Freeze Treating – Prevent Tobacco Beetles
Tobacco beetles… You probably have heard horror stories of ruined cigar collections. Maybe it happened to you. I’ve heard many stories of people who opened their humidor, only to find that their cigars are ruined. Fortunately, I have never had this happen to me, and I have a theory as to why. 
Any cigars placed in to my main humidor are freeze treated. There are no exceptions. Cigars that I plan on smoking soon without being treated are placed into my small humidor. Along with freeze treating, obviously proper storage is a must. You can read more on that subject HERE.
Before we get into my method, I should mention some tobacco companies do this before cigars are shipped. The idea is to kill any remaining eggs or larva in their cigars. Freeze treating has been debated on the Internet and elseware for years. Some claim the flavors are reduced, others claim there is no difference. I’ve heard the argument that home freezers don’t get cold enough to make a difference. Here’s my take…
I’ve been freeze treating my cigars for years. I have not seen any reduction in taste, nor have I had any wrapper or construction issues as a result of freeze treatments. My home freezer is 10 years old, and gets as cold as -15 degrees F. When done with the method below, you will have no problems. And so far, I have had no beetle outbreaks here in the tropical weather of Florida.
The first thing you will need is quality freezer bags. Place your cigars in the bag in a single row, and try to evacuate as much air as possible, without putting pressure on the cigars. Seal the bag, and place that bag inside of another freezer bag. Below is a picture of a couple batches of smokes about to be treated.
I prefer to make the transition to freezing as gradual as possible, so I place the bag into the refrigerator for a few hours. Once the cigars are nice and cool, I place them into the freezer for at the most 72 hours.
Once the 72 hours is up, I move the bag back into the refrigerator for around 8 to 12 hours. This will eliminate condensation from forming and soaking your cigars.
Finally… I remove the cigars from the refrigerator and let them sit at room temperature, in the double bags, for around 10-12 hours. The last two steps really ease the transition from freezing back to room temperature.
Now the cigars are ready to go into the humidor. I like to let them rest for at least one or two weeks before I smoke them. I’ve experimented with different lengths of time, and have settled on this.
I’m sure some of you are saying…”This is a lot of effort.” I disagree. When done in batches, it isn’t a big deal at all. Now if you are the type of smoker who doesn’t store their cigars for a long period of time, freeze treatments may not be for you.
If you are like me, you let your cigars sit for awhile. Weeks, months, and sometimes years. If there is any step I can take that may prevent my collection from being eaten, I’ll take it. I can’t provide any concrete, scientific evidence that I will never get tobacco beetles. I also can’t find any concrete evidence to support or remove any validity to freeze treatments. All I know is, so far with this method, I’ve been beetle free for years.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Tips and Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
CWS April 22nd, 2009 at 5:20 am
Just don’t buy Graycliff cigars – big offender of beetles.