I have been DIYing ejuice for about a few months now, but over the time I never changed my techniques and today I would like to explain and at the same time ask for suggestion on how I can make my juices better. I know there are a lot of people who have there small tricks that never gets shared or sometimes hard to find.
Lets share them.
My question - Now that I vape a lot, I have to make large quantities to avoid making them more frequently and moreover compensating for steeping process.
I make juices atleast in 500ml batches, now I thought it would be the same process of making juice of smaller quantities like 30mls. But i have found that 500ml juices take very long to steep. And yes I have only been shaking bottles after mixing, not using a stirrer of some sort. Is this the reason why it takes too long to steep? Or steeping time increases for larger quantities?
Nah, it is just that there is a much larger volume of liquids. Id say you can speed it up by using 120/240ml bottles but i cure them for two months as i mix lots of custards.
Personally i find that using flavor bases speeds the process up a bit but still 500ml+ sizes are going to take time.
I have to ask… 500ml bottles at a time for a single user?
I ask because of a couple things come to mind. First, it would take me a long long time to go through 500ml and if that is a single recipe, is that the only thing you vape? I ADV Bust-a-Nut (with a slight variation), I also vape a few other things throughout the day in another tank or 2, but it just seemed like a large batch to me when you stated it.
Another thing that I quite often do, like with the Bust-a-Nut, I’ll make a batch of 240ml after it steeps I’ll vape about 50 or 60ml of it then I’ll transfer 50ml into a dripper bottle that I use, then I’ll mix a 120ml batch into the original 240ml bottle of steeped juice. It really seems to steep faster (at least to me it does… although I may just be fooling myself), when I mix fresh juice with pre-steeped juice. That way my ADV juice is refreshed periodically and normally not more than 50% out. This process also allows for me to try different juices to change things up a bit so I don’t burn out on one flavor
I have to agree @CallMeTut 500mls of a single flavor for one person seems like a lot.
Your process of “seed steeping” is one that works well for me as well. I have two Eliquid recipes that I initially made 3 X120ml bottles. Mr.Ts Mundo Custard and Blueberry Cheesecake. Once I have used 60mls of bottle #1 I refill it from bottle #2. Then I reuse/remix bottle #1 when empty and Fill #2 with 60mls from #3, and so on, and so on…
Time is a best friend to mixing. I also use a heat bath of hot water from a kettle to allow the mix to meld together with the VG and PG. I find I usually get a good blend of mixing when heat is applied. Hot water thins the VG to allow the flavors to blend together well in my opinion. Some recipes take a lot of extra time to fully mature. You have to figure out what is right for you, because in the end it is your liquid.
Truth be told I don’t steep in large batches like you want to do but one thing I do know is there can be a difference in steep time per the bottle you choose to use. Glass bottles will take longer to steep. A amber bottle will take longer than clear bottles to steep. Also it is said that plastic bottles though sealed can still absorb oxygen so this too can also make a difference. For this reason you store nic in Amber Glass Bottles when you want long term storage…
500mls, I dont vape it all by myself, I divide it 3 ways for 2 mates of mine. Its sometimes hard to find time for diy that is why I take the 500ml route.
Hmm I like the idea of the rotation process that you mentioned @CallMeTut & @Mark_Turner. I will have to give this a try.
Is it a good idea to hand shake the bottle? rather than using a magnetic stirrer or milk frother ?
You make the new batch in the 240ml original after steep? but does it alter the taste or anything? or any change whatsoever? Let me know, I want to take this route.
As @Mark_Turner mentioned it’s known as using a “seed”. You mix your new batch into part of an older batch (usually the same recipe). It seems to help in the steep times a bit, I do it 50/50 (50% well steeped batch and an equal amount of the same recipe), although I have heard some people mix the new batch into as little as 20 or 25 percent of the older batch and they say they have good results also.
You may also wish to look at making a “stone” which is basically mixing the flavors of the recipe together, just not the additional pg/vg/nic, this will allow the flavors to meld together a bit. I have done this with a couple creams and it works nicely, you would use the stone as an ingredient, cream stones and such are pretty common, but there are a few people that have strawberry stones also.
Not a problem, learning diy isn’t hard, but it is pretty intimidating. Your always second guessing yourself and wondering if “your doing it right”. There is no real “rights” or “wrongs” with the few exceptions:
Safety first… use gloves if you need to.
If you heat things, watch your temps, some things degrade when heat is applied.
Keep notes, if you make a perfect flavor that you love, your going to want to repeat that.
Ask questions, you might not get an answer, but it can’t hurt to at least ask.
Everybody tastes things differently, you’ll hear “taste is subjective” often, because it is.
Skully’s not new to mixing jus to our forum. I invite60 d him over from another forum. He’s been mixing for hell almost a year I think. I think all he’s asking about is seed steeping.
@Skullblade789
To seed steep you make say a 120 ml bottle and steep it then fill a 60 ml bottle out of it. add the balance to like a 240 ml bottle and make another 180 ml batch shake the hell out of it as usual. The 60 ml of steeped juice will speed the steeping of the new juice you just added to the bottle.
I’ve done it several times, but usually with maybe 20% or so of steeped liquid and 80% new. With that ratio what I notice more than quicker steeping is just a stronger snv flavor. So instead of it being super dull right after mixing it has a little oomph of flavor in there already. I’ll have to try doing 50/50 as I’m sure that would be helpful for getting it to step faster, especially in larger batches. Now…question time. How many times would you use a “seeded” (can’t think of a better word… Lol) liquid before starting over fresh? My only concern with seed steeping would be if you do it over and over again over the course of say, a year, by then end of the year you’d have lingering amounts from that very first batch which would make me wonder about the quality of the nicotine. So is there a cut off time where you stop using the seed and start over?
