Dry Boxing Works!

[Jaxon67]

Just keep doing what works for you. It's all good.

[Randy_LL]

Originally Posted by Jaxon67

Just keep doing what works for you. It's all good.

+1,,,

[PerpetualNoob]

I had read about dry-boxing, almost from the day I joined this forum, but I only discovered how well it works by accident. I would take a cigar out of the humidor or the cooler, unwrap it, and set it aside, fully intending to smoke it later in the evening. Then I would get distracted by something, and not get around to actually smoking it for 2-3 days. I generally keep the cigars at 62-65%, and a few days at 40-50% ambient RH does them a world of good. That's how it seems, anyway. Haven't really done anything approaching scientific experiments on it, though.

[Blackcat]

I'm just setting a few testers out in an open container for a few days 61% R/H average

[Phantom57]

Unless a person lives in the tropics, have never understood the dry boxing routine. Why not just keep the cigars at the proper humidity in the humidor in the first place.

[danmcmartin]

Originally Posted by Rev2010

Yeah, but how do you know you didn't just just smoke a Ghurka that was well constructed? They aren't all created equally since they're handmade. And honestly, dry boxing shouldn't technically make a cigar burn evenly nor speed up the burn or prevent a stick from going out unless it was too wet to begin with. 65% humidity is perfect. I run my humi at that percentage and for the most part my sticks all smoke excellently. But, I still get sticks from time to time that are simply rolled too tight, and no amount of dry boxing will fix that. When you cut the stick and look at the foot if it is packed solid with no spaces whatsoever for airflow then it is too tightly rolled/overpacked. That will make a cigar burn slow and go out often. And burn, I've had excellent even burn and bad uneven burn. A lot of factors come into play such as the even/uneven distribution of tobacco and the wrapper/binder. I've had cigars tunnel at times which shows the innards are burning fine but the wrapper/binder aren't keeping up. That is likely often due to a lower filler density.

I'm not trying to shoot you down, but you did say you would be dry boxing from now on and I'm just pointing out the reality to all this. Dry boxing is something that is well known and used by many. However, it is not meant as a "necessary" step. Dry boxing is generally used to bring overly moist sticks down to normal so one can smoke them quicker and not have to wait for days/weeks in a humi to acclimate. It's also used to ease the draw a bit on sticks that are rolled too tight. While it won't magically cure a stick that is too tight it will often help enough to make a cigar at least smokable.

Definitely put the hygrometer in there and see what the reading is after a day or so. Also, if you must use tupperware for now use a large container, not a small one That would allow more of the moisture to spread out into a larger volume or air. Smaller containers really don't do much.

I get what you are saying. I just have had a string of different brands and sizes of cigars with the same problems, take forever to burn, burn unevenly, go out, etc. From the get go on the Gurkha I could see it burning evenly and faster than all the others. You're right, one cigar doesn't make a pattern and I know some cigars smoke well at higher humidity. There was just such a marked difference in the smoking experience. It could be coincidence. We'll find out.

Right now my small Tupperware is at 60% with one cigar. RH outside today was 29%, probably lower in the house due to the air conditioning. Like I said, it works for now.