Over the past few weeks I have read about using crock pots and dehydrators for heat steeping, so I have tried both now.
I first grabbed the wife's crock pot (before someone mentioned a dehydrator) and put in five 15ml glass bottles (I use ONLY glass in all of my mixing) and set the unit on "low". I let the bottles of juice cook for four hours as suggested in this thread. When I went to retrieve the bottles they were so hot I needed tongs and an oven mitt to touch them. Evidently the "low" setting on her crock pot is WAY HIGHER than 150 degrees. As I am typing this out I am vaping one of the 18mg flavors I cooked in the crock and it seems to have a bit of a bite to it.
I then read about using a food dehydrator in this thread. When reading that a light bulb went off in my head! The wife also has a 6 drawer (all removable with a cover to replace the missing drawers) one and it also has a 40-hour timer and a temperature control setting up to 160 degrees. So, I removed three drawers, set the unit for four hours at 150 degrees and inserted 8 15ml bottles of new mixes I recently acquired (all tobaccos). After 90 minutes I checked the bottles and I could easily touch them with my bare hands. I shook each bottle then uncapped each one. When uncapping there was a slight pressure "whoosh" sound releasing pressure from the capped bottles. I replaced the caps and reinserted the bottles for the remaining 2 1/2 hours. I then pulled the bottles out after the completion of the four hours and once again uncapped them, but this time there was no pressure release upon doing so. I smelled each one and they all smelled exactly as I expected. None smelled like alcohol or perfume. They smelled "done" and steeped. They have all now been sitting for 12 hours capped at room temperature and I have once again uncapped each one (no pressure release) and again smelled each one. They all smell fantastic. My main problem now is that they are all menthol tobacco mixes (I can't stand menthol and mixed them for my wife) and my wife has yet to try any of them. So, today I will mix up batches that I will personally vape and will use flavors I am familiar with so I will know if they are "done" after four hours steeping in the dehydrator (I will also redo the flavors I originally cooked in the crock pot to compare the taste difference, if any, between the ultra-hot crock pot and the temperature controlled dehydrator).
I also have a heated UC which I have used in the past as well (where I first learned the hard way that using plastic bottles WILL LEACH chemicals into the juice) and it seemed as though it helped a bit without heat. The heating feature on my UC is not adjustable and the water gets so hot that one can not put their bare hands in it. I now use the UC with the heat on to clean coils
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For me, it seems as heating WILL speed steep the juices, but it's just getting it "right". And I am leaning heavily towards the dehydrator and the controlled temperature settings.
I know that some may think that speed steeping will not replace natural steeping, and they may be right. But I do think that speed steeping with heat will definitely give a natural steep a "jump start". Some also wonder "why" people are in so much of a hurry to steep juice, and for individual usage I understand those thoughts. However, I personally have over 150 different flavorings (at last count) and make juice for friends and co-workers. I also have several shops waiting on me to be able to provide them with juice for their customers. I do not want to make up juice, distribute it how I do, then tell everyone "BTW you may have to wait a few weeks to let the stuff mature". People want to vape what they buy instantly and expect it to be fully matured when they receive it (except for the few patient people, which there are not many in this world). So, this is "why" we are trying to figure out the best method to "speed steep".
