Coolerdor

[beachape]

So I thought that I wouldn't be interested in making a pumidor, because it seemed like an expensive endeavor. However I saw someone mention the idea of a coolerdor. I was wondering if anyone had tried this. (Please forgive me if this topic has been made previously)

I was thinking about getting a cheap Styrofoam cooler ($10) or maybe a plastic one if I have an extra $10 burning a hole in my pocked. Then Insert pu, insert humidifying agent, and hygrometer.

For humidifying I was thinking either floral foam, those cigar humidifying tubes, or those cat litter silica beads.

Has anyone tried this. Any downsides? I realize it would only fit a small collection, and would need to be aired out weekly. But being a closed environment, I would actually be able to keep the humidity up.

[shogun89]

There are a few problems, i dont know about foam but plastic coolers have a very strong plastic smell. Also, you are creating a air tight environment. If too much humidity is produced you will get moldy cakes. I made a wooden box once and got so paranoid about mold that i moved everything out. all my cakes seem to be doing great in the closet now. floral foam works great for humidifying however be prepared to replace it cause it will mold even with distilled water. basically, it will work but it is risky business. I figure I have too much to loose now.

[pb2q]

see: http://themandarinstea.blogspot.com/200 ... orage.html

[beachape]

Hmm...you raise a good point. I don't want mold. However living in WI it gets pretty dry (especially in winter with the heat). If I can successfully keep it at or around 70% and air it out weekly is it still a concern for mold? I thought that it was a greater concern if it got up to 80,90%.

I was thinking about putting a few of these things in there

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gel-Humidifier-Ciga ... 286.c0.m14

Unfortunately I wouldn't have a closet or a drawer available for my pu.

shogun89: You mentioned that you tried out a wooden box. How were you humidifying, and did you actually get mold? I'm not going to get too paranoid because my collection is small and not expensive.

Has anyone else tried something similar and had good or bad(mold) results?

[TIM]

http://www.stogiechat.com/cigar-forum/v ... forum_id=6

Enjoy and at your own risk

[shogun89]

I had a post around here somewhere about my building process. The box i built is about the size of your average cooler. It was defiantly humid inside, I was holding about 70% which after calibrating my hydrometer found out it was 77%. One day I looked at my cakes as an inspection, and found some green powdery substance on one of them. At the time I thought it was mold, I took everything out and put them in my closet,I didnt open up the pumidor for a week. When i eventually did, the whole inside was covered with a dusting of mold. So moral of the story is, be careful, if I had left the cakes forgotten for a week, they would have molded. (The cake really didnt have mold it was just tea dust from manufacture).

[beachape]

Thanks for the info shogun89. I'm glad you saved your pu before things got ugly.

I'm surprised it got moldy so quickly. I can see why you got nervous. I've read some posts that someone keeps their pu in a plastic container. I think I will try out a cheap cooler or big plastic container. It will be a fun experiment. Won't start for a while, but I'll let you know what happens. I think that I will stay away from the florist foam. I'll try something that keeps around 70% like silica beads or that humidifier gel stuff with glycol.

[shogun89]

Thanks for the info shogun89. I'm glad you saved your pu before things got ugly.

I'm surprised it got moldy so quickly. I can see why you got nervous. I've read some posts that someone keeps their pu in a plastic container. I think I will try out a cheap cooler or big plastic container. It will be a fun experiment. Won't start for a while, but I'll let you know what happens. I think that I will stay away from the florist foam. I'll try something that keeps around 70% like silica beads or that humidifier gel stuff with glycol.

Sounds good. Just make sure you get the plastic smell out, and constantly check the humidity. Also make sure you open it a few times a week or so. I wish you luck.

[TIM]

Thanks for the info shogun89. I'm glad you saved your pu before things got ugly.

I'm surprised it got moldy so quickly. I can see why you got nervous. I've read some posts that someone keeps their pu in a plastic container. I think I will try out a cheap cooler or big plastic container. It will be a fun experiment. Won't start for a while, but I'll let you know what happens. I think that I will stay away from the florist foam. I'll try something that keeps around 70% like silica beads or that humidifier gel stuff with glycol.

Sounds good. Just make sure you get the plastic smell out, and constantly check the humidity. Also make sure you open it a few times a week or so. I wish you luck.

Watching the temp. is equally important for this process. If its under 65F. even the humd. went up to 75% will still be safe. Just don't do this to Shu.

[beachape]

Thanks TIM.

Question though...Why not shu?

Because of the low cost of my proposed coolerdor (5-10$), I was planning to make a shu and a sheng coolerdor.

I understand that shu and sheng will have very different microbial content. And i suspect this is why you warn against shu. Has anyone tried tried to store shu in a pu-midor? I also know that the returns of "aging" shu are not as great...but still desirable to a degree.

Now I'm thinking too much...but I wonder if aging shu and sheng are entirely different processes. While sheng is aging by fermenting, is aging shu ONLY airing out and has nothing to do with fermenting?

So back to a more practical question. It gets REALLY dry inside my apartment in the Winter. In your opinions: is it worthwhile to keep shu at some degree of humidity (maybe 50-60%?), or should I just let them dry out? All suggestions welcome.

[odarwin]

just my opinion and observation...

i just notice that shou and sheng ages differently. i get mold from my shou if there is not enough air circulation plus 85% and above humidity. but for sheng, they have relatively higher tolerance for high humidity levels.

-darwin

[TIM]

Thanks TIM.

Question though...Why not shu?

Because of the low cost of my proposed coolerdor (5-10$), I was planning to make a shu and a sheng coolerdor.

I understand that shu and sheng will have very different microbial content. And i suspect this is why you warn against shu. Has anyone tried tried to store shu in a pu-midor? I also know that the returns of "aging" shu are not as great...but still desirable to a degree.

Now I'm thinking too much...but I wonder if aging shu and sheng are entirely different processes. While sheng is aging by fermenting, is aging shu ONLY airing out and has nothing to do with fermenting?

So back to a more practical question. It gets REALLY dry inside my apartment in the Winter. In your opinions: is it worthwhile to keep shu at some degree of humidity (maybe 50-60%?), or should I just let them dry out? All suggestions welcome.

imo. Shu need to breath, even in 50-60% hum. it will still be able to aged nicely.
During the process of making shu, mold will develop among many other nasty thing. The 'pile' will be 'clean' after the artificial fermentation, but most of the time 20+% of the byproduct (mold) will not be fully terminated.... so if you recreate an idea environment (no air circulation), the mold spores might get their second chance.

[odarwin]

hi tim, so for shou, which is better?
to put it in the office where the air is not fresh but humidity is 45-55% all the time or at home where it gets natural humidity but has chances of mold spores coming back?

its been raining here for a week now with 75-80% humidity, all the raw cakes are fine, and even has a nice pungent smell, but its a different story for the shou... most are ok, but there is a cake or 2 that i found with mold spores on them... they are all in cardboard boxes with ample air circulation through out the day with the help of a fan and sometimes a dehumidifier.

-darwin

[beachape]

To piggy-back on odarwin's question:

Which is better, to leave the shu out in the open during the very dry winters or to put it in a coolerdor at 70%? I'm not sure how dry it gets in the winter here in WI, but it gets very dry inside. It is fun to see all the static electricity sparks on your clothes and bed sheets at night though, ha.