers as the binder and filler will swell and shrink by enough to burst or crack the wrappers. Try to always store your cigars at 70F or lower. Mold risk goes up quickly with moist, warm cigars. Though rare any more, cigar beetles need temperatures over 70F (typically) to hatch. Again, consistency is the key here....no huge swings in temperature. I have a cooled cabinet I set for 68F, but in our new home with AC it rarely runs.
If you cigars draw like a wind tunnel and burn hot, they are likely too dry. If you're having draw and burn issues, your cigars are likely too moist. But, making meaningful changes won't take a day, or a week. To do it right, likely a couple months, maybe more. Change your storage RH a point, wait a day or two, and smoke a cigar.....and, trust me, it's probably almost exactly where it was two days ago.
I try to keep my cabinet in the 67% range as I've got some very old cigars in there that I don't want to see dry out. My cabinet is tall and slender, like a phone booth. I sometimes get a point or two in RH difference from top to bottom. Sometimes. Also, it has been known to rain in the Pacific Northwest, and when it rains like heck for a few days, I'll sometimes see the RH go up to 70% for a day or two. When the furnace or the AC runs hard, I'll see the ambient RH drop like a rock and the cabinet maintains it's set point of 67%. Guess what....my cigars smoke and taste wonderfully, despite my sketchy storage conditions....;-)
So, what the heck can a guy do? Strive for consistent storage conditions. Look for RH in the mid to high 60's, keep the temps below 70F, and don't freak out if things wiggle a point or two (or three) either way, short term. Trust me, if you do that, your cigars are stored in great conditions and will likely smoke to their full potential. And don't freak out. This is supposed to be an enjoyable pastime, remember?
Getting RH right isn't rocket science but it can be a little frustrating. If your ambient RH is lower than the RH you want it the cooler, it's pretty simple. Just leave the lid open for an hour or so, close it up, let it sit overnight and check it in the AM. I'd repeat this until the RH is at or maybe a point below your set point. Then leave the cooler closed and let the beads do their thing over time. If it's not high enough, go buy a new synthetic sponge (cheap in the kitchen department of the local grocery store). Moisten it with distilled water (NOT filtered water) and put it on a small plate in the cooler. Leave it there for 24-48 hours and then see how the RH is doing. Leave the moist sponge in the cooler until the RH is at or maybe a point above your desired set point.
If your ambient RH is above the desired set point, you're going to need to dessicate the cooler. Something like this works well in those circumstances.
And now, for my standard RH rant.....
So many guys get freaked out about a point or two in RH (like I used to) and it's just needless. With time you realize that a couple points really doesn't matter. I know, there are guys that swear they can taste the difference a point of RH difference. Respectfully, I don't believe them. If you round up a hundred experienced cigar smokers and ask them what their preferred RH is, you'll get answers anywhere from 58% to 75%. Maybe higher and lower. Point being, it's all about personal preference, what you want from your smokes. In this case, there is no real 'right' and 'wrong'.
Most guys target 65% as that's more or less in the center of the range. The simple facts are that if the RH gets below 60% or so, the oils that make the cigar taste good will start to dry out, exponentially faster and faster as RH goes down. Above 70%, risk of mold growth becomes an issue, and goes up exponentially as RH goes up. If you can maintain the RH within a two to three point range between those limits, you're golden. Your goal should be consistency, rather than some specific absolute value. Wrapper leaves are surprisingly thin, and surprisingly fragile. Big changes in RH, either dry sticks in a 'wet' environment or to a lesser degree, the converse, can cause wrapper problems. Cigars are also highly hygroscopic and as you know, take time to equilibrate to a new ambient RH. One function of 'putting them down for a while' is to allow the cigars to come to the same RH as the storage environment. For a full box of cigars, that can take months.
Temperature swings can also destroy wrappers as the binder and filler will swell and shrink by enough to burst or crack the wrappers. Try to always store your cigars at 70F or lower. Mold risk goes up quickly with moist, warm cigars. Though rare any more, cigar beetles need temperatures over 70F (typically) to hatch. Again, consistency is the key here....no huge swings in temperature. I have a cooled cabinet I set for 68F, but in our new home with AC it rarely runs.
If you cigars draw like a wind tunnel and burn hot, they are likely too dry. If you're having draw and burn issues, your cigars are likely too moist. But, making meaningful changes won't take a day, or a week. To do it right, likely a couple months, maybe more. Change your storage RH a point, wait a day or two, and smoke a cigar.....and, trust me, it's probably almost exactly where it was two days ago.
I try to keep my cabinet in the 67% range as I've got some very old cigars in there that I don't want to see dry out. My cabinet is tall and slender, like a phone booth. I sometimes get a point or two in RH difference from top to bottom. Sometimes. Also, it has been known to rain in the Pacific Northwest, and when it rains like heck for a few days, I'll sometimes see the RH go up to 70% for a day or two. When the furnace or the AC runs hard, I'll see the ambient RH drop like a rock and the cabinet maintains it's set point of 67%. Guess what....my cigars smoke and taste wonderfully, despite my sketchy storage conditions....;-)
So, what the heck can a guy do? Strive for consistent storage conditions. Look for RH in the mid to high 60's, keep the temps below 70F, and don't freak out if things wiggle a point or two (or three) either way, short term. Trust me, if you do that, your cigars are stored in great conditions and will likely smoke to their full potential. And don't freak out. This is supposed to be an enjoyable pastime, remember?
Thumper68
Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2011
- Messages
- 227
I agree and thought that I would do that to my coolerdor at first. Then I discovered that everybody here was an enabler, and now I need another coolerdor!BlindedByScience said:Bubble wrap is an excellent and highly inert way to fill up the coolerdor's unused air space. No reason to humidify space you're not using.....
