Slow Cooker Extraction of Tobacco and Tea

[papabogart]

Thank you Str8vision with your explanation/reasoning not passing me for a total idiot, which sometimes I can be...

You don't want to be stepping into my bailiwick.

Gave up on original source for my silicone oil and found a new source. They had it in stock and shipped it right away. Only problem is that it's been in transit longer than it takes when I buy from China and this is stateside. Yes, I just cross-posted between threads, but I'm twiddling my thumbs.

 

[billherbst]

The OP (in the first post), details using uncovered mugs inside a covered slow cooker. Later in the thread the OP indicated the reason for leaving the mugs uncovered is to acquire condensation. I must admit I never tried it that way, always sealed mine specifically to prevent such from happening.

Thank you Str8vision with your explanation/reasoning not passing me for a total idiot, which sometimes I can be...

LOL. I have a tendency to "filter out" stuff that doesn't make sense to me or doesn't gibe with what I do. Sometimes I don't even remember it later. What the OP posted may have worked for him, but it wasn't relevant to me, so I just filtered it out...

No, Influence, I don't think you're an idiot, just someone who wants to get things right who may at times give other people too much credit for authority.

 

[johni]

Scarf ace was the original OP and she was definitely pioneering, making it up as she got into extraction. Prior to that, home extractors were heating shot glasses in the microwave! We've definitely refined her methods but she blazed the trail.

 

[Steamix]

Chopping up a finr MonteCristo to soak it through in a cup of PG...

No wonder Cuba is at odds with the USA

 

[billherbst]

Scarf ace was the original OP and she was definitely pioneering, making it up as she got into extraction. Prior to that, home extractors were heating shot glasses in the microwave! We've definitely refined her methods but she blazed the trail.

Gosh, I didn't realize when I posted that I was on Scarfy's thread. All the various home extraction threads have merged inside my head. I never pay much attention to which one I'm posting in. LOL.

Heck, John, we're still making it up as we go...

 

[johni]

Bill, I started to suggest that we start a new thread that updates the slow cooker and cold methods used but everyone does it a little differently so there wouldn't be much point. Trial and error, experimentation, and sharing have brought us to a pretty good place IMO. I haven't ordered juice in over a year and don't anticipate ordering anytime soon.

 

[billherbst]

Chopping up a finr MonteCristo to soak it through in a cup of PG...

No wonder Cuba is at odds with the USA

MonteCristo was one of about six extracts that Scarfy sent me in a package from Australia way back when, months before this thread started. That particular cigar extract, along with Scarfy's posts on the Natural Tobaccos thread and then this thread, which she began later, were the major factors in my deciding to try home extracting. I did my first macerated extraction in March, 2013, four months after this thread began. Now it seems like ancient history.

 

[patioclark]

And there's a whole group of us that don't post as frequently but are reading constantly. I just loaded up some more of Bill's Louisiana Red while I'm watching my first extracts steep for a while. You folks have many more of us into the game and making some delicious NET's. I'll probably still order a few commercial NET's here and there but I'm really excited about the fine cigars that I've got in my humidor(s) that are coming up next. I'm a fan, and I'm now an extractor. So thanks!

For those of us with an Aeropress, I've found that trimming a lab filter (2.5 micron) to fit for the final filtering does work pretty well. I just balanced a brick on it next to a wall to maintain some pressure and 60ml ran in about 3 hours. Success.

 

[billherbst]

For those of us with an Aeropress, I've found that trimming a lab filter (2.5 micron) to fit for the final filtering does work pretty well. I just balanced a brick on it next to a wall to maintain some pressure and 60ml ran in about 3 hours. Success.

Cool! Your solution to getting enough pressure on the Aeropress plunger to force the solvent through a 2.5-micron lab filter is a fine example of necessity being the mother of invention.

 

[Boxster]

Depending on your filter size trimming is not necessary. I use 7cm, 2 micron Ahlstrom filters (0740-0700).
I just place a filter centered on the filter basket, turn the chamber of the Aeropress upside down and press into the basket. This will cup the filter and form the filter to the basket. 90cm filters will also work with this method.







You can add weight to the plunger by rolling a zip-lock sandwich bag filled with ~2 inches of lead buck-shot or fishing weights "sinkers" into the plunger. This should give your plunger a lower center of gravity so you don't have lean it against a wall.

Here is the Ahlstrom laboratory catalog http://www.ahlstrom.com/globalassets/files/medical-care-and-life-science-files/ahlstrom-laboratory-catalogue-en.pdf

And there's a whole group of us that don't post as frequently but are reading constantly. I just loaded up some more of Bill's Louisiana Red while I'm watching my first extracts steep for a while. You folks have many more of us into the game and making some delicious NET's. I'll probably still order a few commercial NET's here and there but I'm really excited about the fine cigars that I've got in my humidor(s) that are coming up next. I'm a fan, and I'm now an extractor. So thanks!

For those of us with an Aeropress, I've found that trimming a lab filter (2.5 micron) to fit for the final filtering does work pretty well. I just balanced a brick on it next to a wall to maintain some pressure and 60ml ran in about 3 hours. Success.

 

[patioclark]

You can add weight to the plunger by rolling a zip-lock sandwich bag filled with ~2 inches of lead buck-shot or fishing weights "sinkers" into the plunger. This should give your plunger a lower center of gravity so you don't have lean it against a wall.

Thanks Boxster! Reading and learning all the time!!!

 

[Smocian257]

do we have a general consensus on the amount of time that these extractions should take for peak flavor?

 

[boomerdude]

I give pipe tobacco a minimum of one month and cigars at least six weeks.

do we have a general consensus on the amount of time that these extractions should take for peak flavor?

 

[MikeNice81]

do we have a general consensus on the amount of time that these extractions should take for peak flavor?

40 - 45 days works well in my experience.

ETA: I usually start with a six hour warm bath around 120 degrees.

 

[clnire]

Heat extracted I seem to do well with about 24 hrs. Then I let it sit and cool for several hours before filtering but that's usually because of my schedule (and sleep)

 

[Smocian257]

I've got 9 pipe tobaccos and 2 RYO's going , 50/50 pg/vg , 24 hours at 180f (hopefully I can get it to lower), 150ml in each jar, one ounce each.

We will see!

 

[Ian444]

Keep an eye on the water level, it might need topping up periodically. You'll be able to make a lot of juice with that extract, more than a gallon I'd say.

 

[Smocian257]

Just checked them. I had 4 going in an old crock pot and the water was scalding hot , the imported tobacco blend had a brown foam forming , i aborted the heat maceration on that batch (which includes a baja blend and 2 ryo's) . So i'm letting those cool down after only 12 hours.

 

[Smocian257]

The newer slow cooker i got at sears had a "warm setting" its like bath tub warm after an initial heating that registerd off the charts. My cheap thermometer broke oh well. Ill be more scientific next batch.

 

[Ian444]

Instead of a slow cooker, I prefer a standalone hotplate with continuously variable temperature, these have a thermostat and the cheap one I have keeps the temperature within around 10 degrees celsius, but the average temp can drift a little bit depending on surrounding air temp. Bath tub warm is not a bad temp either however (from your crockpot).

Just a suggestion for comparing different techniques - if you have an ounce of tobacco, you can split it 3 ways, do one cold, do one hot, do one with PGA or whatever variation you want e.g. microwave, freezer, whatever. A good idea is to stagger the start of the macerations so that they all get filtered on the same day, or within a few days. Then as they mature/steep you can directly compare the maceration methods one against the other. After 2 or 3 months you'll have a definite handle on the flavor and the variations introduced from the different maceration methods.