Quick Humi Seasoning Question
Hi all! Been lurking in the shadows of this forum for a while, gearing up for my first big purchase. I started smoking a few months back, have been working out tastes and styles, etc, and have been living the water-pillowed "Zippidor" lifestyle...up until now. Finally pulled the trigger and ordered a 100-ct humi (I know, everyone says to go bigger, but I figure I'll add one in addition someday). Just about to start seasoning, and had a quick question:
I have my humi, distilled water, a new sponge, a digital hygrometer, and a Heartfelt 2oz 65% tube of beads (skipping the cheap humidifier that came w/the humi), all laid out and ready to go. What I want to know is when to add the beads? My plan is to wipe down the cedar w/distilled water, place the slightly damp sponge on plastic on the bottom, set my hygrometer inside, and let it sit overnight (then assume I'll take out the sponge and close her up for one more day after that), and hopefully be in the promised land. So...do I put the Heartfelt beads in right away, or will that work counterproductively against the natural absorption of the cedar in the first few days?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have, happy smoking!
- Dan
Comments
Second definetly use the bowl of distilled water method, don't put a sponge in your humi, ever.
Third do you have a digital hygrometer? If not buy one before you do anything else, analogs are just for show. They aren't accurate and are hard to read.
Finally, I'd throw the beads in there as soon as you start seasoning and let them soak up the water from the bowl naturally as your humi seasons. Once the humi reaches your desired RH(somewhere between 65 and 72) the beads should be charged enough to maintain that RH but not overcharged.
Brad there is no harm in opening up your humi for a few days letting it air out and reseasoning again.
....well that and the smart@ss comments.
Thanks guys, glad I checked in for a few expert opinions before jumping in. Wonder why every "source" online seems to recommend the wipe-down method...propagating the lie, it would seem. Maduro - yep, it's a digital hygro...I've got it doing the salt test right now, and the humi is beginning to season w/the dish of dist water and the heartfelt beads. Plan to throw the hygro into the humi tomorrow after it's been tested for accuracy. Anything I'm missing? I'll do my best to stay patient, but yeah - sure do want to fast forward a week and be done with the Zippidor.
Many thanks guys!
As a side note, I've noticed that the beads are a lot faster / more effective at releasing humidity rather than absorbing it. My beads recently needed charged, and I tried to just fill the humidifier disc with distilled water and throw it in humi and let the beads soak up the extra humidity. This doesn't really work. The humidity kept spiking to 72% (I have 65% beads), and was slow to come back down. Easier to just charge the beads directly, and I was back at 65% by the next time I checked.
Dutyje - thanks for the reply. Curious your reasoning for recommending the humidity get up high at first (leaving the beads out initially), is it to give a good saturation to the cedar for a while before regulating the RH? Also, how do I half-charge the beads? Not even sure how to charge them. All their site says is "charge them with distilled water". Do you soak the whole tube in dist water, or is there an opening for pouring water in? Probably all moot questions, as from context it sounds like they will charge themselves through the humidity in the air in the humidor. Thanks for your patience with a newb like myself.
- Dan
Basically, all I'm saying is that if the wood has been well-activated, it will aid the process of achieving and maintaining proper rH. Maybe I'll work with some beads in The Lab one of these days to see why they don't seem to charge themselves very well with the ambient humidity.
also did you re test the hygromiter? sometimes after you put a new battery in they hygromiter is a bit off. Salt test it. If you are trying to keep 70% rh and your hygromiter reads +4 all the time they you are doin OK.
most digital hygrometers have a some degree of inaccuracy. the reason why they are better than the old analog dial types is because the inaccuracies tend not to change. if you are -3 on a digital theres a good chance youll always be -3 but with the dials...it could change from day to day.
Based on my experience, I have to say I don't recommend the beads as an RH reducing device.
Anybody got any other suggestions for reducing the RH?
It's getting to the point that I'm thinking of just buying another big humi and Oasis.
I think part of my problem is that mine are 70% beads, everyone was telling me you could get lower RH by not charging the beads fully(I like my RH about 70%, as you know) but now I've heard the 70% are a pain and tend to run closer to 75%.
So while I still hate to spend the money on humi and Oasis instead of on cigars, I guess it's worthwhile, in the long run, since it'll keep the cigars I do have in proper condition. Or maybe the thing to do is get the wine fridge and an Oasis. Hmmmmmm...