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Dry Boxing

I read this whole thread, and my main thought is I just want a damn cigar. But I am too lazy to drive the three munutes to Outlaw.
 
Great post Bill, I too have been a long time advocate of dry boxing...that's how I was taught. I have also been an advocate of aging cigars at a higher humidity, in my case, between 70 & 72%. In larger humidors, the bottom areas & floors usually will be a few percentage points wetter than up higher...I've always used this to my advantage by using that zone for long term aging.

As a kid growing up in the pre-air conditioning era, dry boxing was necessary in that you sometimes needed to pull out humidity past the ambient conditions. I never knew it at the time, but it was explained to me years later when I started smoking cigars (and had air conditioning), how they would put cloth in their dry box humidor or old cigar box to absorb moisture.

I have always enjoyed the 'game' of figuring out the timing with dry boxing....based on all the variables. It becomes more of a feel than anything. All cigars discharge moisture differently based largely on density. Just like small ring sizes will dry quicker than larger ring sizes...lightly squeezing a cigar as it dries will tell you a lot about how it will smoke that day.
 
BlindedByScience said:
Just ordered this for the small 'dry' humidor - Bill, thanks for the inspiration...!!

http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/proddetail.asp?prod=HT_2_60
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Perfect Tom, looking forward to hearing how it is coming along...

ironpeddler said:
Great post Bill, I too have been a long time advocate of dry boxing...that's how I was taught. I have also been an advocate of aging cigars at a higher humidity, in my case, between 70 & 72%. In larger humidors, the bottom areas & floors usually will be a few percentage points wetter than up higher...I've always used this to my advantage by using that zone for long term aging.

As a kid growing up in the pre-air conditioning era, dry boxing was necessary in that you sometimes needed to pull out humidity past the ambient conditions. I never knew it at the time, but it was explained to me years later when I started smoking cigars (and had air conditioning), how they would put cloth in their dry box humidor or old cigar box to absorb moisture.

I have always enjoyed the 'game' of figuring out the timing with dry boxing....based on all the variables. It becomes more of a feel than anything. All cigars discharge moisture differently based largely on density. Just like small ring sizes will dry quicker than larger ring sizes...lightly squeezing a cigar as it dries will tell you a lot about how it will smoke that day.
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Thanks Gary! I am the same way... Love to age my precious stock at around 70 percent.. It makes a big difference 20 plus years down the road.

I also do the squeeze test, it is a bit more difficult with the large ring sticks, but you can figure it out after a bit of practice...
 
Got the 'red cap' 60% bead tube from the great guys at Heartfelt, got my little hygo with a new battery in the little humidor, added some DI to the red tube, threw in a 62% Bovida to get things seasoned......work in progress....!!

I'll post a pic sometime over the weekend. You can all take turns laughing at me when you see the humidor that I thought "....oh, that's PLENTY big enough for a few cigars...."......:D
 
Bill, thanks for this thread. I've started dryboxing again over the last month or so using my 18 count cigar-caddy humidified with a Boveda 62%. I'm not sure why exactly I got away from the process, but my cigars are smoking notably better.
 
Sorry for bringing up an old thread! I saw the info posted in today’s smoke and had a question if possible. Some threads I read discuss leaving it sealed in a container for one week that has a good seal and no humidification. Something about the humidity the cigars kept from the humidor will stay in the box albeit at a lower humidity while doing the job? Is this true or just a horse drawn buggy of fresh plant food?

Also, can you dry box with tupperdor? Stupid question I know but I’m limited/grounded on resources until.....hell probably my birthday lol
 
Thoughts said:
Sorry for bringing up an old thread! I saw the info posted in today’s smoke and had a question if possible. Some threads I read discuss leaving it sealed in a container for one week that has a good seal and no humidification. Something about the humidity the cigars kept from the humidor will stay in the box albeit at a lower humidity while doing the job? Is this true or just a horse drawn buggy of fresh plant food?

Also, can you dry box with tupperdor? Stupid question I know but I’m limited/grounded on resources until.....hell probably my birthday lol
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It will probably take longer but I don't know. Put a hygrometer in with the cigars and see where it settles. Looking for low 60s RH.
 
Thoughts said:
Sorry for bringing up an old thread! I saw the info posted in today’s smoke and had a question if possible. Some threads I read discuss leaving it sealed in a container for one week that has a good seal and no humidification. Something about the humidity the cigars kept from the humidor will stay in the box albeit at a lower humidity while doing the job? Is this true or just a horse drawn buggy of fresh plant food?

Also, can you dry box with tupperdor? Stupid question I know but I’m limited/grounded on resources until.....hell probably my birthday lol
Click to expand...

There are 2 trains of thought on this:

1. Dry box in a box/tupperdor/humidor with no humidification. You're basically "drying" out your cigars, enough that they don't tunnel or have any other side affects from humidification. These lose all humidity.

2. Dry box in a box/tupperdor/humidor with low humidification. If you store your cigars at 70 and you dry box at 60, you'll still have some humidity and the flavors won't have been lost.

In essence.
 
I used my desk drawer for a long time, and trust me, that didn't have any humidification devices present. Put a cigar in there for a couple days....worked pretty darn well.
 
First ever experience with Hearfelt beads this week. Very sorry I didn't just spend a little more before when the spring/summer humidity management starts to become an issue. My main humidor had been been spiking to 70%, so I put in one dry as-is pound of 65% beads in two 3x8 media bags a couple of days ago and that thing hasn't budged from 65% since. If I ever see the 60% beads back on their site I'll pick some up for dry boxing too.
 
I only dry box when I *know* a particular stick will have burn issues, judging by how soft/damp they are.
 
CigSid said:
There have been quite a few posts on dry boxing... here is one more :)

Cigars should be stored at between 67 and 70 percent humidity, to prevent the precious oils from drying up, and for maximum aging potential. However, smoking them at this humidity causes some problems... such as tunneling, re-lights, bitter and hot tasting smoke and more... The ideal humidity to smoke cigars is between 60 and 62 percent humidity. (especially Cuban cigars)

Many Europeans store their cigars between 55 and 62 percent, which I believe is a tragedy. Sure, they may smoke great at first, but after several years, you will have ruined your entire stock. Unfortunately, I have purchased many boxes stored just like this, and have not been very happy with the results.

You can purchase a small humidor from Amazon (just like this one) for 25 bucks, that works perfectly.

Here is a picture of mine:
View attachment 18604

Here it is opened:
View attachment 18605

I use 60 percent Heartfelt beads (you can see them here) Buy a half pound, and they will last a lifetime. (I have had mine over 10 years and they still work perfectly) Make sure you only wet a small area on one side, so the beads can regulate the humidity.

So, for around 50 bucks, you can have a perfect dry box setup. Believe me when I tell you it is worth it...

Make sure you "season" your dry box. (plenty of info on seasoning humidors on this site)

Here is a simple recipe for success:

1. Store your cigars between 67 and 70 percent humidity
2. One day each week grab enough cigars to smoke that week.
3. Put them in your dry box.
4. Smoke the smaller gauge cigars first, the larger gauge cigars last.
5. Rotate your cigars daily, this will contribute to an even burn.
6. Share this with at least one other brother (or sister)

Please let me know how much better your cigars are tasting and burning, after you do this.

CigSid
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I am sorry to revive an old thread but I just wanted any newbie that searches the forum to see this.

So I have practiced with dry boxing over 2-3 months. First of all my setup is a cigar box with a tight seal (tested with hygrometer) and a bovida 62% packet (all I had at the time).

I would pull out a few to place in the box and smoke them throughout the week, then I would pull one from my humidor that remains at a constant 69-70 degrees and 67-68% humidity to smoke that day. I would try the different cigars at different intervals through the week in the dry box while trying to keep the same sizes in the dry box and humidor to test the dry box effectiveness.

Holy shit was I surprised.

My straight from humidor cigars would have some good flavors but would have awful burns
9B00E6A9-6580-4542-A7B9-25001EE67733.jpeg

While my cigars throughout the week would have better and better burns. The one pictured above was a nice cigar that I had stored for a while in the humidor that I paid good money for. I ended up relighting and touching it up multiple times through the night.

As the cigars that sat in the dry box would rest, I would get more pronounced flavors and even burns that required no upkeep whatsoever. This happened so frequently that I ended up ordering a 60% humidity bead pack to hopefully be delivered soon.

TLDR: dry boxing is worth it, even if it sits only for 2-3 days it definitely helped the burns on my cigars and decrease the touch ups needed
 
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