Correct Method of Freezing Cigars

H

hornitosmonster

5 Rings and Counting
I know many Freeze their stogies..and I searched and really didn't find any definitive info..

So..how do you freeze the stogies without ruining them?

Ziplock?
How Long?
How do you bring them out of a freeze?
Any concerns with Moisture, ice, foul taste pickup (I have baking soda in the freezer but you never know)


Thanks!!!
 
Hmmm.. Never heard of freezing stogies. I've always just stored them via humidor and allowed them to age.
 
Well I will tell you how I do it - I'm sure others have an opinion.

I have a food sealer. If the whole box will fit in a bag - then that's how it goes. If not then I simply place them in the bag. Turn the machine on - suck out the excess air - it seals the bag and it's good to go. I then place the bag in the freezer for about 4 days. After that I take the bag out and toss it into a cooler. Next day or so I cut it open and either remove the box or return the smokes to whatever box they came from.
If it was singles from the start then they go into whatever container within the cooler or they go into a humidor.

For me it's a no fuss no muss type deal. I freeze every single cigar that I get - zero loss to damage or otherwise. Since the food sealer removes the excess air - there is no excess moisture to condensate inside the package.

Ron
 
I dont freeze as of yet, I probably will start next summer, and I'll use the method Ron described (thanks alot Ron, wife wants one of those for Christmas) Anyways to comment on the taste afterward and its effects....Ive traded with Ron and have smoked about a dozen of his cigars and the tastes werent affected at all IMO.....if I didnt know he had froze them I wouldnt have ever known by the taste.
 
I've frozen my stuff from one of my humidors once...

during a particularly hot week here in SoCal... the temp in that humidor shot up past 80 degrees and the RH climbed past 80 too! in the subsequent days, I There wasn't any signs of beatles, but I still got all paranoid about em.

tossed em all in a freezer ziplock and sucked out the air (or as much as I could) and sealed the bag... first I put them in the fridge for a day ... then moved them to the freezer for a couple days. probably didn't need to be in there that long, but I wanted to be sure... after that I moved them to the fridge for a day or so and then after that a few hours to get them to room temp, then back to my cleaned out and re-seasoned humidor... after a couple weeks to rehabilitate good as new... er... well, not "new"... you know what I mean.

smokes seemed fine and I felt way more at ease about them after freezing.
 
I freeze almost everything. Stuff I don't freeze never goes in my humidor, it stays in a smaller tupperware container.

Historically, I triple bag the cigars using zip-lock freezer bags and squeeze as much of the air out as possible (should prevent them from picking up any odors as well). I then wrap the bags in aluminum foil. I don't really have a good reason for doing this other than the fact that it reduces freezer burn when you store meat in the freezer, figured it really couldn't hurt. They go directly into a freezer (in my case a -20C) for three days, followed by one day in the refrigerator and one day at RT still sealed in the zip-lock bags. I then put them into the humidor for long-term storage. If I bought a whole box, I also place the box in the freezer separately. If it doesn't fit in a zip-lock bag, I would just wrap it really well in seran wrap.

I say historically, because recently I have been going the route of RGD. At first I was a little worried about vacuum seeling, however, many vendors vacuum seal cigars before sending, so it must be ok. This is especially conveniant for whole boxes, since you don't have to use multiple bags to freeze the whole box. I usually use the manual setting and just stop it before all the air has been sucked out. The rest of the freezing process is the same and you can re-use the bags multiple times if you cut them a little longer in the first place.

For singles, I still use the zip-lock bags since I don't want to vacuum seal anything without a box - afraid of crushing the cigars.

After freezing, I wait at least 30 days before smoking. I figure this gives them some time to return to normal after the freezing process.
 
Have you checked the Habanos only lounge? They do alot of freezing due to tabacco beetles, theres probably a thread regarding freezing over their.
 
smokin' machinist said:
not to hijack this thread, but, what happens if the cigars are not into ziploc or vacuum seal bags?
Click to expand...

My guess would be that the excessive moisture would cause damage as they freeze and thaw.

Landers said:
Can someone explain why you should freeze cigars?
Click to expand...

Beetles and fear of them. Keep your smokes in the correct temp and RH levels and it should not be a problem. I do it as a precaution.


Ron
 
smokin' machinist said:
not to hijack this thread, but, what happens if the cigars are not into ziploc or vacuum seal bags?
Click to expand...

Many (most?) of us don't have access to vacuum sealers. You DO want to minimize the amount of air inside the bag to avoid freezer burn. Some say lack of oxygen will kill the bettles, but unless you have a vacuum sealer...

I double/triple ziplock the cigars, throw them in the fridge for 24hrs so the shock of the freezer isn't so bad. Then into the freezer for 4 days, followed by 24hrs more in the fridge, then into the humi for several days STILL IN THE ZIPLOCK(S). Then back into rotation, although I let them rest for several months before smoking.

Everyone has a different method- here is my rationalization:
I can't afford to replace everything I have instock, so I freeze everything. I care about you guys, and would never forgive myself if I sent sticks out which infected your stock, so I freeze everything.

Google the subject and you'll find various time to leave in freezer, depending on how cold your freezer is. I figure if your're going to bother, do a good job and don't short the freezing time, thus- 4 days in the freezer.
The day in the fridge prior to and after the freezer is critical for not subjecting the cigars to drastic temperature changes. Sure, lots of guys get away with not doing that. But the next box of smokes which was overhumidified by the vendor for shipping which you freeze could easily expand and bust some wrappers; it's your choice.
We're all super-anal about RH and temp; why not about freezing too?

My :2 - hope at least 1 person takes it to heart.
 
Hey guys, Thanks for the info. I got a shipment in and because of the crazy weather (temps of 40-80 and Humidity ranging from 50-70's) I was thinking I should freeze. I think I will freeze them using the foil and freezer bags.
 
RGD said:
My guess would be that the excessive moisture would cause damage as they freeze and thaw.
Click to expand...

Most freezers are auto-defrosting. This means that they remove moisture from the freezer. So you will seriously dry out your cigars instead of adding moisture. The less air you have in the bags, the less moisture will condense while freezing, and the better off your precious stogies will be. :)
 
RGD said:
My guess would be that the excessive moisture would cause damage as they freeze and thaw.



Beetles and fear of them. Keep your smokes in the correct temp and RH levels and it should not be a problem. I do it as a precaution.


Ron
Click to expand...

Correct, freezing cigars without bagging or vaccum sealing them (removing as much air as possible) will cause the wrapper and binder to split as they shed excess moisture quicker than the filler, rendering your cigars unsmokable. Ask me how I know, I learned this the lazy way 10 years ago.
 
hornitosmonster said:
Hey guys, Thanks for the info. I got a shipment in and because of the crazy weather (temps of 40-80 and Humidity ranging from 50-70's) I was thinking I should freeze. I think I will freeze them using the foil and freezer bags.
Click to expand...


Keep this in mind - once you start to freeze your smokes - you really need to keep doing it for all future shipments.

Let's say you freeze what you currently have and then toss them in a cooler. You pretty much assume your safe. Later on you get another shipment in and don't freeze it. If that one does have beetles then it might infect the ones that you already froze. See how that works.


Ron
 
I store of my cigars in a large cabinet. So any beetles have the potential to wipe out all of my cigars ...:hn

I freeze everything. Pretty similar method to others listed here:
- Double bag all cigars in ziplocks; squeeze out air
Day 1: In Fridge
Day 2: In Freezer
Day 3: Freezer
Day 4: Freezer
Day 5: to Fridge
Day 6: to Room Temp
Day 7: to Humidor !

I try to wait ~30 days until I smoke them. But sometimes I may sample ..:w
 
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