The humidor is a critical piece of equipment for keeping your cigars safe and is essential to their flavor since it maintains a more suitable atmosphere for their preservation. It’s important to season your humidor because failure to do so could compromise the quality of your cigars after they’ve been kept inside.
Seasoning isn’t tricky, but it does take time and patience. The process of seasoning your humidor keeps the flavors in your cigars longer and keeps them in perfect shape after you buy them. Additionally, it would assist in shielding your cigars from a number of potentially harmful elements, such as oxygen, light, and temperature variations.
Seasoning requires careful maintenance and protection of your new piece of furniture. It is best to start seasoning your humidor when it is new and empty because if you don’t, you run the danger of damaging the wood or your humidor.
However, if you’ve never used a humidor before, are unsure of how to season it, or are having difficulty doing so, we’ve included some of the things you may do to season your humidor below.
1. Buy a reliable digital hygrometer, then calibrate it
People are becoming more and more fascinated with how fresh cigars are, but many don’t have reliable humidors. Keeping your humidifier calibrated is crucial for ensuring the integrity of both your humidifier and how you store cigars. You can achieve it with the help of a reliable digital hygrometer.
Your humidor’s humidity levels can be monitored and measured with a reliable digital hygrometer. This procedure will guarantee that the humidity level in your humidor is correct and constant throughout the year.
However, suppose your hygrometer is not calibrated correctly and does not provide accurate readings with its default setting. In that case, you will experience issues when storing your cigars, and they won’t age as they should if this happens.
Here are some easy steps to follow if you’re unsure how to calibrate your hygrometer. The best approach to test whether your digital hygrometer provides accurate readings is to place it in a bag with a humidity pack. In the event that it didn’t, you might start adjusting the data in accordance with the outcomes of putting the device in a humidity pack.
A perfect example will be if your hygrometer’s display reads 63% even though the humidity pack is at 65%. The three buttons on the device’s back allow you to adjust it. C, plus, and minus buttons should be present.
Start by pushing the C button; after you notice the hygrometer’s bottom number change, press the plus button to increase it, adding two digits to get the result to 65% in the example. After that, hit the C button once more. This is the easiest method for calibrating your hygrometer to make sure it accurately measures humidity levels.
2. Do the "Salt Test"
The salt test is another great way to season your humidor as it prevents the wood from drying out, resulting in cleaner, more flavorful smoke, and helps it keep the right amount of moisture within.
You can enhance flavor and lengthen the life of your cigars if you do it correctly. However, this one can be a little challenging. According to Neptune Cigars, here’s how you can accomplish it.
Start by wetting a teaspoon of table salt in a small container with a few drops of water without allowing it to dissolve. Afterward, the wet salt and hygrometer should be carefully placed into a transparent container and sealed tightly. Next, note the hygrometer reading without opening the container after letting it sit for at least 6 hours.
The discrepancy between the actual and expected humidity levels indicates your hygrometer’s inaccuracy. For instance, if your hygrometer indicates 70% during the salt method test, you must add 5 points to get the accurate humidity level, which is 75%. You can adjust it by following the above instructions for calibrating your hygrometer.
3. Put humidor seasoning packs
Seasoning your humidor will help it become outstanding. You have two options: either think it through and put some effort into it or just buy humidor seasoning packs and use them each time. The plant-based ingredients in these items help the porous wooden walls to open up and release essential oils, giving them a durable and long-lasting beauty.
Furthermore, it’s pretty simple to use; all you need to do is set the pack in the bottom of your new humidor and watch as the seasonings take in moisture from there. This is also perfect for those cigar lovers out there who don’t have much time to season their humidor.
