Optimal moisture content smoking/bunch/wrapper

[ChinaVoodoo]

Thanks for the response. You came up with the number 19 so I was wondering where you got that one from. I wouldn't trust that cigarmedics thing. I still wonder how a device can measure the RH of a solid matter. If it is converting the moisture content of a solid matter to an RH level then it should be calibrated at some temperature. If it is calibrated at a constant temperature then the reading is wrong when you use it in a different temperature.

Is it not measuring the conductivity, and assuming specific chemical properties? Salt or content would change it for example. But maybe the conductivity of leaf doesn't actually change all that much. I don't know.

 

[jvnshr]

Side note, I've read that burley farmers would measure the local RH by feeling the case of a piece of leaf. That's why I say case is how the leaf feels in my hand. It sort of goes in a circle.

As a pipe smoker, that's how I decide whether my tobacco is dry enough or not. I just take a pinch between my fingers and feel it. I can't measure it (obviously), but I can guess the approximate moisture content.

 

[waikikigun]

@jvnshr It's calibrated to 70F per the docs, which conveniently is a typical daytime temp in these parts. But for $27 I consider this an entertainment device.

I mentioned earlier in this thread, or in another similar thread, that a leaf man from Altadis mentioned 19% moisture content as ideal for wrapper leaf at the time of wrapping.

 

[deluxestogie]

What we need here is a Patent Pending, official FTT digital Skeptimeter, complete with a single button and a wrist strap.

Bob

 

[waikikigun]

What we need here is a Patent Pending, official FTT digital Skeptimeter, complete with a single button and a wrist strap.

Bob

I imagine this patent pending unit would be in the form of a deluxestogie bobblehead.

 

[jvnshr]

Is it not measuring the conductivity, and assuming specific chemical properties? Salt or content would change it for example.

Probably it is, but why to convert it to an RH? And based on what? RH is used for gases, not solid matters. I wish that device have shown the actual moisture content of the leaf instead of RH.

 

[waikikigun]

Probably it is, but why to convert it to an RH? And based on what? RH is used for gases, not solid matters. I wish that device have shown the actual moisture content of the leaf instead of RH.

I do too.

 

[jvnshr]

@jvnshr It's calibrated to 70F per the docs

It makes sense now.

I mentioned earlier in this thread, or in another similar thread, that a leaf man from Altadis mentioned 19% moisture content as ideal for wrapper leaf at the time of wrapping.

Oh ok, it was in this thread. Somehow I thought the 19% was the moisture content of the cigars you were rolling. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[George aka Jorge']

Yes looks like a moisture meter with the 2 prongs and it's reading in total percent of water. He also states that 12.5 % is about 68 % RH.

I have read that the Cigarmedics Humimeter does a conversion calculation to read RH instead of giving you actual moisture content. Keeping it simple, I like that!

 

[IXanadu]

I have read that the Cigarmedics Humimeter does a conversion calculation to read RH instead of giving you actual moisture content. Keeping it simple, I like that!

I have one. Not sure how helpful it is. If I take a cigar out of an acrylic jar regulated to 69RH - and insert the prongs 3-4 places in the foot, I get 3-4 readings. The initial stick reads initially reads higher, then after it sits there for 2-3 seconds, drops, sometimes substantially. I don't think the device is inaccurate, it is ALWAYS at 70RH when I test it against the calibration sensor. So if there are 4 "accurate" readings, with differences of 7-12RH, does that mean that the cigar sitting in a 69RH acrylic jar for 2-3 weeks is still not balanced? If not after 3 weeks, will it ever be balanced? Do you average the readings to decide if you want more or less humidity before smoking? There is very little explanation on how to use the device. There is a marketing blub - this RH is perfect, this RH is too moist attributing to these symptoms, this RH is to dry attributing to this symptom.

I'm trying to make sense of how to use it to decide which cigars perform best at different RH levels. The inconsistencies of 3-4 reading in the same cigar make this extremely different. For now, it's another toy to have fun with at parties.

 

[Charly]

Just a guess, but if you have different readings at the foot, could it be because you have different leaves in your bunch ? maybe different leaves show different results ?

 

[waikikigun]

I have one. Not sure how helpful it is. If I take a cigar out of an acrylic jar regulated to 69RH - and insert the prongs 3-4 places in the foot, I get 3-4 readings. The initial stick reads initially reads higher, then after it sits there for 2-3 seconds, drops, sometimes substantially. I don't think the device is inaccurate, it is ALWAYS at 70RH when I test it against the calibration sensor. So if there are 4 "accurate" readings, with differences of 7-12RH, does that mean that the cigar sitting in a 69RH acrylic jar for 2-3 weeks is still not balanced? If not after 3 weeks, will it ever be balanced? Do you average the readings to decide if you want more or less humidity before smoking? There is very little explanation on how to use the device. There is a marketing blub - this RH is perfect, this RH is too moist attributing to these symptoms, this RH is to dry attributing to this symptom.

I'm trying to make sense of how to use it to decide which cigars perform best at different RH levels. The inconsistencies of 3-4 reading in the same cigar make this extremely different. For now, it's another toy to have fun with at parties.

Mine flicks through three readings over a span of several seconds before settling on something. I don't know if it's averaging along the length of the prongs, or what. I don't reinsert it multiple times in the foot, though, so I don't have your experience. For me this thing has been working really well to get a sense of how well my cigars are doing in the humi, as well as being able to measure the foot, head, and flank at different times along the humi- and smoking processes to get a sense of what's going on in there and how that's affecting combustion and aroma. My cigars seem to get into shape in just a few days in a jarador with Boveda 69. I don't know why your results are not as good. When my sticks, per the device, are in the 60sRH range head/flank/foot with temps in the 70s, they are smoking very well.

 

[IXanadu]

and flank

Can you describe how you measure the flank? My imagination envisions sticking the barrel, but I don’t think that is what you mean?

My best smoking experience is 65 give or take a bit.

 

[waikikigun]

Can you describe how you measure the flank? My imagination envisions sticking the barrel, but I don’t think that is what you mean?

My best smoking experience is 65 give or take a bit.

I stick the prongs into the side of the thing. Yeah 65ish works best for me too.

 

[George aka Jorge']

I have one. Not sure how helpful it is. If I take a cigar out of an acrylic jar regulated to 69RH - and insert the prongs 3-4 places in the foot, I get 3-4 readings. The initial stick reads initially reads higher, then after it sits there for 2-3 seconds, drops, sometimes substantially. I don't think the device is inaccurate, it is ALWAYS at 70RH when I test it against the calibration sensor. So if there are 4 "accurate" readings, with differences of 7-12RH, does that mean that the cigar sitting in a 69RH acrylic jar for 2-3 weeks is still not balanced? If not after 3 weeks, will it ever be balanced? Do you average the readings to decide if you want more or less humidity before smoking? There is very little explanation on how to use the device. There is a marketing blub - this RH is perfect, this RH is too moist attributing to these symptoms, this RH is to dry attributing to this symptom.

I'm trying to make sense of how to use it to decide which cigars perform best at different RH levels. The inconsistencies of 3-4 reading in the same cigar make this extremely different. For now, it's another toy to have fun with at parties.

The averaging thing might not be a bad idea. I hadn't thought of that. Kinda' makes sense.

 

[webmost]

Used mine half a dozen times right away when I got it. Then set it aside & haven't used it since. Hasn't yet reached the stage where I wonder "Do I still have that useless old POS?" But it will. Bout as useful as teats on a boar, as my old man would say.

Your leaf feels right, you roll with it.

 

[tullius]

If you try to measure even a different species of wood than the one for which it is calibrated, you usually have to look up that species on a table, then do a math conversion to determine its moisture content.

NO, the delta is not significant 99% of the time

Using one for tobacco would require your constructing your own tobacco calibration/conversion table. You could certainly do that, by weighing starting samples of your calibrating variety/priming level when completely dry, then slowly re-hydrating them, weighing with a precision balance for each moisture calibration measurement.

No

You just hold it against what ever and it reads the moisture content?

Nooo...

With minimal experience, anyone can judge a suitable moisture content in tobacco just from the feel and sound of a leaf. You can't do that with an entire bale or roomful of tobacco. I consider purchasing a moisture meter for personal cigar rolling to be perfectly good money that might otherwise have gone toward ordering excellent tobacco.

YES!! This is the way

Cigarmedic moisture meter must work the same way a wood moisture meter does and than do a conversion internally to get a RH.

Yes

I reckon I'm wasting dough on those Boveda packs, then.

YES!!

I don't measure the moisture content. I just case my leaf to the flexibility, which I measure with my hands, which I need to roll. But if I wanted to attempt a measurement I guess I'd use my Humidimeter:

First part is good. Second part is not going to give any kind of consistent reading..

What we need here is a Patent Pending, official FTT digital Skeptimeter, complete with a single button and a wrist strap.

NOOOOOOOOO