Hot/warm bath or not?

[anon43988816]

Just throwing my two cents in here. I make small batches (100ml at most, but usually 30ml) and honestly I haven’t noticed a big enough difference from heating to bother with it. I’ve tried a lot of different heating methods from the microwave to hot water baths to rolling up my bottles in a pillowcase and sticking them in the dryer and nothing has noticeably quickened steeping time. Now I haven’t tried a UC or extended heating (more than 30 minutes), but the things I’ve tried have all been more trouble than they’re worth. I can see the benefit in heating large batches for the sake of thinning the vg so that it’s easier to mix, but for smaller bottles its really not that big of a deal to me. Just an extra step.

[SessionDrummer]

@R0B

dont take the lid off your bottles people.
thats your flavor flying away.
and what remains being watered down.

@R0B is right. Just like boiling ribs before smoking them on the BBQ. WORST thing ever…

[SessionDrummer]

@Steve-o_54

I have been giving my mixes a 15 minute hot bath ( around 120 degrees) for a while now to speed up the steeping process and wonder if it is doing more harm then good for my mixes

@Steve-o_54 Define “harm” hehe. This is a hot topic for sure. I know a lot of people heat, blend, magna stir, emulsify, ultrasonic their juices to try and speed things up. I’m one of the weirdos that doesn’t. Although I’m sure warming might make my 70v/30p juice thinner, I just mix, shake the hell out of it, and let it set, just like a fine wine. Some things, IMO, you just can’t rush. I’m sure you can speed something up, just not sure if you’re speeding up the goodness or not. Waiting DOES suck, but it has taught me how to (once I know it’s a keeper) to mix up a few 120’s ahead of time.

[JoJo]

I’m in the no-heat camp. I don’t really have the space for anything like a USC and my crockpot takes up pretty much all my limited counter space in my kitchen. Anything else is just extra work and makes it that less likely I will wanna mix. I also don’t use a lot of VG and my nic is in PG so that’s not really an issue. I used to use a frother to mix, but I quit doing that. Now I just shake and shelve.

[Kahnsfury]

I’ve tried heating my mixes up and I can’t really see a difference in steep time. I’ve finally gotten enough bottles made that I can steep comfortably without worrying about running out and not having anything to vape. Since I’ve got to this point I’ve really seen the benefits of just old fashioned time. It’s the master when it comes to getting a great flavor.

[DoY]

Just quoting something I did read in another post regarding the temperature to don’t lose nicotine… It may add to the discussion. In this post the recommended temperature is 115.

Using Water and Vodka as a base (Instead of PG)

You obviously took a great deal of time, thought, and effort to share your personal methodology, and I think it’s wonderfully kind of you to share your perspective! I did want to call your attention to something you may not be aware of however in the following aspect of your shared suggestions/method. In another forum (rather well known) there was a monster thread about steeping, and whether or not to heat, etc (a couple thousand posts) where some individuals did some empirical style testing,…

[Steampugs]

I used to run my bottles a hot bath, dim the lights, sprinkle a few rose petals on the surface, light some candles and play some Barry White but to be perfectly honest all I ever found was my bottles being more relaxed…

Just shake the life out of the little buggers and leave em alone in a nice dark place…tough love…but necessary 🖒:heart:

[anon37447350]

Lol, Ya, I honestly don’t know what the US bath does in terms of “steeping” but it does get rid of all the gas bubbles created by mixing the stuff. I just like using a standardized process so when I change things up in the mix I don’t have to worry about “well maybe I did something different in stirring”. Plus I just dig watching that magnetic stirrer fly around. Like a no effort spinner.

[SessionDrummer]

Tough juice love for the win !!!

[Sprkslfly]

@R0B

my understanding is the standing waves of the 40+khz freq only vibrate ya shit if its thru water medium?
is that right?

Clarifying, just from my own experience and understanding. “Through water medium” refers to the water in the ultrasonic cleaner’s tank. Not implying that whatever is being put through the cavitation process of the ultrasonic has to be suspended in a water based medium to work.

The water fully transfers the waves through the glass and into the contained liquid, which is why some see those bubbles (for those who shake before putting the glass in the US).

Also worth reminding anyone new to the concept of using a US, that using plastic containers not only reduces the effectiveness of the transferring of the US waves, but in addition, you then potentially open the subject of leeching concerns (depending on type of plastic, length of time in the US, and temp).

@DoY close… But I don’t disagree with BoDarc (or others in the ballpark). Just for clarification though:

@Sprkslfly

The main thing I took from it (for my point of view) was that I didn’t want to exceed 125-135°F which, again IIRC, equated to a 1mg loss of nicotine (important if you’re only mixing 3mg to start with, but barely important at all if you’re mixing 12-18mg or more). In practice, I don’t ever exceed 115°F anymore in my ultrasonic cleaner. But that’s where mine maxes out fortunately.

It’s all a matter of preference, but this is what’s worked for me. And I mix with 80vg FWIW. So there’s a lot of things to consider in all of the above.
It’s all about your patience and perspective point of view! Lol

[DoY]

@Sprkslfly

you then potentially open the subject of leeching concerns (depending on type of plastic, length of time in the US, and temp).

Could you expand that a bit… I am new to the concept and you woke up some concerns, my US device it is about to arrive and I was actually thinking to use plastic.

@Sprkslfly

@DoY close…

I was just sharing what I have read and expanding the info… Learning is fascinating!

[anon37447350]

I like to fill mine with 90 weight gear grease. It runs quieter.

[Sprkslfly]

Well, it’s been covered in varying topics, and from different concerns, but here’s a few that I pulled in a quick search using “leeching” as the keyword.

@LordVapor

Why the PET bottles turned an amber color sooner than in glass is beyond me. But HDPE will let oxygen and other gasses leech into your juices. PET is very resistant to the leeching of gasses, much like glass is.

@Ken_O_Where

As others have mentioned long term storage of concentrates in plastics isnt ideal. Trick is to buy what you will use within a year. If they are in PE or PET plastic they will last a bit longer than LDPE as PE is a bit less permeable.

And my recent thoughts/commentary:

@Sprkslfly

If you only have 30-50 flavors, and/or use them frequently, then plastic will suffice for a few months.
But if you end up with 100 flavors (or more) then glass becomes important.

The strongest flavors I’ve had (TFA Kona coffee, any MF, etc) would only need a couple months tops before the plastic would be permeated with the scent of that flavor. At which point leeching has occurred.

It all depends on what you’re ordering, and how frequently you use it, but some (Kona coffee for example) require glass from day 1 IMO.

Best rule of thumb I would offer to someone new would be: If you use a flavor at 2% or less (single flavor) it should be in glass.

There’s a lot more info available on ELR alone, but it’s worth digging further into, especially if you’re considering using heat! At least IMO.

[DoY]

You know, after reading the links I just realized I had a misunderstanding problem (English it is not my first language) and I guess you misspelled leeching (Leeching definition: Any bloodsucking or carnivorous aquatic or terrestrial worm of the class Hirudinea) and leaching (Leaching is the loss or extraction of certain materials from a carrier into a liquid (usually, but not always a solvent). So, I got some concerns about being vaping carnivorous aquatic worms

[paingawd]

When I mix, I keep my bottle of VG in a hot water bath via crock pot. I keep the water at about 125-135F, and when I mix, the VG is the last to go into the juice bottle. I’ve experimented with using a small milk frother with a plastic stirrer to stir the juice directly in the bottle for 15-30 seconds and shaking the bottle vigorously for 30 seconds to a minute. So far, I’ve not been able to taste any discernible differences between shaken and stirred-the juices taste about the same after about a week’s steep. The stirred comes together a little quicker than the shaken, but there’s no real earth-shattering difference between the two. For me, I’ll use the stirrer as my hands don’t do well with the repetitive nature of shaking.

[Steve-o_54]

I guess by “harm” I mean is giving them a bath causing the flavor to degrade /weaken

[Steampugs]

In all seriousness, ive never noticed heat make anything better, in my early days i noticed that heating certain liquids and letting them breath with the lid off for too long diminished the flavour somewhat, nowadays i only let them breath for an hour if the flavour is harsh with no heat, lock em up, shut em away for a month, there really is no substitute for time.

[anon37447350]

I’ve always enjoyed vaping aquatic worms myself. Adds a little protein which is good for keeping my blood sugar balanced.

[Sprkslfly]

@DoY

I got some concerns about being vaping carnivorous aquatic worms

Most people pay extra for ‘flavor crystals’…

[Bob_Bitchen]