Burn problem , please help

[seanbeer]

I think i have over humifiered my stock, now all my sticks burn like this:

1. start off ok, taste ok.



2. then come the irregular burn


3. the inner seems not burning while the outter burn very quickly, ashes are very loose, money wasted



i think i have to find a dry box and stablise them again.

how long will it need?

1. do i keep them in a box without humifier and wait till the RH drop? they have been keeping themslves at 68-69RH for few days now even without humifier in a zip bag.

2. or do i keep it a somewhere as dry as 50RH so that it will dry faster?

its giving me a headache. they smoked beatiful when just come out from the shop's humi room.

advises highly apperciated

[SeanP]

A crooked burn can come down to a lot of things. The way the tobacco is bunched when rolled (tight/loose), the shape of the bunch ('U' shaped bunches run while 'S' shaped bunches burn more evenly), the type of tobacco used (ligero burns very poorly and slower then other tobaccos), wind & drafts, even the cut on the cap of the cigar may cause more draw on one side then the other.

Are you a holder or rester when you smoke? If you rest your cigar a lot try to put the slow burn side facing down as that will help it 'catch up' a bit. If you are a holder, keep your lighter out and be prepared to do a few touch ups here and there to correct the burn.

But I don't think it has much to do with your humidity levels as much as it has to do with variations within a bunch of leaves. If you go bouncing the RH up and down it will only give you real problems. If I were you, I would put them back in a humi and keep the RH stable for a week or so. Then smoke them as you would. Remember, at the end of the day it's only a bunch of leaves rolled up by many different human hands. You will get variations.

[seanbeer]

thanks, fully understand there are variations.

I am a holder, your mentioning of cut reminds me of one thing, at the shop i cut the cigar, when i smoke outside, i use the punch on my ligther, this might be one reason too.

well, learning takes time and money.

i will try to get it stable at 65RH for a few weeks , at this moment, they certianly feel too moist, they are kind of went all soft, then i will just smoke them, if i can't get the storage right, i will just have to buy as i smoke, keep only a week or two's supply in zip bags.

[bigbarneyhotdog]

Smoking outside is your enemy, the wind will do this

[daverave999]

I don't think this is overhumidification. Wind is most likely to be the problem if you're outside. If you've bought them as singles, there's always the possibility that they are too young, which often seems to cause burn problems for me.

[DeadBase]

I've always thought it was a combination of me puffing too hard and the wind. I tend to try and shield the burn and hold it with the canoeing edge pointing downwards to compensate without having to touch-up.

[seanbeer]

thanks guys

[seanbeer]

damn in the tupperware box for 3 days now, without any humifications, kept at a 20C/40RH environment, they just get softer and sfter, i am taking them out in can just let me keep in the room temp 25C-28C/50-60RH.

i don't kown where the moist come from in that platic box, may be it won't let teh moist cigar get rid of the moist.

[daverave999]

Re: Burn problem , please help

Have you calibrated your hygrometer recently?

[seanbeer]

yes, i have 4 of them , i they varys by 1-2%, 2 of them spot on.

i think they are super moist now. i thought the drymistat suppose to stop release moist over 70% right? seems not the case.

[Son of Cigarsmoke]

damn in the tupperware box for 3 days now, without any humifications, kept at a 20C/40RH environment, they just get softer and sfter, i am taking them out in can just let me keep in the room temp 25C-28C/50-60RH.

i don't kown where the moist come from in that platic box, may be it won't let teh moist cigar get rid of the moist.

A lot of my sticks whent like that, i just left the lid off the humidor and left them open untill the humidity went down and they eventualy got back in shape, it did take a couple of weeks though so you may have to just be patient unless anyone knows a better way?
I also constantly have the problem of uneven burning, i guess its just the wind though...

[nicwing]

I've always thought it was a combination of me puffing too hard and the wind. I tend to try and shield the burn and hold it with the canoeing edge pointing downwards to compensate without having to touch-up.

So a new tip there: Never smoke a cigar if you have the wind!

[seanbeer]

They are drying down a bit now since i removed them from the tupperdor, they felt firmer but i can feel teh fillers are still quite moist, i have put them back into my tupperdor withh all the sticks in itm it read 61RH, i have a cut down 2 inches of drymistat in it, over the night, the RH has rasied by 1RH, now reads 62RH, when it hits 63/64, i will remove that drymistat and see how they felt, hopefuly i will smoke one over hte weekend to see if they are any better, if i have the time.

[larrysputnik]

You might want to get rid of the tupperdor and get a real humidor. A good humidor is not an air-tight seal like tupperware. There needs to be a little bit of airflow to keep the cigars from being over humidified. Tupperware does not allow for the same kind of flow as a well-constructed humidor.

I had a tupperdor for a little while until I figured this out. My cigars were always too moist. Craftsmen's Bench makes really good humidors. I got a nice desktop humidor for $60 and it has been my best humidor purchase of all.

[seanbeer]

i did think about getting one and they are pretty affordable here in Hong Kong as i can order one from China.

the problem is with a real humidor, its too big in my wine fridge which is where I am able to manage temp under 20C, ambrient temp in my flat in summer goes up to 27C during noon. that's why i opted for a small tupperware which i can keep in the wine fridge.

say if i go for a proper humidor and keep it at rather high room temp. will it harm them apart from risk of the beetles? which i am willing to take the risk as i am not storing tehm long term and will only be keeping no more than 30 sticks

so lesson learnt, u need air circulation in order not to over humify and my tightly shut tupper ware did not and hence most cigar