DIY cooking methods

[UntamedRose]

I have a Q for yall......

When you making your E-juice are you very precise?
I notice a lot of recipes are very precise....

I'm mixing like I cook, little of this pinch of that...sniff little more of this...taste it...oh more of that be good!

other then making sure I at least double the liquid in the bottle(to get the nic <24mg) I just kind wing it.

As I'm very new to the DIY I'm wondering if I'm totally screwing up doing this?

 

[Jimi Mack]

If anything you want to keep a record of exactly what measurements of what you are mixing. This way if you get a batch of something you really like you can at least duplicate it again and again.

 

[Hoosier]

I have a Q for yall......

When you making your E-juice are you very precise?
I notice a lot of recipes are very precise....

I'm mixing like I cook, little of this pinch of that...sniff little more of this...taste it...oh more of that be good!

other then making sure I at least double the liquid in the bottle(to get the nic <24mg) I just kind wing it.

As I'm very new to the DIY I'm wondering if I'm totally screwing up doing this?

I cook that way and started mixing that way. After I had one that I really liked that I could not produce again, I went with precise.

I just note what I did, note what it tastes like, note what I added, note change in taste. Had a couple that I had to use another page to figure out all the numbers as the note page was just completely full of my scribbles.

If it works after scaling up from my notes, I add it to my copy of Scubabatdan's spreadsheet and I know I can produce whatever quantity I want when I want and do not go through the frustration of not getting that one I stumbled upon again.

 

[MacDiver]

I use Dan's calculator and also write down each recipe on a 2x2 lined sticky note including the percents, amounts of Vodka, flavoring, PG/VG 70/30 or 80/20 - I haven't figured out which I perfer yet. I then use the sticky note to make the recipe. It's small enough not to get in the way and I just put one on top of the other to store them. I guess index cards would do the same. If I change a recipe I can use the same note. I draw a vertical line next to the previous numbers and add the new ones. I can do that several times with the same note.

On the recipe tab I put in each successive recipe for the same one such as Mac's First Blueberry, Second Blueberry, yadda yadda. I keep up with the percentages of what I use like that until I get it right. The percentages feed over to the main page and populate the number of drops of flavor you need to make the recipe based on the numbers you put into the right side of the main page such as amount to be made and the percentage of flavor you want to use. Once I get it right in a 3ml bottle all I have to do is change the amount of liquid I want to make for the finished product and all the info is there to do it easily.

Note that on the calculator you MUST but some number in the Water/Vodka field for the calc to work. If not using either just put 0.10 or something. Otherwise it won't figure the PG/VP amounts correctly.

I try to be very precise with my measurements. I use 1ml and 3ml syringes without needles. If it calls for 1.34 ml of something I try hard to meet it for consistancy in the future. I use only PA flavors so I go with 40 drops/ml and use the supplied droppers from the 4ml bottles.

 

[Kate51]

Measuring is super important to me...I cut 36mg/ml VG with plain VG and then add my flavoring. I would not use drops or drips, no two substances are ever the same viscosity, and will measure differently if you use a dropper, I prefer milliliter measures. But it's whatever your preference.
I need to know that when I vape, my nicotine density is a precise 12mg/ml. It's not only for safety factor, but the need to eliminate a sudden over- or under-nic % which would lead to a detrimental "panic" situation. Especially if you're a newcomer to vaping!
If you've ever had an electronic cigarette that wasn't performing right, i.e., battery not suffiecient heat for proper vapor production, or an atomizer not performing, you know what I mean. After a few hours you need to fix the situation, and if you can't put your finger on the cause of it right away, it gets very frustrating, and could lead to panic, which can lead....well, for me no more cigarettes, so more than frustrating.
I use a blunt syringe (10ml capacity, with 1ml graduations) to measure the VG, nic and plain, and a 3ml pipette for the flavorings. And the E-Juice Recipe Calculator for exact VG/flavoring amounts to use.

 

[Switched]

Below post #59 from flavourart - Page 2 - E-Cigarette Forum

I test in straight PG so no biggie. For example 9 drops PG 1 drop flavour = 10% flavour.

If that was not enough I do 8 drops PG 2 drop flavour = 20% flavour (different mix)

If 20% was too much, then was it closer to 10 or 20. For argument sake here let's say it was in between. Mix both bottle together and you have 15% flavouring.

On tobacco, they are touchy, do as I explained and work from there.

For flavouring juices, most of the time we start at 10% some folks start at 5% which would be 19/1. I find 5% a waste of time. The tricky part is when refining the recipe. Like 5 drops/10ml of marshmallow in my Cuban Cherry to take away the dryness. This was a educated guess from 1 drop/3ml, it didn't need 3 drops, it needed 5 drops which was 1 drop/2ml.

My PT is always fitted with my pen adapter a fresh atty that I am using in developing that liquid. Which I turn to a couple of times a day, over the course of several days because recipes mature over a couple days then plateau. Once I am happy, I make a 10ml batch. keeping notes. If there is something I want to try, I'll syringe 5ml into another bottle, and keep notes. This doesn't happen too often though. I use 5 mls, because that is easily dbled into 10, 20 or even 30ml. The caveat...

OK so let's say I found a juice that required 1 drop of X in 5 mls, it also means that would equate to 2 in 10mls, or 6 in 30mls, not all the time. Some flavours will tune out others in larger quantities, especially some of the strong ones. Sometimes I find that although the ratio called for 6, a more accurate count would be 5. These are the special notes that need to be kept dilligently. My RY5 is a prime candidate for the latter discussion.

I was a premium cigar smoker and as we know the majority had/have very complex flavours, same thing goes with pipe tobacco. The nuances have to be finely tune, something all the calculators out there simply do not do, as they don't calculate a fraction of percentage or 1/2 or even 1/3 drop. Sooooo

In my recipe book I keep track of percentages, drops, size of recipe, PG/VG ratio, distilled water (more vapour) and fine tuning drops for larger recipe sizes etc... I like mixing 10mls at a time, it's a nice size and not too much to vape if you screwed up, which is nearly impossible if you took all the baby steps previously mentioned. but because of these 1/3 drops you may very well be forced to mix let's say 12 or even 15 mls.

Hope all this helps.