My Poor Neglected Cigars
- Thread starter rkadow
- Start date
Rkadow, I have no idea what a "gel pack" is or what humidity it tries to regulate. Do you have any more information on this "gel pack"? What kind of humidity is it supposed to keep?
I'm sorry to say this, but I think your guy at your B&M may not really have that great of a concept of what he's talking about. There is a chance that you can just throw a humdification device into your humi with your cigars and they will turn out ok, but it's small. If your cigars are really that dry, they have shrunk. That's what happens when cigars dry out. The moisture leaves the leaves (hehe) and as it does, said leaves shrink. When you re-hydrate/humidify your cigars, you are putting moisture back into the leaves. That moisture is going to cause your cigars to swell. Most of the leaves in your cigar are in the binder and filler. The wrapper is just one little thin leaf all by it's lonesome. Unless done slowly, that wrapper rarely has a chance to rehydrate and keep pace with the rest of the cigar, leading to cracks and splits that will destroy your wrapper. This is especially likely to happen if your B&M guy gave you something that's supposed to hold 70% humidity.
This is what he gave me http://www.xikar.com/product_crystal_jars.asp, and yes it's 70%.
Now I feel like I've been bamboozeled.:argh:
I'm sorry man. Here's the deal. You can still use this. I would still recommend something else, but sometimes you have to deal with what you have. You will just have to be very careful. You said the cigars were at about 50% RH, right? First things first, pull that humidifier out of that plastic container at your very next opportunity. With luck you haven't had enough time to cause problems yet (no guarantees). Check the Humidity. If it's around 55%, close up the container (WITHOUT THE GEL PACK) and leave it sit. Monitor the humidity for a day or two. If it holds, great, if not put the gel pack back in until you get back up around 55% and pull it out. Wait until it holds that humidity for a day or two. At that point do the same thing up to about 60%. Rinse and repeat until you are where you want to be, then head over to either Heartfelt Industries, Cigarmony or HCM Cigar Beads and pick up a better humidification system. That last part is of course somewhat subjective and only a suggestion. If you are happy with 70% RH I'm sure that gel stuff will work OK for you.
All of the above assumes that your "plastic container" has a rock solid seal.
All of the above assumes that your "plastic container" has a rock solid seal.
Just did a quick check of the thread and didn't see where this was addressed. If you do not have a digital hygrometer, or if you do but have not calibrated it (since this whole episode started), we are just spitting into the wind. Make sure you have an accurate, recently calibrated hygro so that you really know what you are dealing with as far as RH goes.
Them reading the same is a good sign, but it never hurts to recalibrate on a REGULAR basis. I would say replace the batteries every year and calibrate at least every 6 months.
Do I practice what I preach? No. Not really. I try, but things get away from me like everyone else. That being said, any time I'm trying to fix an issue or mess with humidity, I recalibrate. Whenever you are trying to fix a problem you have to remove as many variables as possible and the hygro is one of the most important, and easily removed variables.
Do I practice what I preach? No. Not really. I try, but things get away from me like everyone else. That being said, any time I'm trying to fix an issue or mess with humidity, I recalibrate. Whenever you are trying to fix a problem you have to remove as many variables as possible and the hygro is one of the most important, and easily removed variables.
the same reading is a great sign. I am worried about your water pillows and Xikar gel. Did you get bamboozeld? not really, but the guy at the shop was just selling you an item for general humidification. it is not really the best for what you are doing. refer back to my first post in this thread. you need to go slow. I think they will be able to come back nicley, but slow is the key. Like JW said, by putting a 70% device or a water pillow in there, your cigars will explode on you. maybe you can tape over 85% of the holes on the gel jar, thus allowing for slower transfer of air. The water pillow is not regulated at all, it will evaporate juat as jast as the Gel, or a wet sponge.