It always annoys me to no end that there are so many different opinions and a lot less facts when talking about steeping.
Some people use heat, some people shake a lot, some people use magnetic stirrers, some people take caps off, some people do nothing and somehow it all comes down to the same thing. Terribly annoying for beginners to make up your mind.
What I gather from what I’ve heard and read from long time mixers (as well as my own experience), is that nothing beats just putting your liquids in a drawer and just wait until they’re good to vape. The article pretty much says the same. Their steeped liquid has been shaken and aired constantly and the late tester still had a perfectly steeped liquid without all that effort.
best way to steep a liquid is to put it in a mag stirrer for precisely 19.37 seconds. After the cycle stops, quickly move the liquid to an industrial paint stirrer for two full cycles of two minutes and 27 seconds. When that finishes shake it vigorously for 48 seconds, and then place in a warmed ultrasonic bath. Make sure that the water temperature is exactly 41.6 degrees celsius (106.88F) and run the ultrasonic bath for three minutes and 17 seconds. Let the liquid cool down naturally for 19 minutes and 53 seconds, and immediately after that put it in sous vide set to 38.4 degrees celsius (101.12F) for two hours, seven minutes and fourty two seconds.
Or just put it in a drawer for a month. The effect will be the same.
It’s all part of the natural progression in mixing, I believe. When we first begin we can’t wait due to anxiety about getting the mix right and wanting to get away from the commercial stuff. We’re willing to try anything, or at least I did.
After time, we learn that if we make enough of the stuff, we can put it away and get to it in a month or six months. No more worrying and all those pita techniques. I just checked my spreadsheet inventory after mixing today and I have 2.8 L in my closet.
I have my own methods for aging, but I clicked on the article mostly out of curiosity. I tend to bounce around sometimes when reading articles so I jumped to Accelerated Steeping Methods—>Ultrasonic Cleaners which has a link to a forum thread on ECF. Clicked that and the OP starts the thread with…
The e-liquid I make is 100% PG and the nic strength is 24-25mg.
I stopped reading. Noticed the thread was dated Nov. 8, 2012.
Went back to the article, jumped around and saw this… What’s the best method for a vaper to get maximum flavour?
The author of the article gives an answer:
Leaving DIY mixes in a dry and dark place, with the caps off…
Sorry but my motivation for finishing that article quickly went bye bye after I saw that. I’m sure there may be some scientific snippets contained within but this vaper has lost interest.
