Slow Cooker Extraction of Tobacco and Tea

[drumstick7]

Huh, the stuff I've come up w/ is QUITE strong. To be clear, I'm hearing you say that I should filter the resulting liquid another time or two.
To make it stronger? 1) Not getting how increased filtration would make it stronger; 2) after one filtering it seems...quite filtered, ha, ha.

So clearly I'm missing something altogether.

Left to my own wits, I'd give the remaining glop a hardy squeezing and then pitch it, content that I probably have enough extract already to last me a year, since a test vape already told me the stuff seems too strong for 100% strength vaping.

What the heck am I missing?

 

[aldur]

drumstick7, my opinion on that is that the leaves and stems of tobacco have soaked up and are a super concentrate of flavor. Definitely squeeze it.

Try to filter it a few times for sure - the bigger particles are easy but it is the smaller ones everyone is trying to get out. It's akin to putting straight flecks on the coil. It's not the best taste in the world.

Do a pass with coffee filters then try a few times with the cotton ball and syringe method. The warmer the liquid is, the faster and easier filtering is.

Congrats on a NET, and watch your tobacco for mold and the correct humidity. Humidity makes the bacco!

 

[raceduck84]

OMG, I can't believe I haven't even thought of doing this - Sherman MCD's were my cigarette of choice back in the day. I'll definitely try N-E-T.com's offering, but I want to give the extraction a go myself. I was reading this thread back to front just to see what's going on currently, so I haven't read some of the earlier posts yet, but I hope you posted your process / measurements, etc. with the MCD's...? I've done a couple of extractions with a straight-up Virginia pipe tobacco, but as a stand alone vape, it just isn't flavorful enough. Look forward to giving this a try.

After "playing" with several different tobaccos (cigar, pipe, and RYO), I have found a couple flavors that I am sticking with: American Spirit Organic and Crown Royale pipe tobacco. I am trying two new ones, which bring up my questions here.
I found a dealer that stocks Nat Shermans, so I picked up a box of MCD's. They were mixed up 10 cigarettes' worth in a jar, one with 50/50 PG/VG and one all PG. I am doing a similar test with two cigars: Acid Blondies. All 4 mixes are in a crock pot, set on WARM. I usually let them "cook" for 3 or 4 days, depending on nothing but mood.
Should I guess steeping will be 2-4 weeks before I test these? What ratios seem to work well for a final juice blend? I have seen 5-10% extract all the way up to 33% or even 50%. I've been vaping for over a year, so my sense of taste has improved greatly. I'm not looking for an overpowering juice to enjoy it.

 

[raceduck84]

After many poor to fair tries at blended tobaccos, I have found a couple I like. Backwoods cigars and American Spirit tobacco (Organic and Perique blend) seem to work well with Celestial teas. Some of the blends I like have been Bengal Spice and Mandarin Orange Spice when mixed with Perique blend, Black Cherry/Wildberry mixed with Backwoods, and Apple Cinnamon Spice mixed with Organic.
My ratios have been generally 2 parts tobacco to one part tea by volume. All so far have been extracted in PG with a long, slow cook in the crock pot.
At some point, I'll try some other teas, but for those who have tried this, would it work better to do tobacco and tea extracts separately and figure out the blending rations later? The other option I've seen is to add PGA to PG for the tea extract and PG only for the tobacco. The teas seem to lose their edge after a short time, while the tobaccos get better with time. I don't know if this will work anyway, blended before cooking or blending after extraction. Any thoughts?

 

[billherbst]

After many poor to fair tries at blended tobaccos, I have found a couple I like. Backwoods cigars and American Spirit tobacco (Organic and Perique blend) seem to work well with Celestial teas. Some of the blends I like have been Bengal Spice and Mandarin Orange Spice when mixed with Perique blend, Black Cherry/Wildberry mixed with Backwoods, and Apple Cinnamon Spice mixed with Organic.
My ratios have been generally 2 parts tobacco to one part tea by volume. All so far have been extracted in PG with a long, slow cook in the crock pot.
At some point, I'll try some other teas, but for those who have tried this, would it work better to do tobacco and tea extracts separately and figure out the blending rations later? The other option I've seen is to add PGA to PG for the tea extract and PG only for the tobacco. The teas seem to lose their edge after a short time, while the tobaccos get better with time. I don't know if this will work anyway, blended before cooking or blending after extraction. Any thoughts?

I would extract the teas and tobaccos separately, then experiment with mixing the extracts in different ratios to get the blend where I wanted it.

 

[Whiskey River]

Hey guys and gals, I've tried NET.com "big spirit" and I love the flavor. (I used to smoke American Spirits) but this stuff kills my coils quick. I was wondering how the slow cooker extraction of American Spirit organic blend does on the coils? I'm new to this extraction and diy juice making so please be gentle. Any and all help/instructions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch,sorry if this has been covered before

 

[billherbst]

Hey guys and gals, I've tried NET.com "big spirit" and I love the flavor. (I used to smoke American Spirits) but this stuff kills my coils quick. I was wondering how the slow cooker extraction of American Spirit organic blend does on the coils? I'm new to this extraction and diy juice making so please be gentle. Any and all help/instructions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch,sorry if this has been covered before

As far as I know, Clay at N-E-T.com is using standard maceration extraction methods, both cold-processed and heat-assisted. Impact of an NET is not so much a function of which maceration process is used, but of filtering.

I'd guess that you'll need a five-stage filtering (meaning, five passes of the extract through whatever filtering medium is used---coffee filters, syringe with cotton, etc.) to significantly reduce the coil/wick gunking. More filtering = less gunking. The tradeoff is that more filtering may cause a slight loss of flavor.

Another factor is percentage of extract in the finished juice. 13% extract will gunk a lot less than 20%. Again, the tradeoff is that the flavor won't be as bold or full, but personally, I prefer using lower percentages of extract as the flavor is more subtle and nuanced rather than blunt.

 

[JackhammerJesus]

Howdy!

Fairly new member and vaper, about to plunge into the DIY-swamp head first..

Just started my very first batch of NET with a cherry cavendish. Sadly I dont own a slow cooker, but luckily I DO have a induktion type stove, with a "keep warm" setting. That seems to hold at about ~63 degrees celcius. Just got to remember keeping an eye on the temps til I know for sure..

 

[billherbst]

Howdy!

Fairly new member and vaper, about to plunge into the DIY-swamp head first..

Just started my very first batch of NET with a cherry cavendish. Sadly I dont own a slow cooker, but luckily I DO have a induktion type stove, with a "keep warm" setting. That seems to hold at about ~63 degrees celcius. Just got to remember keeping an eye on the temps til I know for sure..

You don't need a dedicated slow cooker, just a big pot. Put your macerations jar(s) with lids on and sealed into the pot, fill with water to about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the jars. Remove the jars, heat the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and re-insert the jars. Keep the water just below a simmer. One day later you're ready to filter the extract.

 

[JackhammerJesus]

You don't need a dedicated slow cooker, just a big pot. Put your macerations jar(s) with lids on and sealed into the pot, fill with water to about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the jars. Remove the jars, heat the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and re-insert the jars. Keep the water just below a simmer. One day later you're ready to filter the extract.

Almost exactly what I'm doing. Staying a little lower on the temp, though...water seems to have settled at around 70 celsius on the "keep warm" setting. And thanks for the reply!

 

[Sir-Herf-Alot]

where to buy the pg,vg and nic?
thx

 

[Sir-Herf-Alot]

what size crock pot r u using?

 

[planes]

For sake of accuracy. Does any nicotine still remain in the crock pot/boiling pot method? If so, is there a way to elminate all nic so one can then add an accurate amount?

 

[ratchet62]

For sake of accuracy. Does any nicotine still remain in the crock pot/boiling pot method? If so, is there a way to elminate all nic so one can then add an accurate amount?

Nobody really knows the answer to your question. Logic says there is some nicotine released during extraction. I'm not aware of anyway to eliminate all the nic when extracting.

 

[planes]

Nobody really knows the answer to your question. Logic says there is some nicotine released during extraction. I'm not aware of anyway to eliminate all the nic when extracting.

Thanks for the answer

 

[billherbst]

where to buy the pg,vg and nic?
thx

Essential Depot PG/VG Special
HeartlandVapes 100mg/ml Liquid Nicotine

Essential Depot's price for 1 gallon of VG and 1 gallon of PG---Kosher USP Food Grade---is $54.49 shipped. Best price anywhere.

Buy a liter of Heartland's 100mg/ml Liquid Nic and get $25 off with coupon code "25nic100". I can't guarantee that the code is still in effect, but even without it, Heartland's price for one liter of liquid nic ($89.99) is the least expensive anywhere, by far. With $25 off, it's ridiculously cheap. It's very high quality and easily as good as liquid nic from vendors charging two to three times as much.

what size crock pot r u using?

I don't use a crock pot. I use a large pasta pot (low-heat water bath).

 

[Whiskey River]

My first net batch of organic American spirit is on its second day of the cook! I'm going to cook for one more day then filter and age for a week and see how it tastes all mixed up. It already tastes just like Big Spirit only stronger, which is good since it will be diluted. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I think I'll try some organic flue cured virginia next if my results are as good as I hope them to be. I know a few others have done the American spirit before, how long did you age it? Thanks again

 

[billherbst]

My first net batch of organic American spirit is on its second day of the cook! I'm going to cook for one more day then filter and age for a week and see how it tastes all mixed up. It already tastes just like Big Spirit only stronger, which is good since it will be diluted. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this thread. I think I'll try some organic flue cured virginia next if my results are as good as I hope them to be. I know a few others have done the American spirit before, how long did you age it? Thanks again

Juices and extracts "age" without our doing (or not doing) anything.

I understand that some people won't touch a fresh juice if they've read or been told that it needs to steep. Not me. I vape everything right away, whether out of the mailbox or out of my kitchen/lab. Vaping fresh gives me a benchmark against which to measure changes over time. If I like it, I vape it from the start. If I don't like it enough or not at all, I put it away to steep, age, and hopefully transform.

I wonder a bit about your third day of heat-assisted maceration. Along with leeching of soluble flavinoids, cellulose plant matter breaks down in a maceration. Those particulates---often too small to see---need to be filtered out, for they are the stuff that gunks coils and kills wicks. If you're shooting for intense flavor, a longer maceration may provide that, but deeper flavor is often accompanied by filtering problems and performance issues later. So, as with so much of life, it's a balance, a compromise of trade-offs.

I'm using shorter macerations now---12 hours with the sealed maceration jar in a warm water bath. That's enough to get good, rich color in the liquid, ease of filtering, nice flavor, and cleaner performance. Different tobaccos may need varied times, of course, based on variety, blend, freshness, moisture content, etc. And your mileage may vary just because you're you and not me.

Yes, I've extracted American Spirit Organic tobacco (mine was from a fresh pack of cigs rather than the RYO loose pouch). It's my favorite all-purpose NET---good alone, and great as a mixer.

 

[Whiskey River]

Thanks billherbst, I'll probably filter 5 times, test it out for coil killing qualities and go from there. Mind if I ask the process you used on your American spirit?

 

[billherbst]

Thanks billherbst, I'll probably filter 5 times, test it out for coil killing qualities and go from there. Mind if I ask the process you used on your American spirit?

2-day heat-assisted maceration with sealed jar in a warm water bath. Alternate 6 hours low heat on with 6 hours heat off. Double filtered, first through a nylon mesh French Press coffee pot filter to remove the bulk of tobacco solids, then through 2 layers of paper coffee filters in a Melitta cone.

I don't wait for gravity to do the filtering. Since I use a blend of PG and VG, the liquid would take literally days to pass through the filter (actually, I've never waited long enough to know for sure). I put the two filters in the cone, pour in the liquid, then bunch together the outer edges of the filters and, holding them tightly together, gradually twist the liquid-filled filter "ball," slowly forcing the liquid through the filter into a glass. From start to finish, my two-stage filtering takes about 20 minutes. Although the finished extract is dark-colored, the juices I make using 13-16% extract are either pale or light-colored transparencies.

My current batches (four extractions at a time) use a shorter maceration---one 12-hour steep at low heat---then, after cooling, the same two-stage filtering. Shorter heating times seem to result in easier filtering and lighter-colored juices. I'm pleased with the balance I'm getting between depth of flavor and clean performance (relatively speaking, of course, since macerated NETs are by their nature harder on coils and wicks than many lab-based synthetically flavored eliquids).