Tips for making a candy PG/VG infusion

[sedition]

Hi all,

After reading the thread here about PG mint infusions, I'm really keen to try an infusion of these (if you haven't tried them, they're amazing):

http://s4f98f3555083a.img.gostorego...b8d27136e95/s/t/starburst_rattle_snakes_1.jpg

I'm planning to cut a packet up into their respective colours, steep then strain them. Anybody have tips for how to go about steeping, how much PG or VG to use, etc? One question I have after reading the above thread is whether I should using a microwave, water bath, or just leave them to steep at room temperature.

 

[b.m.]

That sounds good,but i'm sure there is alot of the stuff in those that aren't good to inhale,dextrose and xanthum gum i'm pretty sure are in those,plus sugar.

 

[AzPlumber]

I too would be concerned about inhaling that stuff. Plus the sugar in them will quickly gunk up your coil/s, did I mention quickly.

 

[sedition]

Good points. Does if change matters at all if I were to use alcohol? I know there are a lot of recipes out there for Gummy infused Vodka, wondering if alcohol might separate the actual flavouring from the sugars.

The only other way I see to tackle this is to infuse the PG as per my original post, each individual colour/flavour, then try to replicate each flavour using vape-friendly concentrates.

 

[Hoosier]

Alcohol, regardless if we are talking pure grain (ethanol) or PG or VG (yes all alcohols) will dissolve sugars.

It's not a problem with a vodka infusion meant for drinking because the body digests sugars fairly well.

It is a problem when heating things with a coil because sugars will gunk a coil in short order. The only thing I have found that will gunk quicker are gums.

Separating out sugars from flavoring is quite a bit more complicated than soaking.

Mint leaves, coffee beans, tea leaves and the like don't have much sugar. Thus folks have had some good luck with infusions for getting flavor out because the oils dissolve pretty well in alcohol. (Oil is where the flavor is in these things.) Candy, on the other hand, is basically all about the sugars. It's like comparing apples to minnows...there is nothing alike.

 

[Boletus]

Hoosier has covered trying to turn candy into e-juice; it just won't work. You can try to replicate the flavors using vape-friendly concentrates, as you say, but that will likely be some pretty advanced effort by the time you come even close, and you will burn through a lot of ingredients getting there. If I was going to try to do that, I would choose one of the flavors and chase that, but it will still not be an easy or quick journey. Replicating flavors is much harder than starting with some concentrates and playing with them until you find something you like. And the flavors you want to replicate are not things that are already being done with e-juice, so it's kind of like trying to write a comprehensive textbook about auto repair when you have just learned what a spark plug is.

 

[sedition]

Hoosier has covered trying to turn candy into e-juice; it just won't work. You can try to replicate the flavors using vape-friendly concentrates, as you say, but that will likely be some pretty advanced effort by the time you come even close, and you will burn through a lot of ingredients getting there. If I was going to try to do that, I would choose one of the flavors and chase that, but it will still not be an easy or quick journey. Replicating flavors is much harder than starting with some concentrates and playing with them until you find something you like. And the flavors you want to replicate are not things that are already being done with e-juice, so it's kind of like trying to write a comprehensive textbook about auto repair when you have just learned what a spark plug is.

Thanks for the replies guys. Regarding sugars - do the artificial sweeteners like Mt Baker's get around this problem? I've read that people use Stevia and the like, that seems like the one thing missing from my current attempt at a Gummy Bear flavour thus far.


Regarding chasing one particular flavour, What I've noticed with the Gummy Bear flavouring I have here is that it captures that hard to describe element of Gummy Bears that you taste in real ones, and know to be missing in cheap knock-offs, but it doesn't taste like any one particular fruit flavour. It feels as though it'd be a good example of a base flavour to work from, then adding one particular flavour over the top of, thus giving the taste of a 'Gummy Bear Grape', for example, as opposed to a generic candy grape flavour.

 

[AzPlumber]

I'm not familiar with using stevia. Most folks use sucralose as a sweetener. Yes it will also leave deposits on a coil but it is much sweeter than sucrose (sugar). I've heard up to 600 times sweeter so the amount needed is much lower and does not pose as much of an issue.

 

[sedition]

Stevia is an alternative to the more well known Aspartame sweeteners like Equal, has a yucky aftertaste though so I'd imagine it'd be even worse to vape. Think I'll stick with Sucrolose, going to get some shortly so I can have a tinker over the weekend.

 

[AzPlumber]

Stevia is an alternative to the more well known Aspartame sweeteners like Equal, has a yucky aftertaste though so I'd imagine it'd be even worse to vape. Think I'll stick with Sucrolose, going to get some shortly so I can have a tinker over the weekend.

If your talking about using the packets of sucralose, I would reconsider. Those packets contain only 5% sucralose and 95% dextrose and fillers. It will also gunk up your coil/s. Vendors sell pure sucralose suspended in PG at 10%. This is the sweetener most use for their DIY.

 

[sedition]

I've actually got a bottle of MBV Sweetener coming in my latest order - sucralose in PG.