Opening a box of cigars, humidity.

So a few weeks ago I bought a box of Las Calaveras and I want to open them and start smoking them. I however, don't have a humidor big enough to fit the box. Can I throw a couple of boveda packs in the open cigar box and rock that or will they end up in bad shape?

I should preface this also by saying that I am ridiculously superficial so the idea of a coolerdor does not seem like a good idea unless I could find some designer tupperware that might actually look cool lol. I should also say while I don't have enough room for the box, I do not need the room of an entire cooler either (and I smoke my cigars kind of as I buy them...Certainly not slow enough to denote a crap ton of extra space).

Any suggestions are appreciated as always guys and gals! Thank you in advance.

I use the Boveda pacsin my humidor as the only source of moisture and find they work very well. Others use beads of one kind or another. If its a good quality box that seals decentlyI think you would be fine with either option but others probably know more.

The obvious B&B answer would be to buy a bigger humidor!

But seriously, if the box seals well enough, and the Boveda packs aren't dried out when they go in, you should be good to go. You can always re-charge a pack at a time to keep the box at optimal humidity.

What have the cigars been in the last few weeks?

A sealed box. Which my local brick and mortar said would be fine?

the_edski said:

The obvious B&B answer would be to buy a bigger humidor!

But seriously, if the box seals well enough, and the Boveda packs aren't dried out when they go in, you should be good to go. You can always re-charge a pack at a time to keep the box at optimal humidity.

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+1. However, few cigar boxes seal well enough. IMO, you can do one of two things, short of the bigger humidor option. 1) Put the box in an airtight container, like a large Tupperware type or a jumbo size Ziplok freezer bag. 2) Take the cigars out of the box and put them with the Boveda pack in a smaller airtight container like the two options mentioned above. If there is a thin sheet of cedar separating the layers in the box, you can stick that in there, too.

the_edski said:

The obvious B&B answer would be to buy a bigger humidor!

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Yup.

Hmm, no cooler option....

How fast will you go through the whole box?
Is it important for you to keep the box itself? (there are some NICE small custom humidors or wineadors depending on budget)

Use a humidor bag and put the sticks in there, good for 6 months or so
Where do you live, what are the temps

I am in Phoenix. The temps are finally getting to nice lol. I ended up getting a few tupperware things today. I don't know how fast I will go through it to be honest. I don't usually smoke the same cigar more than a few times but I just liked these and the story behind them so I dove in heh.

so the packs won't harm the cigars if they are touching them? Somewhere I read that it could potentially cause mold and this is why I was curious about my original question in the first place. But the not sealing part you guys all brought up seemed more important . Thank you guys.

Get lock n lock tupperware not pretty but effective. The cigar boxes are not air tight so even if you put in boveda in it the rh level will not be stable

Angry__Panda said:

so the packs won't harm the cigars if they are touching them? Somewhere I read that it could potentially cause mold...

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According to the Boveda website, no. Boveda has a large assortment of humidification accessories including humidification bags/kits. I just discovered Boveda as a small packet was included in a cigar shipment I recently received. I ordered and used the Boveda hygrometer calibration kit to ascertain the accuracy of my hygrometers. Cool.

tvad said:

I ordered and used the Boveda hygrometer calibration kit to ascertain the accuracy of my hygrometers.

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Definitely works but there's a DIY solution as well.

ZinZan said:

Get lock n lock tupperware not pretty but effective. The cigar boxes are not air tight so even if you put in boveda in it the rh level will not be stable

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+1. Cigars in a box with a Boveda or two or three will stay humidified for maybe a month if you're lucky. It all depends on what you want to do. If you just want to keep that one box humidified you could put the whole box with the Boveda(s) in a large zip loc bag. If you're going to buy more cigars- singles etc- you need a Tupperdor. Eventually even a coolerdor. I have coolerdors because I'd rather spend my money on cigars than expensive humidors. BUT, I do have one humi that I keep my "grab a smoke" cigars in. I send cigars to the troops in the sandbox in a tupperware container with a Boveda pack.

Blue_2 said:

Definitely works but there's a DIY solution as well.

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The problem with the DIY method from my perspective is you have no measured baseline of the humidity level generated from that capful of salt and water. The gentleman states it's supposed to be 75%, but how does one know? There's the hole in this method, IMO.

The Boveda packs are manufactured to specific humidification levels, so there's no guesswork of the humidity in the bag. It's printed on the Boveda pack.

At temepratures of 0-50°C, salt does not absorb any appreciable quantities of water vapor. The critical water content of sodium chloride (NaCl) is 0.5% at 74% relative humidity, which is the flow moisture point at which salt begins readily to absorb water vapor, and increases such that, at 75% relative humidity, the salt dissolves

In layman's terms the salt method with get you pretty damn close.

http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/53/jresv53n1p19_a1b.pdf

Commander Quan said:

At temepratures of 0-50°C, salt does not absorb any appreciable quantities of water vapor. The critical water content of sodium chloride (NaCl) is 0.5% at 74% relative humidity, which is the flow moisture point at which salt begins readily to absorb water vapor, and increases such that, at 75% relative humidity, the salt dissolves

In layman's terms the salt method with get you pretty damn close.

http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/53/jresv53n1p19_a1b.pdf

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10-4! Learned something new today.

If you going the boveda route, I suggest getting heartfelt humiduty beads, they're the best in the industry. Rock steady and last for years. Boveda doesn't last as long. I've done all the diy method from tupperdor to coolerdor and wineador.

ZinZan said:

If you going the boveda route, I suggest getting heartfelt humiduty beads, they're the best in the industry. Rock steady and last for years. Boveda doesn't last as long. I've done all the diy method from tupperdor to coolerdor and wineador.

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Thanks for the tip. Those look like a great product.

Commander Quan said:

At temepratures of 0-50°C, salt does not absorb any appreciable quantities of water vapor. The critical water content of sodium chloride (NaCl) is 0.5% at 74% relative humidity, which is the flow moisture point at which salt begins readily to absorb water vapor, and increases such that, at 75% relative humidity, the salt dissolves

In layman's terms the salt method with get you pretty damn close.

http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/jres/53/jresv53n1p19_a1b.pdf

Click to expand...