Question for BOTLs who freeze cigars.

Bob Luken

I freeze my cigars and cigar boxes too to eradicate any beetles. My specific question is - would you bother to freeze new cedar trays? I’m leaning towards freezing them. I just received five trays from an online company that also (apparently) stocks and sells cigars. I began seasoning them and then I started wondering about the risk of introducing a beetle problem if I don’t freeze them just like I would any cigar box or cigar before putting them in my cooler.

J.S.

Freezing does not hurt anything. I used to freeze everything too. I don't anymore. Many of the large online co.'s freeze anyway. So you end up freezing twice if you do it yourself, but it still will not hurt anything. As far as freezing trays, I have never done that but I cannot think of a reason why a 1 time freeze would hurt anything. I would follow the same procedure for them as you do for the cigars just without the frig. cool down/up time.

Vision

You could warp the wood... I wouldn't and didn't. I just got in trays as well

Bob Luken

Vision:

You could warp the wood... I wouldn't and didn't. I just got in trays as well

Thanks for the input. I'm on the fence as to whether to freeze these or not. They were loosely wrapped in plastic bags and I've heard beetles hate Spanish cedar anyway so they probably would not be motivated to get inside the bags with the trays. Maybe the risk is very small.

Bob Luken

J.S.:

Freezing does not hurt anything. I used to freeze everything too. I don't anymore. Many of the large online co.'s freeze anyway. So you end up freezing twice if you do it yourself, but it still will not hurt anything. As far as freezing trays, I have never done that but I cannot think of a reason why a 1 time freeze would hurt anything. I would follow the same procedure for them as you do for the cigars just without the frig. cool down/up time.

I had a small beetle infestation. (The best kind, right? LOL) So I have had a freeze regimen in place ever since. I realize the risk is small and it may not be worth the trouble but at this point I freeze sticks and the boxes they come in, or if I don’t freeze them I separate those sticks not frozen into a couple of desktops.

catfishbluezz

tobacco beetles exist in tobacco, not cedar. Not sure why you would freeze cedar.

Bob Luken

catfishbluezz:

tobacco beetles exist in tobacco, not cedar. Not sure why you would freeze cedar.

Maybe my logic was flawed at the start. I was thinking that since these trays were warehoused with cigars nearby then there was a risk. Then I remembered something about beetles having an aversion to cedar so maybe the beetles wouldn't ever go near the trays since there's no tobacco to attract them and they don’t care for cedar anyway.

ehehat

Really dont think you need to freeze trays. As said before, I'd be worried that might warp them. Your beetle story scared the crap out of me which(in part) led to investing in a wineador, problem solved. Still, I froze all isom but never NC's and hadnt had a problem. Cant blame anyone for being overly cautious though. There's way too much money invested to have some creepy crawlies ruin it.

rwheelwright

I have frozen trays and had no problems but if you are worried about freezing put them in the fridge instead just keep them in there longer.