freezing smokes

[beamish]

Can anyone who freezes newly bought stogies tell me how long I should leave them in freezer before moving to coolidor ,,,thanx

[dunng]

I start with 24+ hours in the fridge, 3+ days in the freezer, and then another 24+ hours in the fridge again... don't want to jump too much. Also, once I put them back into the humidor I let them rest for a few days before messing with them.

[c2000]

There are a lot more people who will weigh in on this but I think you move them to the refrigerator for a couple of days before you put them in storage..


Jerry in Minnesota.

[icehog3]

From CW:

Cigar Beetle eggs can be killed by exposure to temperatures easily obtainable by home refrigerators/freezers. An industrial deep freeze is not required, as rumor has indicated.

There is a direct correlation between the time it takes to kill and temperature. The colder the temp, the shorter it takes to kill eggs.

The figures below are time to kill 95% (abbreviated LT95) of eggs exposed to the environment. Keep this in mind when applying these figures to cigars because 1) we want to kill 100% of eggs and 2) any eggs inside our cigars have a thick layer of insulating tobacco that must be cooled before the eggs will reach that temperature.

5c (41f) requires ~12 days (275 hours)
0c (32f) requires ~9 days (220 hours)
-5c (23f) requires ~4 days (100 hours)
-10c (14f) requires less than 24 hours
-15c (5f) requires less than 24 hours
-20c (-4f) requires less than 24 hours


The length of time you should freeze your cigars depends on the temperature your freezer is at. I highly recommend that everyone using their freezer to treat cigars keeps a fridge/freezer thermometer in there so they know roughly what temp range their freezer runs at. These are available at most grocery stores, usually with baking supplies. From experience I have seen home freezers that run anywhere from 1 degree below freezing to as low as -25c.
Right now I am trying to get data on how long it takes a cigar to go from room temp to 5c, and from 5c to -20c. Based on data from other consumables I estimate it would take a cigar at least 24 hours to reach the same temperature as the freezer (equilibrium) when it is moved into the freezer from the refrigerator. Based on this alone one should add 24 hours to amount of time cigars are kept in the freezer.
The times given above are to kill 95% of eggs. I have not found times required to kill 99.9% of eggs but doubling the LT95 for that temperature should be more than sufficient.

IN SUMMARY

Double bag your cigars and let them spend 24 hours in the refrigerator. I think everyone agrees that this gives the cigars a safe transition from room temp to near freezing. Move the cigars into the freezer. How long they should stay there depends on your freezer temp. If it is below -10c 72 hours in the freezer should be sufficient. That's 24 hours to get the cigars to -10c, 24 hours to kill 95% of eggs, and an extra 24 hours for good measure. When coming out of the freezer it is a good idea to let the cigars spend 24 hours in the fridge, and another 24 hours at room temp STILL SEALED IN THE BAGS. This protects the cigars from rapid changes in temp/humidity.

I know there are some out there who prefer to avoid freezing because of potential damage to cigars and the rest period required afterwards. The time required will vary greatly based upon the temp of your fridge. Keep in mind the temp will also fluctuate based on door opening/closing etc. (Although this occurs in the freezer, it is less of an issue due to the comparatively short time required) With an LT95 of 12 days at 5c I would personally keep cigars in there for at least 3 weeks.

This information should be applied to uninfested cigars for prevention of a beetle outbreak. If you have cigars that are infested or you know have been exposed to beetles they should be subjected to more lengthy treatment because they will presumably have far more eggs present than any uninfested cigars that picked up some eggs during manufacture.
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[montecristo#2]

What the hog said!

Personally, I have found a vacuum sealer works extremely well if you have one. I freeze all of my cigars in boxes (any cigar box will work) and I use the manual setting to remove 95% of the air (just until it is tight against the box).

With the vacuum sealing, at least for me, when I take them out and put them into your humidor/coolerdor, I hardly ever see a drop in RH. So if the boxes are properly humidified before freezing, they come out without any significant loss of humidity, which is great.

Also, I stick them directly into the freezer and have never had a problem. I do 3 days in freezer, one day in the frig, one day at room temp still sealed, then they go into the humidor.

There are several variations on this basic scheme, I would just choose one that works for you and go with it.

[GOAT LOCKER]

Originally Posted by montecristo#2

I stick them directly into the freezer and have never had a problem.

I can't see any benefit putting them in the fridge prior to freezing. Just use the the fridge to slow down the thaw and reduce the chance of condensation.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by GOAT LOCKER

I can't see any benefit putting them in the fridge prior to freezing. Just use the the fridge to slow down the thaw and reduce the chance of condensation.

I copied the info in my post from CW, but I do agree with Aaron and Eric, I put mine straight into the freezer as well.

[worr lord]

I put mine directly into the freezer with no ill-effects. I moved 'em into the fridge for 24 hours, then into a dry cedar box inside the wine cooler.

[No1der]

I think I know why it is recomended that cigars be brought down to freezing and below freezing temperatures slowly.

The reason is that if you freeze a cigar, or anything for that matter, quickly the ice crystals are smaller than if you freeze the cigar slowly. Larger ice crystals are going to destroy beatle eggs while smaller ones might miss or not destroy the eggs.

Personally, I think that as long as you freeze your cigars using any method you will destroy the eggs. The only time that quick freezing might be a problem is if your flash freezing the cigars using dry ice or something similair to dry ice.

In my opinion though, even flash freezing is going to kill the eggs too.

I just thought I would chime in because I've watched a whole show on the Food Network about ice crystal formation etc.

Cheers.

[worr lord]

Originally Posted by No1der

I think I know why it is recomended that cigars be brought down to freezing and below freezing temperatures slowly.

The reason is that if you freeze a cigar, or anything for that matter, quickly the ice crystals are smaller than if you freeze the cigar slowly. Larger ice crystals are going to destroy beatle eggs while smaller ones might miss or not destroy the eggs.

Personally, I think that as long as you freeze your cigars using any method you will destroy the eggs. The only time that quick freezing might be a problem is if your flash freezing the cigars using dry ice or something similair to dry ice.

In my opinion though, even flash freezing is going to kill the eggs too.

I just thought I would chime in because I've watched a whole show on the Food Network about ice crystal formation etc.

Cheers.

Haha, I assume it was Good Eats? I like that show

[Teninx]

I've gone 20 years without freezing cigars and have yet to suffer any damage from beetles. Some say it's just luck.

[newcigarz]

Originally Posted by Teninx

I've gone 20 years without freezing cigars and have yet to suffer any damage from beetles. Some say it's just luck.

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

[Lynchmeister]

Originally Posted by No1der

I think I know why it is recomended that cigars be brought down to freezing and below freezing temperatures slowly.

The reason is that if you freeze a cigar, or anything for that matter, quickly the ice crystals are smaller than if you freeze the cigar slowly. Larger ice crystals are going to destroy beatle eggs while smaller ones might miss or not destroy the eggs.

Personally, I think that as long as you freeze your cigars using any method you will destroy the eggs. The only time that quick freezing might be a problem is if your flash freezing the cigars using dry ice or something similair to dry ice.

In my opinion though, even flash freezing is going to kill the eggs too.

I just thought I would chime in because I've watched a whole show on the Food Network about ice crystal formation etc.

Cheers.

I wouldn't think that there would be enough water in the cigars to get ice crystals big enough that would physically damage the eggs by penetration. I always assumed that it was the temperature that killed the eggs/larvae/beetles, but I could be wrong.