To steep or not to steep
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well i was enjoying some new eliquid and got the bright idea to nuke it 3 times for 5 seconds to heat it up and shake it real good and lost alot of flavor. dont know if it will return, but thats been my experience and ill never do it again. age is the best way period!
I make my own juices as well as buy juice and when I want to rush the steeping process I microwave water and let the juice sit for a while. So I would think leaving it in the car while its hot would have the same effect. I have been told if you let them sit in the hot car then they go bad faster, but I don't understand why it would be different from my faster steeping process. I am by no means an expert, just giving you my opinion!
I've only been doing DIY for a couple months and can tell you for certain that heat steeping and time both work really well to help flavors mature. Keeping a juice in a hot car would be about the same as heat steeping but for me I would prefer to steep in a hot water bath in a glass (instead of plastic) bottle. Another thing to consider is UV rays could potentially degrade the nicotine and/or flavors in your juice.
Too much heat will destroy flavors, don't leave them in your car. Usually given enough time in room temperature will steep flavors nicely and not degrade them.
How long until a flavor goes bad? I'm new to all of this. I usually let my flavors sit for a week or 2 before using them....just not sure how long I have until they aren't good anymore.....
I just try to find a juice I can wait to let steep lol
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A car would be great.
It'd take longer, but it's all good.
Heat promotes bacteria growth, that's why there's an expiration date. I know of no flavor that is destroyed by (low level) heat, but there's so many of them out there, including the organics.
It'd take longer, but it's all good.
Heat promotes bacteria growth, that's why there's an expiration date. I know of no flavor that is destroyed by (low level) heat, but there's so many of them out there, including the organics.
Steeping is a complex process that works differently for different juices. Partly it is oxidation as evidenced by the darkening of the liquid and the fact that larger full bottles steep much slower than smaller ones with more air space per ml. It's also a matter of the flavour molecules combining with the PG/VG/nicotine and each other.
Sunlight and heat are generally going to be a bad thing in large quantities so both are probably best avoided. PG is more stable, however VG not so much, so it's more likely to react badly and react with a plastic bottle if it is in one.
I'm a bit of traditionalist when it comes to the subject, as technically it's an aging process more than it is a steep. This is probably due to my experience with wine making and trying to understand what happens in that field. If you want to look at wine as an example that we know a bit about, most wines are force aged these days, however it is hidden in the processing as a pasteurization and filtration process to remove live yeast. Pasteurized wines undergo a forced aging, but this may remove any chance of the wine actually improving much more by aging.
In any case our e-liquids don't normally last that long, so it's not so much of a critical point. If it (heat in the car) works for one juice, fine, but it probably won't work the same way for all juices. Some may not be affected (hardly) at all, while others may be adversely affected.
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Hm, I disagree. I think heat is the best way.
The flavors added need to be broken up and blended with the carrier (PG and VG), and heat is very good at doing that.
Alice in Vapeland has some wise advice; any acidic fruit flavor needs to air out, everything else just needs a sun bath on a hot, New Mexico afternoon.
Given the short exposure to light, I don't see any harm, but put'em in the shade if you feel like it.
The flavors added need to be broken up and blended with the carrier (PG and VG), and heat is very good at doing that.
Alice in Vapeland has some wise advice; any acidic fruit flavor needs to air out, everything else just needs a sun bath on a hot, New Mexico afternoon.
Given the short exposure to light, I don't see any harm, but put'em in the shade if you feel like it.
I never do any steeping to my juice. When I first started vaping in March I did... but I found, steeping never really made any noticeable change to any juice I had... I found that just opening them when I first get them, let them sit for maybe 3-5 minutes... put the lids back on, leave them in a box or drawer... and shake them every day or so... does the same thing...
and I realize that aging is pretty much the same thing as steeping.. but I dont "speed steep" is what I meant to say!
and I realize that aging is pretty much the same thing as steeping.. but I dont "speed steep" is what I meant to say!
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Some tobaccos can get a little better by letting them sit with the lid off a little longer... But its rare In my opinion!
Well thanks for all the comments, what I should have said was that I had bought a bottle of juice that didn’t taste like it was supposed to and while I was at work I had left it in my truck. I have 4 kanger tanks that I carry with me and one of them had the new juice in the tank. I left it in the console of the dash so it got a little more sun then the bottle which was in the door pouch (got more heat than sun). The flavor changed drastically within 5 hours but were in Tx and it was over 100 degrees outside. Still wasn’t close to what the flavor should have been but I have learned not to buy anything without tasting it first.
Yes, because sun can destroy nic (a bit).
So close cap tightly and plop in a mug of warm water to get the same effect (out of the sun, of course).
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