Arcane Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 (edited) Per king_lunchbox's request, here's a basic explanation between the differences between absolute and relative humidity (although, Google has tons of info too). Absolute humidity is the mass of moisture(water) contained per cubic unit of air. Relative humidity is the mass of moisture(water) contained per cubic unit of air in relation to the maximum saturation possible at a specific temperature. The relative humidity can fluctuate on an hourly basis, however the amount of moisture in the air does not change as drastically. What does that mean in regards to the acclimation process? Not much, unless you need to do some acclimation troubleshooting and are willing to record some data and do a little math to convert the relative humidity to absolute. There's more to discuss, but I'll leave it open to questions. And for the other inquiry, I use knock off Lock 'n' Lock containers. As stated in the other thread, I leave my container open until the tobacco acclimates. It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to 30 days or longer. There's no set timeframe. When it's acclimated, I seal it up and hope for the best the next time I have to open the container. If the tobacco goes into humidity shock when I open it again, I repeat the process. The subsequent rounds of acclimation are far shorter as I suspect the absolute humidity doesn't change much barring any weather changes. Edited June 24, 2011 by Arcane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hassouni Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Just to add my own perspective - Tangiers says leave it for 4 hours, cover for 24, etc. However, i've noticed a lot of the flavors I've got lately smell SUPERB the second I open the package. I leave em out anyway, after which the smell diminishes. I'm not placing any Tangiers orders soon, but if anyone else's new packs smell great, try just storing them and see if they don't smoke right without acclimation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelLCP Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Every time I buy tangiers they all smell fantastic right out of the package. Though I still acclimate them for about 4 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king_lunchb0x Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 thx arcane i was really interested in ur method. you basically acclimate every time if it needs it. But doesn't the flavor dull after the 5th time opening and acclimating. But with the point of relative humidity and absolute your saying (what i got from it) that leaving open for more then 4 hours with change in "relative humidity" would not ultimately affect the acclimation process,correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcane Posted June 25, 2011 Author Share Posted June 25, 2011 (edited) After the 5th, 6th or beyond...there's not really much difference. Then again, it's not really the repeated opening and closing that's the issue. It's the shelf life. Whether it's the first time or tenth time, if the flavor is past it's shelf life...the flavor is going to fade. Some people may think the opening and closing is somehow related due to the fact that when they opened their container of maraschino cherry for the tenth time, it just happened to be around the 4 month mark (which, iirc is past the estimated shelf life). In regards to acclimation, relative humidity has no bearing on acclimation...kinda. The changes in relative humidity are largely based upon temperature. Even with the same amount of moisture content in the air, a drop or raise in temperature will change the relative humidity. Now, the "kinda" part comes in with ease or speed of acclimation. Assuming that the absolute humidity is constant, changes in relatively humid (more simply, changes in temperature) will either speed or slow the dampening/drying process of the tobacco. What that means is that if you'd like to acclimate your tobacco faster, you should consider the relative humidity of your area compared to San Diego's. Let's take Colorado for instance. Their absolute humidity is generally lower than San Diego's year round, which means you'll need to dry out the tobacco. During a low relative humidity, tobacco will be more apt to dry out (higher temps and lower air moisture). It is during this time that you should try to accomplish your acclimation. This also leads into troubles with acclimation due to a lag between higher and lower relative humidity, coinciding with changes in absolute humidity. Edited June 25, 2011 by Arcane Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king_lunchb0x Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 nicely done Dr. Arcane. You really know your stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 The Leaning Tower of Shisha [IMG]http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb349/JustCallMeDom/IMAG1289.jpg[/IMG] I use Chinese food containers. I keep them cracked so they are always acclimating. Good info, OP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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