speed steeping

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Cloud Engineer

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I have yet to find or hear of a method to truly speed steep. I always warm my e-juice in a bowl of scolding water for about 5 minutes depending on the size of the bottle. This is just to help get a better initial mix though. There is no substitute for what waiting a few days or a week can do to a bottle. I never tried using boiling water though.
 

Kaezziel

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I'm not a fan of heating juice to steep it... heat does lots of things to the components that can change the flavor dramatically. Just add more flavoring to make it taste the way you want it to, and steeping isn't necessary. If you must steep, then just let it sit in a dark, cool place. If it's good to start with, it will likely only get better... if it's bad to start with, steeping probably isn't going to make it taste great anyway... :2c:
 

InTheShade

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If you are trying to achieve a faster steeping, there are other ways. A simple way is to make your own agitator. Duct tape the bottle to a reciprocating or jigsaw, shake well for 10 minutes. Seriously. It works.

If you are set on a heat steep, consider making the liquid and then putting the finished product into a hot water bath in a slow cooker. There are several threads on this and other methods (like using ultrasonic cleaners and such) over in the DIY liquid section DIY E-Liquid

As itskohler said, you really want to be steeping the finished e-liquid together with the flavorings for best results.
 

sketchness

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So the quick rule is less than 150 degrees. This is usually the warm setting on a crock pot. Most threads I have read talk about limiting this to about 4 hours. Others use an ultrasonic cleaner. My experience is that it does taste a bit better after this than it would have. However I like bakery\cream\custard recipes and these really must steep for about a month. Tobaccos are even longer sometimes 7-9 weeks. What the heat and shaking do is better emulsify the flavor.

The poster above questions steeping because he is vaping fruit flavors. These are usually pretty good right after mixing. So this is no surprise. Mix a custard and try, it is pretty subpar even at 3 weeks. But something great happens in the next 10-14 days that is amazing. Shazam premium quality custard, with a hint of crust and vanilla.

edit - my experience with DIY is that anything that tastes really good freshly mixed DOES NOT get better with age. It sort of falls flat. again just my experience.
 

Kaezziel

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So the quick rule is less than 150 degrees. This is usually the warm setting on a crock pot. Most threads I have read talk about limiting this to about 4 hours. Others use an ultrasonic cleaner. My experience is that it does taste a bit better after this than it would have. However I like bakery\cream\custard recipes and these really must steep for about a month. Tobaccos are even longer sometimes 7-9 weeks. What the heat and shaking do is better emulsify the flavor.

The poster above questions steeping because he is vaping fruit flavors. These are usually pretty good right after mixing. So this is no surprise. Mix a custard and try, it is pretty subpar even at 3 weeks. But something great happens in the next 10-14 days that is amazing. Shazam premium quality custard, with a hint of crust and vanilla.

edit - my experience with DIY is that anything that tastes really good freshly mixed DOES NOT get better with age. It sort of falls flat. again just my experience.

I agree with no more than 150°F... but I don't steep anything with temp... it changes the juice in a way that I just don't like.

I mixed a Peaches & Cream juice this weekend that was awesome after just a good shake... I've got some custards that I'm going to mix this week or this weekend when I get time... those will likely not get an extended steep either... just have to see how it goes...
 

Train2

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A few points:
There are a lot of threads discussing this at length.
I wouldn't get your liquid HOT - as mentioned, this will really impact the juice, and can degrade the nic, etc... Warm makes some sense as it's basically another version of "make the molecules move around a bunch" - same theory as aggressive mixing.
Some people "don't believe" in steeping, but many do.
I've found that flavors including vanilla or tobacco almost always change substantially with some sitting time.
My all-day-every-day flavor changes over the course of about 10 days. It's good fresh, but better steeped.

These two bottles are precisely the same recipe - one is a week later.
steepcolor_zpsc51fcd62.jpg
 

sketchness

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I agree with no more than 150°F... but I don't steep anything with temp... it changes the juice in a way that I just don't like.

I mixed a Peaches & Cream juice this weekend that was awesome after just a good shake... I've got some custards that I'm going to mix this week or this weekend when I get time... those will likely not get an extended steep either... just have to see how it goes...

agreed I am not sold on the whole heat steeping thing either. There is just something weird about runny VG that I don't care for either. Could just all be in my head, but it is there, and so I just don't do it. I would prefer to just put it up in the closet for a month. I can goof off with menthol and fruits while it steeps.

Looking for a really good tobacco recipe to try. That way I can make a 120ml batch and always have a good tobacco to cut my sweets with.
 

Kaezziel

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agreed I am not sold on the whole heat steeping thing either. There is just something weird about runny VG that I don't care for either. Could just all be in my head, but it is there, and so I just don't do it. I would prefer to just put it up in the closet for a month. I can goof off with menthol and fruits while it steeps.

Looking for a really good tobacco recipe to try. That way I can make a 120ml batch and always have a good tobacco to cut my sweets with.

That's kinda where I stand on it too... I figure at 6mg nicotine, I can't afford to destroy that with heat... sure, I could make it stronger, but that changes the flavor profile as well... and you're right... can always mix up a batch of strawberry/melon or something to use while the custards and creams steep for a while in a dark drawer or closet... the hard part for me is remembering to take them out to shake them from time to time...

Can't help ya with the tobacco recipe... I haven't used a tobacco in about 3 years. Even then it was all RY4s...
 

drunkenbatman

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If you are trying to achieve a faster steeping, there are other ways. A simple way is to make your own agitator. Duct tape the bottle to a reciprocating or jigsaw, shake well for 10 minutes. Seriously. It works.

lol picturing this made me so happy, as does a shake weight + duct tape becoming part of a vaper's essential toolkit.
 

Train2

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Oh you missed a winner about a week ago, when a DIY creative type posted a photo of her...um...adult toy resting in a jar of freshly mixed e-liquid, making little waves from the um...quick shaking...it's designed to deliver.

lol picturing this made me so happy, as does a shake weight + duct tape becoming part of a vaper's essential toolkit.
 

ReigntheGamer

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If you are trying to achieve a faster steeping, there are other ways. A simple way is to make your own agitator. Duct tape the bottle to a reciprocating or jigsaw, shake well for 10 minutes. Seriously. It works.

If you are set on a heat steep, consider making the liquid and then putting the finished product into a hot water bath in a slow cooker. There are several threads on this and other methods (like using ultrasonic cleaners and such) over in the DIY liquid section DIY E-Liquid

As itskohler said, you really want to be steeping the finished e-liquid together with the flavorings for best results.

The steep-o-matic??? :thumb:

 
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