beetle eggs

S

smokinpoke

Pro Donkey
what the heck do they look like?

KASR, DUCK, Mrs.smokinpoke and myself were sitting in the garage last night, the guys had a CAO America (an okay stick) the ladies were puffing on the Carlos Torano's. So we were sitting around shooting the schiznit and DUCK noticed some sparking. I thought she was crazy. My wife started saying thay here CT was sparking and popping as well. That confirmed the crazy. so i took the mrs. stick and observed no sparking (crayyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzyyyy) then DUCK showed me hers. and there it was sparking and sputtering like an old car.

After DUCK was done she peeled open the cigar and i thought i noticed some eggs. they looked like very very little grains of salt.

am i the crazy one?
 
I guess you could describe them as grains of salt yeah. The sparking is a definite sign of roasting some eggs. If those smokes were in your humi i'd start a quarantine.
 
Funny, the same thing happened to me just now actually. I got a 5 pack of Montecristo Afrique Jambo's yesterday in the mail and as I'm smoking it, I notices really little salt grain looking things and as I got further down, it sparked a couple times and the cigar actually was pretty awful, which is not normal in my experience w/ the Afrique. I don't know if this has anything to do w/ the cigar not being any good, but I'm pretty sure they had beetles(there was a little hole in one of the others, too), so the others were immediately put into the freezer and the humi and other cigars around the monte's were fine, thank God. I had them right next to a Cuban Cohiba. I'm a college student on a budget; I would be pissed if some beetles ruined my collection.
 
don't freak me out guys, i already had one infestation this year that cost me bout 400$ worth of stogies. last night i had a dream that i lost even more. if in doubt freeze em! the colder the better!
 
Keep in mind that freezing only kills beetles that have hatched & not the eggs.

After freezing, the best insurance against a beetle infestation is to keep your cigars below 75f.
 
kansashat said:
Keep in mind that freezing only kills beetles that have hatched & not the eggs.

After freezing, the best insurance against a beetle infestation is to keep your cigars below 75f.
Click to expand...


From what I have read this is not correct. If done correctly (-10C to -20C for at least three days), freezing should kill all stages of beetle development including the eggs.

Also, I believe the magic temperature is 65F, not 75F. You can still get beetles hatching below 75F.
 
montecristo#2 said:
From what I have read this is not correct. If done correctly (-10C to -20C for at least three days), freezing should kill all stages of beetle development including the eggs.

Also, I believe the magic temperature is 65F, not 75F. You can still get beetles hatching below 75F.
Click to expand...

Interesting! After some research, it seems I have been under an incorrect assumption that I was safe under 75f.

I found conflicting info on how cold you had to go to crack the eggs though. One article stated that you had to go to -20f. The only freezers I know of that get that cold are commercial freezers.

I found an article that touts the effectiveness of zapping them in the microwave oven also. I'm not certain I'd want to "nuke" my smokes, but it probably works.
 
I hope that these were a recent purchase and not a flare-up from the beetle scare from this spring. Hope that it works out ok for you KASR.:tu
 
kansashat said:
Interesting! After some research, it seems I have been under an incorrect assumption that I was safe under 75f.

I found conflicting info on how cold you had to go to crack the eggs though. One article stated that you had to go to -20f. The only freezers I know of that get that cold are commercial freezers.

I found an article that touts the effectiveness of zapping them in the microwave oven also. I'm not certain I'd want to "nuke" my smokes, but it probably works.
Click to expand...

I don't know of any good research on how cold you actually need to get to kill the eggs. Some people say it is -20C, some say it is -40C.

There is this data that Tom has posted a couple of times, I am just not sure where it actually came from (besides from CW or from botl.org) and if the data is good.

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showpost.php?p=1167859&postcount=4

When I worked in the lab, I used to freeze my cigars in an industrial -20C, which was definitely at -20C, if not lower.

Last time I checked my home freezer, on the high setting, it was at -17C with my digital thermometer. I only left it in there for a couple of minutes, so that was good enough for me.

I think the only real way to be safe is to inspect your cigars and to store them below 65F (again, at least from what I have read).

I have always wondered if gamma irradiation could be used to kill beetle eggs, I just don't know what this would do to the cigars. I know this is used to sterilize plastics.
 
Its official! had my first infestation today.. usually I'm pretty careful and freeze my sticks but that Punch got me opened the humi today for an inspection and noticed the little phucker smiling at me... put the stick in a ziplock bag taking it back to the B&M tomorrow so I can get it replaced.
 
daniyal said:
Its official! had my first infestation today.. usually I'm pretty careful and freeze my sticks but that Punch got me opened the humi today for an inspection and noticed the little phucker smiling at me... put the stick in a ziplock bag taking it back to the B&M tomorrow so I can get it replaced.
Click to expand...

inspect everything just in case. better safe than sorry.
 
barbourjay said:
inspect everything just in case. better safe than sorry.
Click to expand...


Inspected them all... freezing the newer editions I have some sticks that have been ageing for some time so I'll monitor those on a daily basis and hopefully smoke them before any freezing is required.
 
smokinpoke said:
what the heck do they look like?

KASR, DUCK, Mrs.smokinpoke and myself were sitting in the garage last night, the guys had a CAO America (an okay stick) the ladies were puffing on the Carlos Torano's. So we were sitting around shooting the schiznit and DUCK noticed some sparking. I thought she was crazy. My wife started saying thay here CT was sparking and popping as well. That confirmed the crazy. so i took the mrs. stick and observed no sparking (crayyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzyyyy) then DUCK showed me hers. and there it was sparking and sputtering like an old car.

After DUCK was done she peeled open the cigar and i thought i noticed some eggs. they looked like very very little grains of salt.

am i the crazy one?
Click to expand...


What?! Were you suggesting that Duck and I were crazy?? :hn
 
Ok don't pile on but I prefer my beetle eggs fixed with some scrapple on the side,, oh and some buttered toast..


Jerry in Minnesota.
 
Luckily, those Toranos had been purchased that day and smoked that night. Dodged a bullet there perhaps!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top