The Wine Fridge Humidor

[LeafLover]

As you know I am a fan advocate. Fans work in your humidor just like in your home... they move air and as a result mix air to an equilibrium. You want faster equilibrium, use a fan!

Leafy there are a few axioms (as I see it) that you need to know about humidors. You also must be able to separate fact from fiction, the pragmatic from the theoretical. Now this may seem condescending but it is not designed to be, so please don't take my candor as offensive. How do you really know what RH your cigars are unless they have substantial time to acclimate in a constant environment? Are you using certified instruments to take your readings; probably not? Then how would you truly correlate RH to smoking; you can't? Would you know the difference in a random cigar at an actual 58 RH verses 63 RH? Given the difference in the cigars themselves could you actually correctly interpret the 5 RH difference? Now again... this is not an attack on your smoking manhood or your abilities it is my experience that most smokers like what they like but they can't truely correlate a smoking experience to an actual amount to water in their cigars. The key word is "actual." I know I can't.

I think you are moving into the theoretical humidor dead zone. You have to understand that your humidor is not perfect and will likely never be perfect. That is axiom number 1. Number 2 is the fuller the humidor the more stable it will be. PUT YOUR CIGARS IN THERE! Axiom number 3. Sealed humidors suffer worse from high humidity problems than low humidity problems and even a true 58 RH (in my opinion) will not hurt your cigars. All these cigars should equalize over time. Since you are not using (I am assuming here) certified instruments you should be lesser concerned with the actual (real) RH numbers and more concerned with tastes based on the instruments that "you" are using. How does one of those 58 RH cigars smoke? Okay? Then the "actual" RH does not matter. Without a certified instrument you may never know. But if your humidor produces nice smoking cigars at 58 RH as your instruments portray it, that is all that you "pragmatically" need to know. I picked the 58 RH number just because you said it first! I am not hung up on 58 RH!

Since you are using beads and not an active system it would be best to keep all your cigars in boxes. Singles should be kept in an old box. You should try to keep your humidor in a cool place. In this way your cooler will run the least and the cycles will be minimized. If your system runs constantly... your humidor will dry out as all the vaporized mosture becomes ice on your cooling plate and your beads will never be able to catch up to it. The fact is... if your cooler continues to run it will simply dry out your beads and everything else in your humidor. This is know in science as diffusion. The natural transfer of high concentrations to low concentrations in order to find equilibrium.

Smoking is the key. If your measurements are anywhere near the actual you should be just fine. In my opinion the dry side makes for a better smoking experience.

Best of luck in your project amigo and if I can help you in any other way, you know where to find me. -Piggy

Piggy,

Claro. True, I don't have certified instruments. True I can't discern between a 58%rh and a 63%rh. I know I like the way my cigars taste when it rests between 61% and 64%. I don't want to attempt to try them at 58%rh. Was hoping someone would start throwing out scientific terms such as diffusion. Was unsure that the relative humidity could diffuse through the boxes themselves. Ahh! Overthinking again. Just doing my due diligence before I jump in.

I've already loaded all the cigars in the boxes in the wine fridge. Looking for fans now. Thinking to order another pound of beads. True that at the end of the day, it matters if the cigars taste right to me. Thanks for the help.

Leaf

[NitrousPurger]

i have read that cigars should be kept between 60 degrees Fahrenheit and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. If they get higher than this temperature you have an increased chance of mold and if you go lower than this range, the cigars wont age at all.... and isnt that one of the biggest reasons for owning a humidor?

[K5MOW]

Hi Guys,

I want to ask a question about keeping the temperature cool in my humidor. I was thinking about putting my whole Spanish Cedar humidor in my wine cooler and setting the temperature has high has it will go which is 66 degree's. Has anyone done this and is there any drawbacks to it? Will the humidor being in the wine cooler hurt the humidor finish or hurt it or the Cigars? I have left a link to the wine cooler I have.

Thanks,

Roger

http://www.homedepot.com/Appliances-...Id=10053#specs

[samb]

Hi Guys,

I want to ask a question about keeping the temperature cool in my humidor. I was thinking about putting my whole Spanish Cedar humidor in my wine cooler and setting the temperature has high has it will go which is 66 degree's. Has anyone done this and is there any drawbacks to it? Will the humidor being in the wine cooler hurt the humidor finish or hurt it or the Cigars? I have left a link to the wine cooler I have.

Thanks,

Roger

http://www.homedepot.com/Appliances-...Id=10053#specs

I have a 25 ct humi in my wine fridge for singles, I also have other boxes in there, I've had ot that way for a bit now and have had no bad results, humidor is just fine.