QUESTION: Should You Ever FREEZE Your Cigars for Killing Eggs, Bugs, Mold etc? And WIN Cool SWAG Here!

When I was a kid, my dad smoked cigars and I always loved the smell as he fired up a stick as I enjoyed the luscious scent from the back seat of his old Plymouth. He loved his hand rolled treats and I’d say he smoked two to three per day. Now dad didn’t have a humidor back in the day, you see he kept his cigar boxes in the freezer, next to the half-gallon box of Neapolitan ice cream and on top of the Swanson frozen food dinners. An hour before he smoked, he took out his cigar so it would warm up to room temperature.

Back then we had an inch or two of solid frost and ice caked around the inside of the entire freezer and the frozen food in there was covered with ice. And I really don’t know why my pop kept them in there, but he said they kept in nice condition so who was I to argue. But the real question is, was that good or bad for his hand rolled cigars?

Well, I can say this – it wasn’t bad for the smokes at all. You see, the refrigerator was the old style that was caked with frost, which were ice crystals, which was made from: WATER. That meant there was a decent humidity level inside which kept his sticks moist. And dad was smart waiting an hour to smoke one because if he lit it straight from the freezer, what an exploding, unraveled mess that would be. So, the bottom line is that his cigar actually did stay in good shape.

Let’s move forward to today. I ask you, for whatever reason, can you keep your prized cigars in the fridge or the freezer? Well, the answer is a resounding NO! Say what? I said NO, bloody NO!!! And why not? Well, it’s kind of simple. Today’s refrigerators are FROST FREE, meaning there’s no two inches of caked up ice in the freezer, meaning there’s no humidity going on in there. Today’s refrigerators actually suck the humidity from your cigars and dry them out, so the answer is pretty simple now, ain’t it? It’s NO.

Today, all the reputable manufacturers do indeed freeze their cigars, and for three full days at extremely cold temperatures. They do this to kill and destroy any mold, eggs or bugs that might be in the leaf. They place the boxes on palates, enter them into the freezer for a day or so, then place them into a second unit which is a lot less colder. And then, they move them to a third unit which is even less colder. What they’re doing is slowly bringing them back to room temperature, so they don’t swell or break apart.

Now the only cigars I know that might have bugs I’ve seen are Cubans or much lesser known factory brands. I’m not saying that all Cuban cigars have beetles, but I’ve seen them come out when they are kept in temperatures that are too high and when the humidity is too high as well But I can tell you that I’ve never seen them in name brand hand-rolds from Nicaragua, Honduras or the Dominican Republic.

So, it’s my opinion that you really don’t need to put your cigars in the fridge as they should be ready to smoke and take on the conditions you have them in.

THIS MONTH’S SWEEPSTAKES GIVEAWAY!

This month cigar maker and renowned chef, Lars Tetens is in da house with a 3-tierd prize pack that’s worth $110 in value!

3 GRAND PRIZE WINNERS will be chosen – each prize pack includes an awesome t-shirt, baseball cap, and a 3 of Lars’s tasty Spice Sticks! It’s running ‘til the end of the month and all you’ve got to do is put your email address in the form and you are officially in the running!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 1 vote

Article Rating