Humidor

A humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity (and often, temperature as well). Humidors are usually used to store cigars. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are appropriate, while cigar shops often have walk-in humidors, sometimes covering a whole floor. Humidors of all sizes use hygrometers to keep track of the humidity levels.

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Quick tips to maintain your humidor. Get one that has Spanish cedar, or get some for any plastic humidors that you may be using. You don't have to buy any, cigar shops should have some cedar blocks that come with most cigar boxes. They are usually thrown away since they have little use to the cigar shop after the box has been sold. Spanish cedar is good to have while aging your cigars for three reasons. The cedar holds more moisture than most woods, it will help you maintain your humidity. Second, the cedar aroma will impart itself on your cigars if you age them long enough. That is also why some cigars are wrapped in cedar sheets when you buy them. The blender knows that this will give his cigars an extra dimension in flavor. Last, the sap of the Spanish cedar wood sometimes repels tobacco beetles, although there have been instances where the beetles have eaten through sheets of cedar. These pinhead sized bugs can ruin entire stocks of cigars. They eat the tobacco and lay eggs, causing further infestation. Another way to combat these beetles is to make sure your humidor does not get hotter that 75 degrees F. The beetles will hatch at around 80 degrees F, although there are also instances where they will hatch at cooler temperatures if the humidity is too high.

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If you have trouble keeping your humidor around 70% humidity, the ideal level (although most experts agree that a level of 65% is optimum for Cuban cigars, which are illegal in the United States of America due to a trade embargo), then try to fill your box close to the rim. You can either get more cigars or as above, get some Spanish cedar blocks. They will help take up space and age your cigars. The more empty space exists in your humidor, the faster your humidification device will dry out.

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Each humidor has to be seasoned after being bought or having been dry for a while. Take a moist cloth and wipe down the interior to remove any dust. Then place a shot glass or an container of similar size in the humidor and fill it with distilled water. Keep the humidor closed overnight. If the water is gone or mostly gone, then repeat for another 24 hours. When it seems as thougth the humidor is not absorbing anymore humidity, you can place your cigars in the humidor. Remember, your humidifying element or "sponge" does not keep the cigars moist. The wood in the humidor does that. The humidifying element keeps the wood itself moist. If you have dry cedar in your humidor, then you will have dry cigars also.

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Humidity: Humidity is the concentration of water vapor in the air. The concentration can be expressed as absolute humidity, specific humidity, or relative humidity....

Temperature: Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of "hot" and "cold"; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter. Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles in a sample of matter. In other words, temperature is a meas...

Cigar: :This page is about the tobacco product; for other meanings of Cigar, see Cigar (disambiguation)....

Humidor related Images and Photos (experimental)

Scarface Humidor Gift Set Limited Edition Blu-ray