How much vacumn to kill beetles/eggs/larvae?

[steamboat]

Would vacumn sealer food bags have enough vacumn to kill beetle eggs? I got some cigars today and it was really hot inside the box so I am hesitant to put them in my coolidor. If it will work, I will go buy a vacumn sealer just to make sure.

 

[BlindedByScience]

My guess is that you'd smash the cigars long before you did any damage to the eggs / bugs. It is however, a guess.

There are a lot of guys that freeze questionable smokes. Do a search and you'll see several threads. I've never done it, but it might be worth a try if you are worried.

Good Luck - B.B.S.

 

[egeem2]

There is a great article in the summer 2008 Cigar Magazine on this very subject.

They say that the way to kill the eggs is with low temperatures. It says that if you keep your cigars at 64 degrees F or cooler, the eggs will die in 6 weeks.

I would highly recommend picking up the magazine. It is a really great read. (http://www.cigar-magazine.com/)

 

[steamboat]

My guess is that you'd smash the cigars long before you did any damage to the eggs / bugs. It is however, a guess.

There are a lot of guys that freeze questionable smokes. Do a search and you'll see several threads. I've never done it, but it might be worth a try if you are worried.

Good Luck - B.B.S.

I figured i would put them inside a cigar box and it wouldn't crush the cigars.

 

[grateful1]

Try it...let us know how it turns out!


Fridge for a day or two...freezer for 3-5...back in the fridge.out for a day then in a humidor(seperated).

Oh - make sure they are in a freezer bag.

 

[Dave]

It won't help as the eggs have already been exposed to oxygen. Vacuum sealing the cigars will slow down the metabolic processes the eggs need to grow and hatch, but if they are going to hatch, they will hatch. Can't stop nature.

The vacuum sealer might do two things for you though.

1) It will slow down the maturation of the cigars for a longer fermentation and promote better flavour after an extended period of time, hopefully. But this only bears fruit after something like 5 years.

2) It will get rid of the excess moisture in surrounding the cigars, so when you do pop them into the freezer, the possible damage from the ice crystal formation of the moisture will be minimized.

 

[steamboat]

It won't help as the eggs have already been exposed to oxygen. Vacuum sealing the cigars will slow down the metabolic processes the eggs need to grow and hatch, but if they are going to hatch, they will hatch. Can't stop nature.

The vacuum sealer might do two things for you though.

1) It will slow down the maturation of the cigars for a longer fermentation and promote better flavour after an extended period of time, hopefully. But this only bears fruit after something like 5 years.

2) It will get rid of the excess moisture in surrounding the cigars, so when you do pop them into the freezer, the possible damage from the ice crystal formation of the moisture will be minimized.

Will the eggs not bust open in a vacumn?

 

[Dave]

It won't help as the eggs have already been exposed to oxygen. Vacuum sealing the cigars will slow down the metabolic processes the eggs need to grow and hatch, but if they are going to hatch, they will hatch. Can't stop nature.

The vacuum sealer might do two things for you though.

1) It will slow down the maturation of the cigars for a longer fermentation and promote better flavour after an extended period of time, hopefully. But this only bears fruit after something like 5 years.

2) It will get rid of the excess moisture in surrounding the cigars, so when you do pop them into the freezer, the possible damage from the ice crystal formation of the moisture will be minimized.

Will the eggs not bust open in a vacumn?

The eggs are microscopic, and I don't think a consumer grade vacuum sealer has the capability to prevent an egg from hatching. There are numerous threads here and articles outside of CP that discuss beetles.

 

[themoneycollector]

There have been reports of using CO2 for beetles, but as others have said, I don't think you'd be able to get rid of air with a food sealer and if you did, you'd likely damage the cigars.

 

[Wurm]

Vacuum isn't gonna do squat to the eggs... sorry.

 

[egeem2]

You have to use temperature to your advantage. The bugs hate it when it is cold. It will kill of the eggs in a few weeks. I think the magic number is 64 degrees F.

I don't think a vaccuum sealer is going to do anything for you. Would be good to do before you put them in the freezer, but as far as killing the bugs, I don't think it will work.

Good luck.