Freezing Favorite E-Liquids?

[Kellin]

So, I established through search that nicotine can be safely stored in the freezer in dark glass bottles and has a significant lifespan kept that way. All good (and please correct me if that is incorrect). DIY is not really a direction in which I choose to go, but I do have concerns about the looming taxation|regulation|legislation issues. I do not want to go 0 nic anytime soon nor do I particularly like tobacco or menthol flavors (remind me too much of smoking and just don't appeal to me at all).

What I'd really like to do is stock up on my favorite vendor e-liquids|flavors by picking up spare bottles and popping them in the freezer. My search-fu failed me at that point and I just kept getting steeping or DIY nicotine posts returned when I tried to figure out if the same rules of thumb apply to flavored liquids. So, the questions (please feel free to point me to some cool post or article I overlooked):

1. Can I simply put my larger vendor glass bottles in the freezer?
2. Will either the flavor or the liquid itself degrade over time? (Edit: And, if so, about how long would that take?)
3. Is there a VG/PG ratio that would be preferred for freezer storage? DIY recommendations mostly refer to ease of mixing, I'm more interested in flavor retention and such.

TIA!

 

[Atlantisboy]

Good questions, I don't know the definitive answer but I'm interested to see what replies you get

 

[Fizzpop]

Storing your juices in the refrigerator will prolong their shelf life. That being said, for long term storage (year +) you want to store just the nicotine base in a freezer. If you are serious about long-term storage, you really need to look into DIY. That being said, mixing your own juices is a joyful thing - I highly recommend it.

For long term storage, store your nic base in glass bottles with as little air as possible in the bottle. Note: some vendors ship nic base with argon gas to prevent oxidation. Many report being able to store nicotine for years with no degradation.

 

[Rat2chat2]

Maybe a small amount more work but what is wrong with just freezing your nic and making unflavored nic juice and adding you favorite flavors to it whether they are premade juices or just some flavorings you choose? I have read many articles on freezing nic and several for keeping some flavorings in the fridge but I have never read where someone froze premade juice. Look forward to hearing from some one that knows for sure. Good luck to ya.

 

[Elizabeth Baldwin]

I would not freeze eliquid with flavorings in it already. You will find if you do this that the flavors will degrade quickly once you do this.

You can freeze nicotine though. It actually will last longer by freezing, but once you introduce the flavoring the flavors will degrade when frozen. It won't harm it, it just will weaken the taste.

 

[williebb123]

a couple of winters ago i ordered a few of my favs from a vendor the one day i dont go to the mailbox was the day they came and all was fine but one im sure they all froze over nite but the one in mind never looked liked it mixed it was almost a congealed mess and had an off odor so i would say no to freezing premixed juices only nic in my freezer

 

[thebanik]

I dont know about long term freezing, but since I am based in India, my last order was of 960ml of flavored juices which I keep in the refrigerator. Havent had any flavor degrade in the past 1 month......No idea about anything longer though....

 

[ShariR]

If you go back to some of the very old DIY threads there are several discussions about freezing ready mixed juices. From my memory it was not advised. Something to do with the flavoring not holding up well or breaking down the mixture. You would have to go over to the Diy Forum and do a search. Some of this should come up.

Good luck.

 

[GPC2012]

I have a huge order coming and plan on keeping some of it in the fridge, but I hadn't thought about freezing premixed, glad to know ahead of time.

 

[mostlyclassics]

Some flavors definitely do go funky when frozen. Any water in the e-liquid will go crystalline when it freezes and break apart large and complex flavor molecules. By contrast, Vitamin N, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, etc., are unaffected by freezing. Heck, in the freezer, they don't even freeze: they just get more viscuous.

Really, Kellin, if you have your heart set on long-term storage of nicotine juices, I encourage you to investigate DIY. It's really not hard to do.

 

[Kellin]

Maybe a small amount more work but what is wrong with just freezing your nic and making unflavored nic juice and adding you favorite flavors to it whether they are premade juices or just some flavorings you choose? I have read many articles on freezing nic and several for keeping some flavorings in the fridge but I have never read where someone froze premade juice. Look forward to hearing from some one that knows for sure. Good luck to ya.

Good point - there is likely no way to regulate 0 nicotine liquids so a stock of nicotine in the freezer to mix with 0 nic vendor liquid would be a solution.

 

[Bliss Doubt]

I, too, have been thinking about how to prepare for the nanny apocalypse. I'm reading just now, with government rubbing its figurative hands together and slobbering over potential taxes on vaping, looking for peoples thoughts on what to have around that will get us off the radar and out of danger. I was thinking about seal-a-meal for nicotine extract. I have some very high quality bags from Italy, apparently the least porous you can possibly get, but I don't know how long liq nic will keep even in the freezer. The rest of eliquid DIY I've been starting to experiment with, and now nearing my 15th month of vaping, I find I no longer need 20 flavors at home and 20 at work. There are a few I'd like to have around, for switching out when palate fatigue kicks in.

 

[mostlyclassics]

The trouble with plastic for long-term storage of nicquid is that plastic — of any kind! — is porous. Air will leak in and oxidize the nicotine. It may take years, but it will happen!

Small glass bottles are quite inexpensive, bought in quantity, and so are the proper sort of bottle caps.

Neither PG- nor VG-based nicquids will freeze in a freezer, and neither expands to crack the glass, like water does as it approaches 32 degrees Farenheit and its freezing point. I keep my top-load freezer at -15 degrees Farenheit, and I've had no problem with glass bottles.

 

[Bliss Doubt]

The trouble with plastic for long-term storage of nicquid is that plastic — of any kind! — is porous. Air will leak in and oxidize the nicotine. It may take years, but it will happen!

Small glass bottles are quite inexpensive, bought in quantity, and so are the proper sort of bottle caps.

Neither PG- nor VG-based nicquids will freeze in a freezer, and neither expands to crack the glass, like water does as it approaches 32 degrees Farenheit and its freezing point. I keep my top-load freezer at -15 degrees Farenheit, and I've had no problem with glass bottles.

I hope I'm not asking a tedious question, but I keep reading that the freezer life of PG/VG liquid mixes is two years. I'm talking lifetime supply of pure pharmaceutical grade nicotine. I'm not even sure how much a lifetime supply would be. I have stored foods that remained completely unmarred and unspoiled for as much as five years by sealing the item, then putting the sealed bag inside another seal-a-meal bag, and sealing that. Double bagging basically. Alternatively, will unmixed nicotine, no PG, no VG, not freeze and burst a glass bottle?

 

[mostlyclassics]

I hope I'm not asking a tedious question, but I keep reading that the freezer life of PG/VG liquid mixes is two years.

It's not a tedious question at all, Bliss Doubt. There seems to be some confusion here. Flavored e-liquids have a definite shelf life of a couple-three years (much less if not kept cool — no higher than mid-60's F. — and out of light). Most flavored e-liquids also shouldn't be frozen, because whatever water is in the e-liquid may freeze and the ice crystals slice up the complex and delicate flavoring molecules, thereby making the e-liquid taste funky. Unflavored e-liquids or nicquids, by contrast, should only be PG/VG (either solo or some mixture of the two) and nicotine. There may even be a bit of water in these, but there's never enough to do any damage, especially to the much more robust nicotine molecule. Unflavored can be put in a freezer with no ill effects.

I'm talking lifetime supply of pure pharmaceutical grade nicotine.

You, as a consumer, don't have access to this stuff: it's deadly poison, and no one will sell it to you. On the other hand, you can readily acquire 100 mg./ml. unflavored nicquid, USP-grade (or 99.5% pure). This is the stuff you get from Wizard Labs and other places. The 100 mg./ml. stuff is a 10% solution of nicotine. It's offered dissolved (actually, it's not dissolved, rather it's enmisced, or however you spell it) in PG, VG or some blend of the two. Some vendors will let you determine the blend.

Alternatively, will unmixed nicotine, no PG, no VG, not freeze and burst a glass bottle?

As I noted, you cannot obtain "unmixed nicotine, no PG, no VG." The 100 mg./ml. nicquid goes into a home freezer just fine, since the freezing point of both PG and VG are far, far below what you can achieve with a home freezer. And, unlike water, PG, VG and nicotine do not expand as they reach their freezing points. (Water is one of the few weird compounds that does that.) I rebottle 100 mg./ml. nicquid into 60 or 120 ml. bottles, allow as little "head room" (air at the top) as possible, tightly cap with the proper kind of caps, and store at 15 degrees below zero Farenheit. The straight VG nicquid gets mighty gooey (viscuous) at that temperature, so when I warm up a bottle of that, I have to get it above room temperature before it'll pour. The nicquid will not crack bottles!

I have stored foods that remained completely unmarred and unspoiled for as much as five years . . .

Hee hee! Once I lost some strip steaks in the bottom of my top-loader. They were cryopacked, but they were in the freezer for a good five years. For grins, I thawed them. I smelled them, and they seemed fine. That evening, I grilled them. They were still fresh and could have been whacked off the freshly killed steer a few days before.

 

[Bliss Doubt]

You, as a consumer, don't have access to this stuff: it's deadly poison, and no one will sell it to you. On the other hand, you can readily acquire 100 mg./ml. unflavored nicquid, USP-grade (or 99.5% pure). This is the stuff you get from Wizard Labs and other places. The 100 mg./ml. stuff is a 10% solution of nicotine. It's offered dissolved (actually, it's not dissolved, rather it's enmisced, or however you spell it) in PG, VG or some blend of the two. Some vendors will let you determine the blend.


(Moderated)

 

[Bliss Doubt]

I dunno what I did wrong. Your words didn't come out as a quote. Oh well.

 

[Rickajho]

I have a huge order coming and plan on keeping some of it in the fridge, but I hadn't thought about freezing premixed, glad to know ahead of time.

I would store pre-mixed in the basement before I would put it in the 'fridge. Plastic capped bottles are not air tight seals and glass bottles with rubber topped droppers are porous. In other words: flavor transfer. I don't want my blueberry crumble liquid picking up notes of yellow onion and garlic pesto sauce from being stored in a refrigerator.

 

[tnash]

Great question and helpful answers. Was just about to freeze some Mountain Oak Vapor juice. Won't do that now. Thanks!