steeping

[justin walker]

Hi

I'm relatively new to mixing my own juice and would like to know more about steeping to improve flavour

I read on the internet somewhere that employing the "cap off and dark warm place method", will improve 99.9% of juices. Is this true and when it says cap off does that mean just the child proof cap of the bottles or the actualy stopper underneath that as well.

Also does it have to be a warm place

Some help and knowledge would be brilliant...

Thank you

 

[PilotNY]

Hello @justin walker. Glad you found us. Hopefully we can answer all your questions, nice bunch of people here.

For starters, read the 2 following blogs. That will get ya going. Any other questions, fire away at us.

dannyv45's blog | E-Cigarette Forum

Hoosier's blog | E-Cigarette Forum

Have a safe day!

 

[dannyv45]

Hi

I'm relatively new to mixing my own juice and would like to know more about steeping to improve flavour

I read on the internet somewhere that employing the "cap off and dark warm place method", will improve 99.9% of juices. Is this true and when it says cap off does that mean just the child proof cap of the bottles or the actualy stopper underneath that as well.

Also does it have to be a warm place

Some help and knowledge would be brilliant...

Thank you

Keeping the cap off is not steeping it's airing off unwanted alcohol or chemical odor. read my blog on steeping it will tell you everything you need to know including the difference between airing and steeping and will explain many different methods of steeping including ways to vastly speed up the process.

Everything you wanted to know about steeping and then some. | E-Cigarette Forum

Also read my many other blogs it will explain every aspect of DIY.

dannyv45's blog | E-Cigarette Forum

 

[mcclintock]

A pre-mixed juice may have plenty of steeping already, but never was allowed to breathe. A DIY juice just mixed will have neither.

 

[jacob bonilla]

cap off = breathing and they do this to air out the alcohol and odors. some people recommend certain breathing times but from what I've seen they mainly all say 12 hours MAX some will say 24 hours but many disagreed upon the 24hours.

steeping is when you just shake the juice, put it in a dark place to sit for X amount of days while shaking it once in a while ( seems like people do it once or twice a day ) and just let it go. depending on the flavors they steep it for days to weeks or even months. what this does if I recall correctly is it allows the viscosities to marry as the flavoring, Pg and VG all have different viscosity and this gives an even amount of flavoring/better flavoring over time .

I have read fruit juices are mainly good to go without steeping for the most part, custards/desserts usually take the longest maybe a month, minimum is about 1-2 weeks.

their are other ways to steep faster but more perishable to your juice such as hot water bath. you get it to X amount of degree's not sure what temp most people use, put the juice in Ziploc, submerge in warm water for 90seconds and the VG will thin out and you shake, let it rest so it will thicken up again and this helps marry the viscosities and molecules. doing in too hot of a water temp will diminish your nic quality. you can also buy a ultrasonic cleaner and use that.

otherwise the basic steeping method I would assume to do is mix juice, let it breath for 12 hours NO longer ( Up to 12 hours some do it for less like I think rip tippers I think he suggested 5-6 hours ), put the cap on, shake, steep the rest of the way and shake once/twice a day.

 

[dannyv45]

cap off = breathing and they do this to air out the alcohol and odors. some people recommend certain breathing times but from what I've seen they mainly all say 12 hours MAX some will say 24 hours but many disagreed upon the 24hours.

steeping is when you just shake the juice, put it in a dark place to sit for X amount of days while shaking it once in a while ( seems like people do it once or twice a day ) and just let it go. depending on the flavors they steep it for days to weeks or even months. what this does if I recall correctly is it allows the viscosities to marry as the flavoring, Pg and VG all have different viscosity and this gives an even amount of flavoring/better flavoring over time .

I have read fruit juices are mainly good to go without steeping for the most part, custards/desserts usually take the longest maybe a month, minimum is about 1-2 weeks.

their are other ways to steep faster but more perishable to your juice such as hot water bath. you get it to X amount of degree's not sure what temp most people use, put the juice in Ziploc, submerge in warm water for 90seconds and the VG will thin out and you shake, let it rest so it will thicken up again and this helps marry the viscosities and molecules. doing in too hot of a water temp will diminish your nic quality. you can also buy a ultrasonic cleaner and use that.

otherwise the basic steeping method I would assume to do is mix juice, let it breath for 12 hours NO longer ( Up to 12 hours some do it for less like I think rip tippers I think he suggested 5-6 hours ), put the cap on, shake, steep the rest of the way and shake once/twice a day.

Very nice advice and pretty much on point.

Steeping allows the molecules of VG/PG/NIC and flavoring to bond together. Steeping can take from 2 - 5 weeks naturally but there are ways to speed this process up as my blog on steeping will explain. Speed steeping can shorten time from weeks to hours. Speed steeping utilizes heat and vibration using a crock pot or ultrasonic cleaner. Speed steeping does not effect the shelf life as most flavors are artificial in nature. The only time you would need to worry about perishability is when using naturally extracted or organic flavoring.
Breathing is not usually nessessary during the steeping process unless the flavoring is alcohol based. I find removing the cap once halfway through the steeping process to release pressure and unwanted chemical odor is all that's needed. If alcohol or chemical odor is excessive after the steeping process take the cap off and let it sit for 12 hours and never steep with the cap off. If steeping naturally shaking once every 4 days to a week is beneficial. If speed steeping shaking once halfway through the steep process is all that's needed.

 

[93gc40]

I age my juice like fine wine and liquors. I mix it, well, then put it in a cool dark place. If it's a NEW recipe, I might test it every day or so, just to determine the required aging time period. But for the most part I mix up the juice, cap the bottle, and put it at the back of the juice shelf. Then I forget that it is there for whatever period of time I determined the juice needs to age. After mixing the only time I shake the bottle is when I am doing taste testing or vaping it. I don't use flavoring with a high alcohol content so venting is not required. AIR degrades the nic, and turns it brown, so I avoid exposing the juice to air as much as possible.

I maintain a 2-3 week supply of ready to vape juice.. So leaving a "new" bottle of juice to age for a month or more doesn't cause issues.

 

[Jdurand]

I maintain a 2-3 week supply of ready to vape juice.. So leaving a "new" bottle of juice to age for a month or more doesn't cause issues.

The only problem is, when you are new to DIY Juice, and you hit a winner, it's tough to build up that two week supply in the first place.

 

[93gc40]

The only problem is, when you are new to DIY Juice, and you hit a winner, it's tough to build up that two week supply in the first place.

True, I have a particular favorite, like that. Good thing is that, good juices are good fresh and only BETTER aged or steeped.

 

[Jdurand]

True, I have a particular favorite, like that. Good thing is that, good juices are good fresh and only BETTER aged or steeped.

Unfortunately I'm a custard fan, very few shake and vape custards