Nic Base Storage: Freezer vs. Room Temp Experiment
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I'm sure this has been asked before. I apologize if it has been. I also apologize if it's a inappropriate question to ask here but here goes....
I have quite a bit of flavoring that has been unopened for 2 years. It's sitting in glass containers (10ml) in a box on a self. I'm wondering if that's the way to go or if I should put it in the fridge and remove a container when I open it. I know putting it the freezer is not the way to go.
Bottom line, I'm unsure if storing it on a self (dark) or in the fridge until opening it is the way to go?
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
I have quite a bit of flavoring that has been unopened for 2 years. It's sitting in glass containers (10ml) in a box on a self. I'm wondering if that's the way to go or if I should put it in the fridge and remove a container when I open it. I know putting it the freezer is not the way to go.
Bottom line, I'm unsure if storing it on a self (dark) or in the fridge until opening it is the way to go?
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
I'm no expert in the field, but I'd say that there's probably not a single answer for all flavors. It probably depends on each flavor, and its chemical makeup, and maybe whether it's naturally derived or chemically created. Like foods, some will preserve flavor better at room temperature, and can change significantly when refrigerated. Not that you've vaping bloody mary juice or anything, but a tomato for instance- totally loses flavor when refrigerated, even if you allow them to come back to room temp. If it were me, I'd keep them in a cool, dark place and hope for the best. I'd guess most flavors wouldn't be at their best after 3-4 years. You can always taste-test when ready, and toss whatever doesn't pass muster- flavorings in general aren't too expensive. Maybe someone with more knowledge will come along.
It never made sense to me that flavorings shouldn't be kept cold. Lowering the temperature slow down chemical reactions of all kinds and what can ruin a flavoring besides chemical reactions?
Can't say I've ever looked for them there.
But just because something isn't required to be kept cold doesn't mean it can't benefit from being kept cold.
I believe refrigeration is primarily used to ...... bacterial growth in foods, not to slow chemical decomposition. In some cases, refrigeration actually accelerates chemical change (starches break down quicker). And sometimes, it's the temperature change that can accelerate breakdown. In other cases, refrigeration doesn't hurt, but doesn't really add an appreciable benefit - alkaline batteries, for instance. For those reasons, if a product is not inherently susceptible to bacterial growth, is produced, shipped and stored unrefrigerated, and has no recommendation to refrigerate, I'd avoid it.
Sorry if this has been asked but isn’t there a worry that freezing will cause the glass bottle to break? Don’t liquids expand when frozen?
No. Neither PG nor VG will actually freeze solid at the temperatures a household freezer can achieve. Moreover, the expansion of water with decreasing temperature (that actually starts at 4C) is a highly unusual property that practically unique to water.
Thank you for that explanation, very thorough and interesting. I’m picking up some 100mg nic salt when Nicotine River runs there upcoming sale. So I’ll have some Nicotine that will need storage. I emailed them asking when they will run that sale and they replied with December 28th-31st for a full website sale. They did not tell me what % though. Hopefully that will be helpful information for some of you.
Even if expansion were an issue--which it isn't--the solution is simple: headspace. If one leaves enough room in the bottle to accommodate the expansion, breakage will be avoided.
Note that earlier in this thread we were advised to leave a little headspace, not to account for expansion in freezing, but rather to leave room for the expansion that will occur in thawing (well, coming to room temperature, since neither PG nor VG will freeze in a home freezer). If it has nowhere to go, liquid may force its way through the seal on the caps as it warms up.
That's my understanding, anyway (says the novice).
That's really only an issue of you're "thawing" at a higher temperature than you had when you bottled the stuff. For example if you bottle in a 65F room in the winter and thaw in an 80F room in the summer.
Still, a little headroom is good. With zero headroom in the bottle, you'll have something close to a hard vacuum in the headroom that will develop as the liquid contracts at freezer temperature. That means a pressure differential of 14.7 psi at sea level. Most reasonable size glass bottles 500 ml or smaller can withstand that, but why put undue mechanical stress on them?
A couple of the pics I originally posed on the first page of this thread will give you some idea of the shrinkage.
Here are two samples, just bottled, both still at room temperature:
And here they are some weeks later, with the sample on the right at freezer temperature:
Note the drop in the liquid level in the one marked "F".
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