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I pulled my cigars out of the freezer today. They were at 7f for 72hrs. I now have them in my old coolidors slowly getting back to room temp. My Newair 28 will be here Thursday and I'll stock her up!

Fumigate - YUKE!

From Cubancigarwebsite:

Before packing, the cigars are fumigated with Phosphine (Phosphorus Hydride) to control the tobacco beetle Serricorne, and then conditioned in bundles in cedar lined cabinets, to reduce and stabilise their moisture.

From Wiki:

Phosphine (IUPAC name: phosphane) is the compound with the chemical formula PH3. It is a colorless, flammable, toxic gas. Pure phosphine is odorless, but technical grade samples have a highly unpleasant odor like garlic or rotting fish. For farm use, pellets of aluminium phosphide, calcium phosphide, or zinc phosphide release phosphine upon contact with atmospheric water or rodents' stomach acid. These pellets also contain agents to reduce the potential for ignition or explosion of the released phosphine. Because the previously popular fumigant methyl bromide has been phased out in most countries under the Montreal Protocol, phosphine is the only widely used, cost effective, rapidly acting fumigant that does not leave residues on the stored product.

http://www.cdc.gov/NIOSH/ershdb/images/nfpa/442.gif

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjirons69 (Post 1304933)

Fumigate - YUKE!

]

Then I won't tell you how many things you use and consume on a daily basis are fumigated with Phosphine gas. ;)

Newair showed up yesterday and I now have it plugged in with beads in it. It's holding steady at 65% 65f, I'm going to give to a few days and fill it up. No shelves no ETC and see how it goes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjirons69 (Post 1304933)

That's very interesting. For the nerds/geek out there that want to learn more I found a great write up: http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/docum.../Shwz20d00.pdf

It seems that Phosphine does not affect flavor, but can affect aroma. According to the pdf, it also has not proven to be harmful. However, Methyl Bromide has been found to affect flavor and it is not used.