Steeping?

[steps24hoursaday]

hi there :>)

i just wanted to know i got in an order from MtBakerVapor on 1/21/13 and am having a hard time letting it steep and i from what i have been reading (by the way Thank you all for the info that you have posted) that some flavors need longer than a week to steep. can any one help me with the time frame that these flavors need to steep? things that i am unsure about microwave, lid off, lid on, using an jewerly ultrasonic, device breaking the bottle down in to 3 six ml bottles, hot water, boiling water ???
here are my e-juice's from MtBakerVapor:

15 ml wild cherry
15 ml cookies & cream
15 ml hawaiian punch
15 ml peanutbutter cup
15 ml moo juice
15 ml red licorice
15 ml tangerine
and hopefully my fav. 15 ml eggnog

and am also DIY'ing

here are my flavors

15 ml double dutch
15 ml cheese cake
15 ml sweet cream
sweetener

thank you for time and any and all help is welcomed :>)

 

[cocacola31173]

I put mine in a zip lock bag and put them in a sink of hot water for about 15 min. Then I put them in my box and let them sit for a few days...usually does the trick.

 

[steps24hoursaday]

just hot tap watter?

thank you for the info

 

[D4T3N7OD]

Hi

While I don't know exactly about your brand and flavors, from what I learned so far:
Menthol/Mint/Fruit are fairly quickly steeping, say 24h, shaking the bottles every time you go by.
Nutty and tobacco flavors appear to need the longest steeping, some are good on the next day, but may still change their taste. After 2 weeks dark & at room temperature and lots of shakes I think they should stay the same.
Coffee and sweets are probably in between.

Hot water: Yeah I often do that. Not too hot, though, I had some flavors changing when kept too hot. Water temperature like a hot shower appears to be okay. I renew that water a couple of times, when it is below body temperature.

Breaking up: Hmm, not sure that helps. But I always put some, like third or half, of the base into the mixing bottle first, so the flavor doesn't "stick" to the bottle's bottom. If the flavor "swims" on the base, I also do a first shake before filling up with base.

Microwaving: Well, see above about hot water... microwave may heat some parts more than others, so I do not do that. Some people do, though, but just for a couple of seconds, and immediately shake afterwards.

Lid off: I only did that with flavors with a strong alcoholic smell to them, also bases with a "medicinal" smell. Open the lid, put on heater for a couple of hours, worked for me. Does it speed up steeping? Not sure...

Ultrasonic: Well that's a nice idea... I don't own such a device, also don't know whether it might "break up" some of the flavor molecules? But similar is: 1) Use a matching Tupperware box 2) Put juice bottles in - I use cardboard stripes to make sure they are densely packed 3) Put it on your washing machine. 1-2hours of vibrations do a pretty good job.

Pre-steeping: I prepare flavors that need long steeping by mixing them at a fairly high percentage with zero Nic base and giving them time to steep, then use them like the flavor but respectively higher. E.g. mixed flavor at 20% -> need 5x as much of the "pre-mix" than of the pure flavor. The final juice needs no more than 2 or 3 days then (and is often good after a night).

Hope this helps a little bit!
Greets,
Lutz

 

[steps24hoursaday]

thank you sooo much i am going to do a few with the washing matchine thing beacuse it's a good idea AND beacuse i want to c what reaction i get from the room-mate. should be a great "you need professional help" look thank you again

 

[D4T3N7OD]

lol, steps24h

Well, roommate should be impressed seeing how efficiently u use your time

 

[steps24hoursaday]

and the presteeping is really a good idea i am not that great with #'s but will give it a try also on that note does anyone have mixing ratio :>)

 

[Jonibrasco]

Im new to ejuice also but I can say from my experience steeping makes a huge difference especially in my tobacco flavors.

So far I have tried just leaving the lids off and shaking them a few times a day as I remember to do it when Im topping off cartos.
I have also tried heating a bowl of water in the microwave to very hot then ziplocking the bottles and letting them sit there until the water is room temp and leaving the caps off.


I think the really hot water may have ruined one of my flavors...

I would just leave the caps off and shake them.... I would recommend about 2 weeks times

Its hard at first to get a nice rotation so you have something to vape while the others are steeping

 

[D4T3N7OD]

Joni,

yeah, right what I experienced! Boiling water and heat of a fireplace ruined at least 2 mixtures for me. I suspected the flavor concentrate itself went bad, but after making another mix with the same that one was okay, so it was definitely the heat. That's why I think shower temperature should be enough - you don't want to cook the juice, just have it so warm the molecules move faster so they mix better.

I am not sure about the "caps off", because that might mean more oxygen getting into the liquid. It may help with some, though, I don't know. I believe steeping is more about getting the flavor molecules distributed well in the base and some reaction with the water - not really a chemical reaction, but more in the sense that water molecules "bind" with the flavor ones... but again, for some flavors, more oxygen might be the solution. Clearly sth to think about (and try)!


steps24h,

sometimes the manufacturer has recommendations about dosage. As for the #s, it is not that hard. Say you pre-steep with 20% flavor - means 1 part flavor, 4 parts base. With the resulting diluted flavor, you need just 5 times as much as with the flavor itself. So, at 2% in 10ml you'd normally need 0.2ml flavor, from the pre-steeped you need 1ml. The nice thing about it is that you don't have to count drops or be very carefully measuring with 1ml syringes!

I just put a needle on a syringe without the piston, place the needle tip in the empty juice bottle. Then I fill it with base, reinstall piston and press it into the bottle. Pull out piston again, fill it with the correct amount of the diluted flavor, push it out, and so on. So, with example above (1ml diluted flavor, 4ml Zero-Nic Base and 5ml 36mg/ml base) I'd do 5ml 36mg-base, 1ml pre-steeped diluted flavor, 4ml 0mg-base, resulting in 10ml 18mg/ml juice with 2% flavor.

After a while, you get really quick at doing this

Cheers,
Lutz


PS: But label the bottles well! I once filled a tank with the 20% flavor juice instead of the 2% juice, and my taste buds were done for that evening

 

[steps24hoursaday]

D4T3N7OD


thank you for the example that helps a lot and reminding to lable i have also put flavoring in the wrong bottle it seems to me the best is to let time work it's magic

 

[Baditude]

Not all e-juices require steeping. Although it might be hard to tell which ones need it and which ones don't, the method that I use to decide is whether the juice is made from scratch at the time of your order, or is the juice already pre-mixed with the only option available as to the nicotine strength that you desire.

Most of the juices in the latter group are pre-mixed in large batches, and cut into smaller quantities, or smaller bottles, for easy shipping. These bottled juices sit in a warehouse or storeroom until ordered, so they already have had time to steep.

The customized made-from-scratch juices are made soon after you place your order. Options like extra-flavoring, extra sweetner, add menthol, pg/vg ratio preferred, in addition to nicotine strength are offered. A birthdate, or creation date, is often printed or written in so that you know when the juice was mixed.
_____

What I generally do after first receiving my new juices to give them a very good shake for about a minute, remove the cap, and allow it to "breathe" in a dark place for 24 hours. This allows any alcohol base used to evaporate. Then I re-cap the bottle, and give it another minute shake.

I may try the flavor in a ce3 delivery device. I might wait for another 3-4 days. Some of the more complex flavors such as the coffee, desert, and tobacco flavors may not reach their full flavor potential for 1-2 weeks. PG liquids require little or no steeping. !00% VG, or all-natural all-organic flavors will require at least a week to realize their full flavor potential.

I don't heat or refigerate my juices. I most certainly would not put them in the microwave or the oven. Any heat can affect both the flavors and the nicotine quality. Most mixers also recommend keeping e-juice out of direct sunlight, hense many vendors are using the green, blue, or amber colored bottles to ship their juices in.

Steeping need to not be a complicated process.

 

[steps24hoursaday]

thank you for your post and the tips i guess there is no "easier softer way" my MtBakerVapor e-juice was mixed to order and is starting to smell-like what the lable says tomorrow is the 7 day mark yeppie

 

[GoKoLoD]

Do all E-juices need time to steep?

 

[Baditude]

Do all E-juices need time to steep?

Sometimes the answer to a question is already present. See post # 11.

 

[Tanti]

Becareful making the nicotine to warm, it can make it less potent, also keep it out of light.
keeping it cool and out of light keeps it at its strenght.

"Different variations of the experiment could also include light and temperature. Different nicotine treated dishes could be kept in light for 24 hours or darkness for 24 hours, or in a refrigerator for 24 hours or under a heat lamp for 24 hours. These decrease the intensity of the potency of the nicotine. When tested the tobacco placed in darkness for 24 hours was more potent then the tobacco in light for 24 hours, and the tobacco that was kept cold was more potent then the tobacco kept in heat. Light and heat are able the break down the nicotine, making it less potent."

Tobacco Activity htm

This is true with many drugs that heat makes it less potent.