Question about freezing after-affects

[jjirons69]

I have a close friend that is into cigars. I was the one that suggested he freeze his cigars, many years ago. He freezes all of his smokes, as I do. Just recently he asked me if I have ever heard of someone having beetles after freezing. He had a cigar with beetle holes and promptly smoked it while checking the rest of the smokes in proximity. He swears this smoke had the freezing treatment. I told him I had never heard of beetles after freezing. I have never had a problem. Anyone ever seen this?

[AdamJoshua]

A lot of variables at play, is he sure they were beetles holes, did he check where he keeps the cigars for droppings - cigar 'dust' or whatever beetles cause in crevices, did he get a few cigars and just throw them in without freezing them, is he freezing them at a cold enough temp, lots of things I can think of off the top of my head that could be in play.

To answer your original question I never have but then I'm a noob.

[markem]

Beetles can survive freezing, but it isn't common as long as the freezing step is done properly. There is a sticky here about that, you may want to forward it to your friend to see if perhaps he shorted the time in the freezer (easy to do).

I have had cigars with beetle holes when they arrived but no new ones once the freezer treatment was done. I check boxes and cabs after freezing in case there are any beetle holes. I move those sticks to the top to smoke them first. Then, if other sticks show holes, I know that it is post freeze.

[jjirons69]

To clarify - deep freezers, -10F in mine, I would think similar for him. We go 3 days minimum. I've been through all the stickies and even researched the web about it, but to no avail. The cigar he had seemed recently attacked, dust and all. He didn't operate on them to see if they were inside, just smoked it.

[Brlesq]

Originally Posted by jjirons69

To clarify - deep freezers, -10F in mine, I would think similar for him. We go 3 days minimum. I've been through all the stickies and even researched the web about it, but to no avail. The cigar he had seemed recently attacked, dust and all. He didn't operate on them to see if they were inside, just smoked it.

Same here, except I usually go 4+ days. 24 hours in the freezer doesn't cut it, but sometimes people get anxious. (Not implying that is what happened here, but I've been guilty of it on a rare occasion as well.)

[montecristo#2]

From my understanding, freezing creates crystals that cause the eggs to crack, this is why it works for preventing beetles.

I suppose it is entirely possible that it is not 100% effective.

How hot does he store his cigars? Just wondering.

[czerbe]

couldn't tell you.. i don't freeze mine.

[jjirons69]

Daily storage at 70-74F.

He could have cheated on his time, says he didn't. If he did, that'll teach him!

[RWhisenand]

Is there a chance that the cigar had beetles prior to being frozen and your friend had not noticed the holes? Just a thought.

[markem]

Is he certain that when the cigars came out of the freezer that there were no beetle holes?

[bobarian]

There is a chance that the beetles came after the smokes were frozen. The type of beetles that attack cigars also eat paper, flour and many other household products.

[jjirons69]

Seems positive no holes after the freezer yet developed during it's resting time of many months. It was part of a fiver from an online vendor ordered back early Nov. Bob, same thing I thought is they came later for an ambush. I was hoping it was an ambush and not a well-insulated explorer from the deep freeze. That made me want to go home and dig through all my stuff. I guess in life there could always be an exception and words like "never" and "always" are danger words. Still best to dig through the stock a few times a year, if for nothing else than to check for mold (or for a never seen before hole), refresh yourself with some hidden gems, and to make you smile as to how fortunate we are to have such great collections of smokes. That's why sealed boxes make me cringe. I gotta know what's in there.