I probably should have added some info that may add to heat steeping experiences. But really didnt think of it till now. Other steps that will increase and make results better include:
Seed steeping works like gangbusters with heat steep at 150°. I will still use 4 hour time frame here.
For juice that contains alcohol flavorings I generally keep the cap off for the first hour and cap it for the rest of the time. Most of my flavorings are alc based so I have been able to confirm that 1 hour at 150° with the cap off is enough to eliminate a heavy alcohol taste if it is present. However more time with caps off wont hurt. You just may get some evaporation of h20 you will need to compensate for.
As far as using less heat than 150° my experience says that lower heat = longer steeping time needed for the same results. So 135° might need much longer than four hours, for example. Although you'll still achieve better results than just letting your juice sit to age/cure.
What I have not tested is reults above 150°. I know I can safely go beyond 180° but Ive just never felt the need to try it to see if it will speed steep time even more. My knowledge base tells me it would tho.
Ive found that lower heat = longer heat steep. Higher heat = shorter steep time. That much is certain in my experience. For me, optimum is 150° for 4 hours. I like the state that leaves my juice in for reasons Ive stated before.
Thanks for that info BuffaloGuy! I appreciate all that you have done with this method and the info you have/are sharing. I have not done any more testing yet after the 135 degree test (wife is keeping me busy around the house on my vacation, plus I am addicted to Tiger Woods Golf on my PS3).
I do have more to add about the test prior to the 135 degree testing where I did eight bottles at 150 degrees on 3-15-14:
First, I did do some tobaccos two days on 3-13 but none have been vaped as of yet (all have menthol and they were made for my wife and I can't do menthol personally, so she is out of her standard menthol and I am refusing to make any more until she taste tests those. But now 12 days have past since then and they have had a chance to naturally steep as well which will hurt the taste testing immediately after the heat steep, making it a moot point I think).
Back to the others done on 3-15: Upon vaping them as soon as possible after the heat steeping at 150 degrees for four hours, I found that most tasted/smelled great immediately (two exceptions which I will write about below). One thing though I found is that when I exhaled them through my nose there was/is a slight burning sensation. Could be me or could be the 18mg of nicotine used. But the taste in the mouth and the exhale through the mouth was near perfect.
There were two flavors that did not smell right though; raspberry and Madagascar vanilla. BUT as of yesterday they both smell terrific and I am vaping the raspberry at this very moment and it is excellent with no nose burn. I plan on vaping the vanilla later today. But it is also 10 days after I heat steeped them.
I think that I will stick to 150 degrees and that I will heat steep up to eight hours at that level. I will run a few tests above 150 degrees too though to see what happens as well.
Through all of this so far though, I definitely support heat steeping as a method to at least jump start the steep process, and possibly complete the process. I also discovered a new GREAT tasting vape: mix raspberry with cinnamon roll for a truly delectable vape!
Several more things to try: .9 saline solution; adding one drop of flavoring to 5ml of DW and then swish in my mouth to get an idea on the taste of what it may be when vaped (read about that yesterday on the ECF forum somewhere). Using the DW/mouth swish method, if successful, can greatly speed up the creation of complex flavors without having to go through the mixing/steeping/vaping process.
So much to do and so little time to do it in One bright spot though is that I am on the right track after hearing from people like we2rcool and buffaloguy (and many others), plus I have 300 more glass bottles/droppers being delivered today and I don't have to make it a priority to clean up my used empty ones (yet).
Let's all go out and slosh around town
