a quickie steeping tip

[J.R. Bob Dobbs]

how many of you have spilled you juice while it was steeping because ALL the caps were off?

ok, so all of you...

i kind of found a trick i love. Leave the drip tips ON. Yes leave them on to steep. ALl you need to do is give them a light squeeze over the course of a day or so after you shake them. this expels the air trapped in the bottle, which conceivably contains the alcohol you want out of your juice. New air will be sucked into the bottle when you let go. If you happen to tip your bottle it is a lot less likely to lose liquid if you knock it over!

enjoy !

 

[gthompson]

This is exactly what I do.

 

[Robino1]

So no need to take droppers off? Well, I'll be a monkeys uncle.......er aunt!

 

[patsfan1130]

seems so obvious and I've never thought of it.
thanks

 

[gthompson]

So no need to take droppers off? Well, I'll be a monkeys uncle.......er aunt!

Well, you need squeeze air in and out of them several times a day.

 

[XfooYen]

If there is alcohol left in the extract, I think it's better to have caps & drippers off for a day or two at first. If no alcohol is used in the extraction then there is no real reason to remove the caps for any extended period. Shaking often is preferred for the most part. The OP's advice is what I do with juices that do not use alcohol. In the case of glass bottles, I remove the tops for a couple of minutes, then replace them and shake. I only do open air steeping if I smell alcohol or detect that the water content is high (either by lots of loud popping from the atty/coil or if the juice is noticeably thinned).

 

[gthompson]

If I can smell the alcohol, I'll take the tip off.

 

[vsummer1]

I give ALL my equipment a vodka rinse immediately before I use it to DIY. There will always be a little left in there, so steep with the lids off in a place where the dog/cat etc. has NO chance of spillage. I do take the drippers off though, so there is more contact with the air in order to evaporate the ETOH more quickly. I leave them like that for 2 days with a shake now and then.

A larger surface area will evaporate more quickly, but if you leave them with the drippers on for a longer period of time you would get the same result. I think this is a case of SAFETY more than efficiency, so if you are more comfortable leaving them on due to a risk of spillage, by all means, you should!

 

[J.R. Bob Dobbs]

this works with alcohol based flavorings. the reason i started doing it was because i spilled some juice. so what if i have to squeeze it a few times a day. better than spillage imho.

 

[dgm76513]

I don't DIY, but I may consider it in the future. Is there a benefit over steeping in the small bottles as opposed to larger jars/beakers/containers, etc in a secure, dust-free room on a shelf?

ETA: Just my train of thought that more surface area = more efficient steepage. Am I correct with this? You can buy large canning jars at the store for not a whole lot of cash, and even lid them. If you only have 30, 60, heck 120ml of juice, there is lots of air left over even with the lid screwed on.

 

[J.R. Bob Dobbs]

i dont diy either. im talking about vendor shipped bottled.

Yes more surface area would make a difference, however not having a risk of spillage while steeping with caps off is more important to me than the time it takes to steep.

 

[dgm76513]

Well, I know for older lead-acid aircraft batteries, they have a special cap on the vents that close if the battery is tilted too much to prevent acid spill during flight.

It's a pretty simple design, perhaps if there was a demand for it, we could make something similar for juice bottles?

It would allow air to flow freely in and out, but as soon as it's tipped it closes and no juice loss.