A humidor is any kind of
box or room with constant humidity (and often, temperature
as well), used to store
cigars
or
pipe
tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass
humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are appropriate, while
cigar shops often have walk-in humidors, sometimes covering
a whole floor. Humidors of all sizes use hygrometers to keep
track of the humidity levels.
Maintenance
The ideal humidity in a humidor is
around 65-70%, with the box filled close to the rim. The
more empty space, the more readily the humidity will drop.
Humidors are made of Spanish-cedar
wood or plastic. Spanish-cedar is suitable for aging cigars
for three reasons.
- It holds more moisture than most
woods, so it helps maintain humidity.
- The aroma imparts itself to the
cigars if they are retained in it for long enough. That is
also why some cigars are wrapped in Spanish-cedar sheets
when you buy them. Tobacco blenders use this to give
cigars an extra dimension in flavor.
- Spanish-cedar wood sometimes
repels tobacco beetles, although there have been instances
where the beetles have eaten through the wood. These
pinhead-sized beetles can ruin entire stocks of cigars.
They eat the tobacco and lay eggs, causing further
infestation. These beetles can also be discouraged by
ensuring the humidor does not get hotter than 20°C. The
beetle eggs usually only hatch at around 25°C, although
there are also instances where they will hatch at cooler
temperatures if the humidity is too high.
Each humidor has to be seasoned
after being bought or having been dry for a while. Take a
moist cloth and wipe down the interior to remove any dust.
Then place a shot glass or a container of similar size in
the humidor and fill it with distilled water. Keep the
humidor closed overnight. If the water is gone or mostly
gone, then repeat for another 24 hours. When the humidor is
not absorbing any more humidity, the cigars can be placed in
it. The humidifying element or "sponge" keeps the wood
moist, which in turn keeps the cigars moist
Hygrometers
Hygrometers are instruments
used for measuring humidity. The simplest form of a
hygrometer is specifically known as a "psychrometer" and
consists of two thermometers, one of which has its bulb
constantly kept wet which measures the "wet bulb
temperature". Evaporation from the bulb lowers the
temperature so that this thermometer usually shows a lower
temperature than that of the dry bulb thermometer. However,
when the air temperature is below freezing, it is possible
for the "wet bulb" (actually a thin coating of ice) to be
warmer than the dry bulb. Relative Humidity is computed from
the ambient temperature as shown by the "dry bulb
thermometer" and the difference in temperature shown by the
"wet bulb" and dry bulb thermometers. Relative humidity can
also be determined by locating the intersect of the the wet
and dry bulb temperatures on a psychrometric chart. One
device that uses the wet/dry bulb method is the sling
psychrometer, where the thermometers are attached to a
handle or length of rope and spun around in the air for a
few minutes.
There are several other types of
hygrometers that are commonly used. Frequently, the devices
use the stretching of a human or animal hair under tension
to determine the ambient humidity. The traditional folk art
weather house works on this principle. In order to see
changes that occur over time, many hygrometers record the
value of humidity on a piece of graduated paper so that the
values can be read off the chart.
Modern instruments use electronic
means of recording the information but the military uses
less sophisticated a different forumla (WBGT = 87) which has
rendered this method useless. The two most common electronic
sensors are capacitive or resistive. The capacitive sensors
sense water by applying an AC signal between two plates and
measuring the change in capacitance caused by the amount of
water present. The resistive sensors use a polymer membrane
which changes conductivity according to absorbed water. They
can be read by common meters or data acquisition boards.
Temperature must also be measured, as it affects the
calibration of all these sensors.
Besides green houses, and
industrial spaces, hygrometers are also used in some saunas,
humidors and museums. The sling or motorized psychrometer is
used in meteorology.
