Tupperdor

[somedumbjerk]

so i made a tupperdor. made isn't really fair... i bought a container and put stuff in it. looking online on how to do it left me a little aggravated. i was looking for a cooler originally, and my wife was all like "oh hell no" so i went the tupperdor route. i was in the process of organizing my pipe tobacco cellar anyway, so this made sense.

• step 1: buy a tupperware container.

this i did at the container store. they have these awesome weather stripped water tight containers. they hold RH perfectly, and they are under $20. i got the 41.2 qt. the reason was the size. i wanted it to fit on my shelf with the pipe tobacco.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/totesTrunks?productId=10026213&green=6218E5D4-7933-5AA1-A232-E5DE29670DF5

looks like a warehouse. i love it.

• step 2: buy heartfelt beads

http://www.heartfeltindustries.com/products.asp?cat=65%25+Rh+Humidity+Beads
i put 1/2lb in mine. if you go bigger, do a full pound. it's better to go more beads than less beads. i had made socks for them out of cheesecloth, and that was a mistake. the beads kinda fell out and the cotton would probably have molded anyway. i put them in little mason jar and put one in every corner:

success!

holds 65. yes the hygrometer is calibrated. i bought that from heartfelt as well. i may or may not buy some Spanish cedar and make some trays for it, maybe not.
hope this helps someone!

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

For about $100 you can transform a 120 qt cooler into an effective coolidor. Some even put shelves into them. Given what that much space in a wood/cedar humidor would cost, it's substantial savings.

 

[somedumbjerk]

For about $100 you can transform a 120 qt cooler into an effective coolidor. Some even put shelves into them. Given what that much space in a wood/cedar humidor would cost, it's substantial savings.

yup, that was the original plan. the wife didn't want a cooler in the house so i went this direction. temp also doesn't really fluctuate where i live.

i neglected to mention washing the tupperware, this is very important. it took two washings for me to get the plastic smell gone. i used some dish soap and warm water. others use bleach, or vinegar.

 

[SteveS]

nice ... I've got a couple of active 'tupperdors' and they work extremely well ... at my peak, I had 4, but cut back a bit on my storage as my cigar consumption decreased ... I'm thinking I need to put one of those back in service to hold my now-growing pipe tobacco cellar.

 

[Northern Neil]

That is a nice looking stash you have there. The tupperdor is a great, economical way to hold you cigars. Let us know how well it holds humidity!

 

[SteveS]

Let us know how well it holds humidity!

Mine hold steady ... no problem. Using the beads, it's on autopilot.

 

[somedumbjerk]

Let us know how well it holds humidity!

Mine hold steady ... no problem.  Using the beads, it's on autopilot.

been a week and it's held perfectly, even with poor surface area on the beads. i have a ton of cigars on the way, i did some half hearted bids on cigarbid.com and won them all, so now i've got like 100 sticks on the way. hope i get to the package before my wife does...  

 

[rothnh]

That's great!  The tupperdor setup you're using should work as well or better than a coolidor and for a considerably smaller investment.

The one thing I'd like to mention is it might work TOO well.  I suggest you let some fresh air in every 5-7 days or so.  Of course, if you're getting into it regularly anyway, this is a non-issue.

 

[SteveS]

I suggest you let some fresh air in every 5-7 days or so.

That's a good suggestion ... just as one would do in the case of a traditional cedar lined humidor.

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

For about $100 you can transform a 120 qt cooler into an effective coolidor. Some even put shelves into them. Given what that much space in a wood/cedar humidor would cost, it's substantial savings.

I have a 56qt cooler that I picked up for $20 at walmart - I figure there's more than enough ceder in the cigar boxes, so I just spent the rest of the money on cigars. :twisted: 

 

[DrumsAndBeer]

Cool Tupperdore. I have a small one going which holds my overflow. I recently lined it with some thin cedar scraps that I got for free from a local shop. I just throw a Boveda 2-way pack in it and forget about it. Eventually I'll replace the Boveda, but it holds a perfect humidity. Way less maintenance than my real humidor.

 

[DaveyNY]

That's great!  The tupperdor setup you're using should work as well or better than a coolidor and for a considerably smaller investment.

The one thing I'd like to mention is it might work TOO well.  I suggest you let some fresh air in every 5-7 days or so.  Of course, if you're getting into it regularly anyway, this is a non-issue.

+1

absolutely NEED to crack open the tupedor and let some fresh air circulate to prevent mold. yes its a teeny bit more maintenance to do and watch the RH but not an option. you need fresh air weekly.