Using sweetener properly?

[Chris863]

I'm wondering if I am using too much stevia in my recipes. I been using 3 percent. The stevia I use is now foods stevia glycerite. There aren't any additives or fillers but at a point if you use too much sweetener whether its stevia, em or sucralose will it cause gunking of your wicks?

Think I read somewhere you are not supposed to use more than 2 percent of sucralose or you'll have problems, wondering if this is true for all additives or sweeteners like also tfa sour and tfa smooth.


Should I perhaps use half EM and half sucralose to prevent gunking since I like my juices really sweet. Another idea is to just use tfa marshmallow instead, might help prevent black wicks lol after only 10 ml of vaping.

 

[tmcase]

Sweeteners will gunk up your coils but shouldn't effect your wicks. I use sweetener all the time and my coils get gunked up fast but my wicks are fine. That's probably not much help so somebody else will come along and help you with your other questions.

 

[Chris863]

Thanks, I'm going to start trying flavors from now on with no Sweetner 1st to see if I like them as is. Also to compare how quickly my coils get gunky with and without the additive sweeteners.

 

[dannyv45]

Generally It's recommended to use no more then 1% total sweetener additives (EM,Sweetener,marshmallow etc.. or combination there of). If you do find you need to use more you'll just need to dry burn and re-wick more often.

I find if you use a decent flavoring to begin with then no sweetener is usually required. It takes a lot of trying different manufactures flavorings and trial and error to find the ones that work.

 

[BrotherBob]

I'm wondering if I am using too much stevia in my recipes. I been using 3 percent. The stevia I use is now foods stevia glycerite. There aren't any additives or fillers but at a point if you use too much sweetener whether its stevia, em or sucralose will it cause gunking of your wicks?
Think I read somewhere you are not supposed to use more than 2 percent of sucralose or you'll have problems, wondering if this is true for all additives or sweeteners like also tfa sour and tfa smooth.
Should I perhaps use half EM and half sucralose to prevent gunking since I like my juices really sweet. Another idea is to just use tfa marshmallow instead, might help prevent black wicks lol after only 10 ml of vaping.

Ditto on the 2% max.. I have read that more than 2% is ineffective.
As to the half EM, would not recommend it. EM is said to add a little amount of sweetening (some folks disagree with this) and adds wetness to the mix. Since EM is used in other flavors, I tend to shy away from it's use unless I know it is not present in the mix within other flavors. Too much EM is said to dull the mix flavor.

 

[jackmormon]

I am fairly new to DIY but have been using the Now Stevia in Glycerite and have found that (straight) I use about 1/2 of what a recipe calls for with regular sweetener.

I also did a 50/50 mix with the Stevia and PG and just use that at recommended sweetener percentages. (The 50/50 mix makes dispensing easier.)

I love Stevia for food and drinks so I thought why not.....It doesn't seem to do the coil gunking as much as regular sweetener.

 

[Dubminer]

I'm wondering if I am using too much stevia in my recipes. I been using 3 percent. The stevia I use is now foods stevia glycerite. There aren't any additives or fillers but at a point if you use too much sweetener whether its stevia, em or sucralose will it cause gunking of your wicks?

Think I read somewhere you are not supposed to use more than 2 percent of sucralose or you'll have problems, wondering if this is true for all additives or sweeteners like also tfa sour and tfa smooth.


Should I perhaps use half EM and half sucralose to prevent gunking since I like my juices really sweet. Another idea is to just use tfa marshmallow instead, might help prevent black wicks lol after only 10 ml of vaping.

I find all the mixes i have tried plenty sweet enough without adding any extra sweetener.

 

[IDJoel]

Thanks, I'm going to start trying flavors from now on with no Sweetner 1st to see if I like them as is.

That sounds like a smart idea. I would also challenge you to really think about why you want to add sweetener. Too often we reach for the sweetener when we are really looking for another effect. Do I want it thicker, richer, or make the flavor "pop" more? What am I really trying to accomplish by adding sweetener? Often there are better choices for what I am actually trying to accomplish.

If I really do want a sweetener; maybe an alternative like TFA or CAP Honey or FA Joy at very low percentages (0.25-0.50%) might be a better choice. All something to think about.

 

[Chris863]

I'm going to try the tfa marshmallow instead of Sweetner. I also have FA whipped cream but I think that works better for desert recipes. The marshmallow I'm hoping will give my fruit mixes a bit richer juicier flavor. Maybe some coconut extra for added depth. Try to keep all additives or flavors that substitute additives at 2 % or lower though because when thinking about it if you have to use more than 2% the additives aren't doing the job or simply aren't suited to your tastes. Everyone has a different palette.

 

[englishmick]

That sounds like a smart idea. I would also challenge you to really think about why you want to add sweetener. Too often we reach for the sweetener when we are really looking for another effect. Do I want it thicker, richer, or make the flavor "pop" more? What am I really trying to accomplish by adding sweetener? Often there are better choices for what I am actually trying to accomplish.

If I really do want a sweetener; maybe an alternative like TFA or CAP Honey or FA Joy at very low percentages (0.25-0.50%) might be a better choice. All something to think about.

I've tried honey at low % as a sweetener and it didn't seem to work very well. It's good for honey flavor but to me it doesn't add much sweetness. Now I use it at around 7% with TFA Earl Grey and TFA Ginger Ale. Neither of those flavors were very good without honey but the honey got them going. I saw that tip somewhere here and it seemed odd but I tried it and it worked. Also use it around 2% in some recipes for a hint of honey.

Other than that I use 1% sweetener with fruit flavors. It does eat up coils faster. But I would rather get juice I like and rewick as the juice requires than design the juice to get longer life out of coils.

All a matter of taste. I like some juices sweet and others not.

 

[IDJoel]

I've tried honey at low % as a sweetener and it didn't seem to work very well. It's good for honey flavor but to me it doesn't add much sweetness.

Honey seems to be one of those flavors that can be all over the map. Some people find it incredibly sweet and easily overpowering while others seem much less sensitive to its presence. I have only tried TFA's Honey so far but I use it at 8% in a Honeyed Earl Grey Tea recipe and it is not too much. But I also like it at 0.5% with melon (cantalope & honeydew) and it gives it just the right amount of "sweet" to round out the flavor and make it seem more "juicy." But then I've always been a strange duck...

But I would rather get juice I like and rewick as the juice requires than design the juice to get longer life out of coils.

I agree with you, as a flavor-head, I will always mix to taste and not performance.

All a matter of taste. I like some juices sweet and others not.

Yep. The beauty of DIY! We can tune our mixing to whatever we are in the mood for.

 

[Flt Simulation]

Does 'Cotton Candy' flavoring / sweetener (I believe it's just EM) by itself gunk up coils any more than your regular flavorings would?

 

[dannyv45]

Does 'Cotton Candy' flavoring / sweetener (I believe it's just EM) by itself gunk up coils any more than your regular flavorings would?

Yes it does. Recommend no more then 1%. For sweetness better off using regular sweetener and again at no more then 1%

 

[Str8vision]

Sucralose, stevia and EM are all hard on coils but then so are certain concentrated flavorings and additives. Neither sucralose, stevia nor EM are stable at high temperatures (they don't completely atomize) and will slowly caramelize on your coils depositing residue (gunk) that will eventually begin to scorch giving an off flavor to the vape. The higher the percentage used, the faster your coils will foul. Most "sweeteners" offered by vendors and concentrate manufacturers are sucralose based (sucralose powder dissolved in PG or VG) and there's an underlying reason for its popularity. Stevia isn't as sweet as sucralose and therefore six times more of it must be dissolved in PG (or VG) to achieve the same level of sweetness. In my opinion EM (Ethyl Maltol) is more of a flavoring than sweetener and over time it tends to mute other flavors in the juice, I stopped using it years ago. For me, both sucralose and stevia taste great as sweeteners but I find sucralose to be less gunky likely because less "dissolved" sucralose is needed to achieve the desired results. Just my opinion.

There is another sweetener available but I haven't tried it yet, Erythritol Erythritol Liquid Concentrate Erythritol is a sugar alcohol. It's "supposedly" stable at high temperatures and therefore isn't hard on coils like sucralose and stevia are. Most consumer reviews seem to confirm this. However, it's far more expensive and from what I've read it's -nowhere near- as sweet so would need to be used at much higher percentages to achieve the desired level of sweetness. By percentage I'm not referring to how much of the pre-mixed liquid sweetener is used, but instead what concentration of erythritol is dissolved in that liquid. Erythritol is only 75% as sweet as table sugar while stevia is 100 times sweeter and sucralose is 600 times sweeter. I do intend to try it but my expectations aren't very high.

 

[tmcase]

There is another sweetener available but I haven't tried it yet, Erythritol Erythritol Liquid Concentrate Erythritol is a sugar alcohol. It's "supposedly" stable at high temperatures and therefore isn't hard on coils like sucralose and stevia are. Most consumer reviews seem to confirm this. However, it's far more expensive and from what I've read it's -nowhere near- as sweet so would need to be used at much higher percentages to achieve the desired level of sweetness. By percentage I'm not referring to how much of the pre-mixed liquid sweetener is used, but instead what concentration of erythritol is dissolved in that liquid. Erythritol is only 75% as sweet as table sugar while stevia is 100 times sweeter and sucralose is 600 times sweeter. I do intend to try it but my expectations aren't very high.

I've recently tried Erythritol that I got from Nude Nicotine. I can't speak to the longevity of the coils staying clean longer because I haven't vaped a tankful yet. The reason I haven't is because I couldn't taste the sweet (at 1%). It also changed the flavor of my juice and I didn't like it so I dumped it. I'll try it again with a different flavor but I'll have to use a higher percent of it to taste the sweet, which kind of defeats the purpose of why I bought it.