Steeping sucks!

[aurea]

Can I get an Amen?!? Sorry, I just had to vent that! I'm trying my hand at DIY and of course decided to start with some "creamy" type flavors. Which, I found out after the fact really require a decent steeping time if you want the real flavor.

Patience not being one of my best skills I'm sitting here staring at my little collection of DIY trials determined that if I look at the bottles they will steep faster!

 

[bah-num]

You could always do a hot water bath. Not quite as good as time, but it does help quite a bit.

Heat up a mug of water in the microwave, drop in your bottle. Let it sit there until the water cools, taking it out and shaking it periodically.

 

[niczgreat]

Danger Will Robinson Danger
Remember to leave the bottle with an openening when you steep in the hot water or it could Explode.

You could always do a hot water bath. Not quite as good as time, but it does help quite a bit.

Heat up a mug of water in the microwave, drop in your bottle. Let it sit there until the water cools, taking it out and shaking it periodically.

 

[bah-num]

?!? Never heard this before. Never even had a pressure change in a bottle when using this method. Mind pointing me to a thread with more information than just big red letters?

 

[aurea]

I guess the question is how hot should the water be to use for steeping? That would make the no lid method make sense!

 

[bah-num]

Certainly not hot enough to cause any strange chemical reaction to take place Just hot enough to make a cup of tea. Just don't heat it so it's boiling... not because I think it's dangerous, just because I don't like to subject my juice to that high a temperature.

 

[vsummer1]

Danger Will Robinson Danger
Remember to leave the bottle with an openening when you steep in the hot water or it could Explode.

AMEN. Had a few do that IN MY MAILBOX when the temp was over 110 outside and who knows how hot in that box!

 

[niczgreat]

?!? Never heard this before. Never even had a pressure change in a bottle when using this method. Mind pointing me to a thread with more information than just big red letters?

It's a simple law of physics and common sense. When liquids are heated they expand. Do you contest this point? if so please read the links below. If they are in a sealed in a bottle there is no way to release the pressure and than the bottle might explode.

Thermal expansion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why do solids and liquids expand when heated

 

[aurea]

Kids! Don't make me stop this car damnit!

I *think* (which at this late hour is not recommended) the correct question is how much expansion would need to occur within the bottle (mine are soft plastic) before the plastic would cease to expand and the lid would explode. Now in a bottle full of liquid vs. air how much heat would be required (before rather malleable plastic would be to its breaking point thus causing said explosion? I think that will require a whole new set of wiki leaks. The heat of liquid and its expansion vs. air and its expansion? Do they both heat at the same rate and expand at the same rate?

So, with that said I'll go with tea steeping temp hot but not boiling!

 

[zoiDman]

Does Hot water Break Down Nicotine?

 

[bah-num]

Kids! Don't make me stop this car damnit!

Agreed, no need to denigrate. I think you misunderstood me tomzgreat, I was honestly asking for evidence of someone bursting a bottle using the hot water bath method, not directly dismissing your warning. This forum is so large and so full of information that it could easily be there without me knowing about it, and I've read several threads on the method, and used it in many dozen mixes without concern of bursting a bottle. Your warning indicated that this sort of thing had happened before and you had direct knowledge of it, so I merely asked to be informed... not insulted

I *think* (which at this late hour is not recommended) the correct question is how much expansion would need to occur within the bottle (mine are soft plastic) before the plastic would cease to expand and the lid would explode.

That I do not know with any certainty.

Now in a bottle full of liquid vs. air how much heat would be required (before rather malleable plastic would be to its breaking point thus causing said explosion?

More than the hot water bath subjects it to. Even if the water is brought to boil before the bottle is placed, the heat will dissipate into the air much faster than it will into the juice in the bottle. So the water will be much cooler well before the juice is anywhere near the temperature the water was originally heated to.

So, with that said I'll go with tea steeping temp hot but not boiling!

Precisely

 

[rondasherrill]

More than the hot water bath subjects it to. Even if the water is brought to boil before the bottle is placed, the heat will dissipate into the air much faster than it will into the juice in the bottle.

Just putting this out there... My first time trying DIY, I heated water in a coffee mug in the microwave for 15 seconds, took it out, and dropped in my bottle of juice, and it didn't explode, but it did completely deform the bottle to the point I had to cut the top off and transfer to a different bottle...

Of course afterward I thought about whether or not that made the plastic leach into the juice, so I dumped it anyways...

 

[Cuando]

Patience, grasshopper.

I don't think I like the hot water bath idea. Maybe in glass, but heating the plastic bottles with the juice in them seems like a not so good idea.

 

[bah-num]

Just putting this out there... My first time trying DIY, I heated water in a coffee mug in the microwave for 15 seconds, took it out, and dropped in my bottle of juice, and it didn't explode, but it did completely deform the bottle to the point I had to cut the top off and transfer to a different bottle...

Of course afterward I thought about whether or not that made the plastic leach into the juice, so I dumped it anyways...

What kind of plastic was the bottle made of? The only bottles I've ever steeped this way were 30ml+ LDPE, which can withstand 80C without issue and 95C for short durations. I have some PET bottles, but they're all small and I don't bother steeping small batches. Not sure what temps PET can handle without deforming.

Do you have one of those gas station/convenience store/commercial microwaves? My 1100 watt microwave doesn't even get water luke warm after 15 seconds.

 

[rondasherrill]

What kind of plastic was the bottle made of? The only bottles I've ever steeped this way were 30ml+ LDPE, which can withstand 80C without issue and 95C for short durations. I have some PET bottles, but they're all small and I don't bother steeping small batches. Not sure what temps PET can handle without deforming.

Do you have one of those gas station/convenience store/commercial microwaves? My 1100 watt microwave doesn't even get water luke warm after 15 seconds.

Actually I have the $40 walmart microwave... They were the LDPE that comes from WizardLabs. I have noticed stuff that is not directly in the center of the plate in the microwave tends to get hotter... Maybe I have a weird microwave?

 

[bah-num]

Actually I have the $40 walmart microwave... They were the LDPE that comes from WizardLabs. I have noticed stuff that is not directly in the center of the plate in the microwave tends to get hotter... Maybe I have a weird microwave?

Hmmm, yeah, must be a hotspot in your microwave, that can happen. I have one of those carousel models, nice even heat distribution

 

[gtrthang]

I definitely think the bottle is the primary thing we should be concerned about with a hot water bath. PG has a boiling point of almost double water, so expansion should be minimal using a hot water bath method. JMHO

 

[Hoosier]

If your house is plumbed with a water heater, then a microwave is useless for a hot water bath. All it takes is hot tap water.

Done it hundreds of times with different plastics and glass bottles of different fill levels and never had an issue.

(A mailbox in direct sun on a 100 degree day will reach temps of 185 F according to research I've done in the past which is quite a bit higher than hot tap water and unlike hot tap water, it stays hot in the mailbox.)

If you don't have a water heater I would hope that money saved by DIY goes into saving for one. I thin they are very handy and quite safe when installed correctly.

 

[aurea]

Does Hot water Break Down Nicotine?

Hmm, unknown? Good question though!

 

[zoiDman]

Hmm, unknown? Good question though!

It would be nice to know if there are any changes to Nicotine at a "Hot Water" Temperature.