[icehog3]

Originally Posted by dwoodward

I have my first humidor coming in the mail, should be here on Tuesday from Tampa Humidor's. It's a brand new Salerno 300ct humidor. (I ordered imperfect but they were out apparently, so they cut me a very respectable price discount for a new one, very pleased.)

Anyhow, when it arrives, what should I do to start seasoning it? Everything that I know about seasoning comes from the internet, and ideas are very mixed between websites. Some people say to wipe in interior, other people say not to etc...

I would never wipe the interior of my humidor, but like you say, people's opinions vary...Mine is "never:.

Some say to use a shot glass of water for a few days, others say to use a bowl of water. I will probably use a shot glass myself, but as a fine spirits aficionado I have many sizes of shot glasses on hand. What is the best size for this job? I have anything from 1/2oz glasses up to 3oz shot glasses. Will any size work?

I boiled a glass of distilled water in the microwave, then put something rubber on the bottom of my humi (like a mouse pad for instance) to keep it from scorching the wood, and set the glass in my humi and closed it up. Worked great on more than one humi for me, but you will get lots of opinions of this too.

Next, should I purchase the RH Beads, or the Shilala Beads? RH Beads are shown all over the internet and seem very popular, while people here swear by the Shilala it seems. What is the difference between the two? How are they better than strip humidifiers? Should I put the beads in during or after seasoning?

Shiala beads are humidity beads. He could explain any differences to you but they are basically the same principle as I understand it. Absorb humidity when needed, emit humidity when needed. Strip humidifiers? If you mean the foam inserts, they can mold over. If you mean Boveda type packets, they won't last as long as the beads.

I know it is a lot of questions, but I have asked some of my buddies about these things, and they are pretty blunt, the all say just wipe the interior and then put your cigars in, but they also complain from time to time on how dry their older cigars are.

I basically just want to be sure that my cigars keep for as long as I need them to, after all the point of a humidor is to keep them fresh forever. A lot of questions, sorry. I am just a very cautious person, and want to be sure I do everything correctly.

Thanks.

I am certain you will get similar and opposing opinions, just as you found different methods on the net. These ones worked for me persoanlly, more than once.