Warming up the vg to mix?

[Ethan diy]

Hi all good to be here.
Was wondering regarding speed steeping . I heard that if I make a one shot and add warm vg to it that, that will steep the recipe immediately, my question is if anyone can offer feedback how would I go about warming up the vg.. Would microwave be OK??
Thanks

 

[classwife]

Ethan !!!

sheesh...

Moved to DIY e-liquid from General e-liquid Discussion

 

[bombastinator]

Since the move is over the question becomes one of mixing vs steeping and what steeping actually does. It would sure as heck mix a lot faster. Lots less shaking of bottles. Steep though? That would depend on what steeping actually is. I may have to try this one if there’s no reports back. IF steeping is just more complete mixing then possibly. One could also do it to everything but the nic and get an equivalent result.

 

[IDJoel]

Hi all good to be here.
Was wondering regarding speed steeping . I heard that if I make a one shot and add warm vg to it that, that will steep the recipe immediately, my question is if anyone can offer feedback how would I go about warming up the vg.. Would microwave be OK??
Thanks

CAUTION on the microwave! e-liquid components (PG, VG) get hot FAST in a microwave. Danger of exploding (capped) bottles, boil-overs, meting plastic, and burns are all very real possibilities. Also, the smaller the volume, the faster the liquid will heat. Something like a hot water bath is much safer.

I am personally not a fan of heat and e-liquids. Excess heat will degrade nicotine (above 140℉). And, heat can accelerate volatile/aromatic flavor loss.

If you want to try it, I would suggest doing it with a small test sample first. Something you won't feel bad about if you don't like the results. And, for goodness sake, be careful.

 

[bombastinator]

CAUTION on the microwave! E-liquid components (PG, VG) get hot FAST in a microwave. Danger of exploding (capped) bottles, boil-overs, meting plastic, and burns are all very real possibilities. Also, the smaller the volume, the faster the liquid will heat. Something like a hot water bath is much safer.

I am personally not a fan of heat and e-liquids. Excess heat will degrade nicotine (above 140℉). And, heat can accelerate volatile/aromatic flavor loss.

If you want to try it, I would suggest doing it with a small test sample first. Something you won't feel bad about if you don't like the results. And, for goodness sake, be careful.

My thought was that flavorings were USP grade food flavorings (one desperately hopes or who the hell knows if they’re safe or not) and as such we’re designed to be cooked. Is this not the case?

 

[kross8]

A thread by Mike .he did several science tests...dont microwave your ejuice..and if memory is correct don't vape over 80watts (I vape 25-40 depending on tank)

 

[Millions81]

My thought was that flavorings were USP grade food flavorings (one desperately hopes or who the hell knows if they’re safe or not) and as such we’re designed to be cooked. Is this not the case?

There are many many aroma volatiles. When you're dealing with them in the manner we are they can escape into the air and also degrade significantly with heat.
If you're mixing you can warm your vg in a hot water bath and this can make everything mix together easier, possibly shortening the steep but won't eliminate it.
You can also do this with small quantities of finished mix just to get a rough idea of what your mix will be like when it's done, but it's really only done for recipe development as your juice will not be as good & will start degrading very quickly. It's more to see what mix will be like if I up this by .5%-1% & also it sucks for custards, those just need time (if you hate waiting for custard buy yourself some inw, aside from being a great base it steeps very very quickly). Nic is least of your concerns when it comes to heat & e-juice in this regard.
Unless you want to drop several hundred $$ on a homogenizer ,speed-steeping with quality results is a myth imo.
Mix every day or every couple days & pretty soon it's vapemail in your cupboard every morning

 

[Steamer861]

I do a hot water heat steeping, I find it mixes up better when the VG/PG is heated. I simply heat water in a cup in the micro wave & put my juice bottles in the hot water. I let them get warm in the water & shake them really well. I wouldn't put juice directly in the micro wave, & wouldn't heat the juice up too hot.

 

[IDJoel]

My thought was that flavorings were USP grade food flavorings (one desperately hopes or who the hell knows if they’re safe or not) and as such we’re designed to be cooked. Is this not the case?

That is a fair point. Flavor manufacturers like TFA, FW, and CAP still get the lion's share of their flavor concentrate profits from sales to food and beverage sales. And, "food" applications could well include heat (baking, candy making, etc.).

If I am being honest, I have to say; I don't know what, if any, correlation there may be between cooking, and e-liquid applications.

However, I also do know there are some differences in handling. They have other flavor and aroma sources, from other ingredients, aside from flavor concentrates. Cooking also has the luxury of possible use of oil-based concentrates, which may(?) be more heat stable. Also, food & beverage applications often use the flavor concentrates at much higher percentages than e-liquid applications.

Just from my own brief experiments with heat and its usefulness to DIY; I found that some concentrates (like custards, cheesecakes, and tobaccos) were fairly unchanged by moderate applications of heat (140-160℉)(though some tobaccos lost desired aromatic qualities). While other concentrates (like citrus (esp. lemon), berries (esp. strawberry), and most florals) suffered dramatically. As always... YMMV.

speed-steeping with quality results is a myth imo.

That has been my personal experience as well.

 

[kross8]

Hi all good to be here.
Was wondering regarding speed steeping . I heard that if I make a one shot and add warm vg to it that, that will steep the recipe immediately, my question is if anyone can offer feedback how would I go about warming up the vg.. Would microwave be OK??
Thanks

I use an emersion blender, it breaks all of the flavors down into tiny air bubbles so they can merge freely. Note I don't have nicotine in the mix at all until I refill my in use bottles.. hense the nicotine is always "fresh"

I tend to make 500 mls at a time,, store it in a stainless steel water bottle,

 

[Ethan diy]

Thanks all for your replies, from what I learned by posts here and in elr is that the mixing is a key component in the steeping process, some don't use blenders because of the air injected but if the nic is added at the end I don't see a problem, another key is that the elements of the recipe blend in to each other as fully as possible and that happens with time steeping, some said that warming the vg and adding it to a one shot is great for speed steeping but that that causes degration quickly as mentioned previously in this post, some had good outcomes actually with a sous vide, and some say ultrasonic no more than 3 hours with degassing of a few minutes (taking the cap off). I'm just trying to see the best way to catalyze the steeping process best I can with as little harm to the recipe as possible, but I think so far sous vide and ultrasonic after a good mix adding nic at the end are the best options.
Homoginizers aren't really affective by what I read.

 

[Ethan diy]

Ethan !!!

sheesh...

Moved to DIY E-Liquid from General E-Liquid Discussion

Sorry I never figure out what goes where

 

[charlie1465]

Sorry I never figure out what goes where

Just to put my oar in too....IMO why do you ever need to speed steep. If you need a juice that quickly, make several batches of the juice then put up with one of them un steeped the first time. By the time you've finished that liquid you will have a range of lovely steeped mixes...and for the future all it takes is to make a steeper that you know will be ready when our current juices have ran out...Job done...i hope that makes sense.

The point is I don't see why you would need speed steeping in the first place?

 

[bombastinator]

Just to put my oar in too....IMO why do you ever need to speed steep. If you need a juice that quickly, make several batches of the juice then put up with one of them un steeped the first time. By the time you've finished that liquid you will have a range of lovely steeped mixes...and for the future all it takes is to make a steeper that you know will be ready when our current juices have ran out...Job done...i hope that makes sense.

The point is I don't see why you would need speed steeping in the first place?

Different People live different sorts of lives. There’s only so much preplanning a person can do. Planning juice use a month in advance isn’t something everyone has spare space for.

 

[Punk In Drublic]

Just to put my oar in too....IMO why do you ever need to speed steep. If you need a juice that quickly, make several batches of the juice then put up with one of them un steeped the first time. By the time you've finished that liquid you will have a range of lovely steeped mixes...and for the future all it takes is to make a steeper that you know will be ready when our current juices have ran out...Job done...i hope that makes sense.

The point is I don't see why you would need speed steeping in the first place?

Cause steeping sucks!! Says the guy who suffers from instant gratificationitis! It’s an unfortunate necessity but if it was not needed, would you not prefer just to mix, shake and vape should the outcome be the same?

 

[Skeebo]

Different People live different sorts of lives. There’s only so much preplanning a person can do. Planning juice use a month in advance isn’t something everyone has spare space for.

Doctors and drug addicts really don't have time for steeping..... it comes with the territory, life choices and all that.

 

[DeloresRose]

Long ago, I tried heat steeping - warm water in a slow cooker on low, at about @110 degrees.

I found no benefits. I do have the wherewithal to mix favorites in advance to give them time to steep, so it’s not been a priority to rush them.

However, I did get one of those tiny immersion blenders because I hated all the shaking. I didn’t expect it to affect steep time at all, just to mix more quickly. But I find it does cut a lot of time off some flavors profiles. Granted, bakery, fruit, and candy are my regulars, and it may not be so helpful with other profiles.

Still, it’s an easy thing to try.

It’s also great for refilling a smaller bottle from a 120 ml. Mix that big bottle up in a flash and all the juice will be consistent.

 

[charlie1465]

Cause steeping sucks!! Says the guy who suffers from instant gratificationitis! It’s an unfortunate necessity but if it was not needed, would you not prefer just to mix, shake and vape should the outcome be the same?

If it wasn't necessary then the issue wouldn't exist but actually everything we know that tastes wonderful has to go through a process to get there

And don't get me started on the instant gratification society...drives me stark staring bonkers...they all need a slap

 

[charlie1465]

Doctors and drug addicts really don't have time for steeping..... it comes with the territory, life choices and all that.

Cobblers...steeping happens when you're not there If you mix at all you can mix in advance...there's no difference

 

[charlie1465]

Different People live different sorts of lives. There’s only so much preplanning a person can do. Planning juice use a month in advance isn’t something everyone has spare space for.

Oh come on Bombi.....if you can mix you can pre plan