Why don't flavors steep in their concentrated form?

[unloaded]

Air is breathing, not steeping.

Steeping is maximum distribution of all components.

You can bubble in all the air in the world, but don't call it steeping, else I will be forced to follow your posts and keep arguing. (Insert Oh's and Ah's here.)

I don't doubt you, on the steeping or the stalking part. I'm new to this so let me ask more about this steeping. I see it mentioned about allowing for proper mixing but also I see mention of the nic needing to oxidize and alcohol evaporating off. Is the term being used loosely to include these? Does the nicotine need to oxidize? We go through so much trouble keeping stored nic from oxidizing. If the flavors contain alcohol does it need to evaporate? If the flavors don't contain alcohol do they even need any air? Sorry about all the questions, just trying to get as much info as I can.

 

[mainevaper]

Its all subjective really. See what works best for you... Some prefer not to steep, and some won't vape anything that hasn't been steeped...
Personally... I haven't noticed any real difference until the juice starts to darken.

 

[Hoosier]

When I started out with this stuff, dinosaurs roamed the earth and steeping meant letting a juice sit for a spell away from sunlight. Some one asked about leaving the bottle open while steeping and somehow that lead to airing out, which is oxidizing and evaporating, became the same thing and this was spread far and wide among the newbies. As newbies become vets, they still spread this misconception as they don't question where the knowledge comes from.

I question everything and investigate. This is why I've destroyed numerous attys playing with flavorings that should never see a vaporizer coil. This is why I tried steeping, leaving a sealed bottle sit, and I've tried airing, which is leaving a bottle sit open. What I discovered was most juices don't need steeping and don't change with steeping. One recipe was made better with airing while quite a few were made worse. Tobaccos usually need steeping and airing them makes them harsher and more bitter. (this might be good for some folks, but if I need harsh and bitter I can do that with flavoring and increase the complexity at the same time)

So a few recipes were helped by steeping and I use that.
One was helped by airing and I use that for the one recipe.
Most don't need a darn thing and I don't bother with any of it with them.

When I make a new recipe and I get close, it is shoved aside to let it steep to see what happens, then I adjust if it needs it. Sometimes I'll try airing, but I still only have that one recipe that is helped by that and I cannot find anything else to make it taste perfect.

So on this sub I try to make sure that folks keep the two separate and encourage everyone to try any, and all, methods to find what works for them. If we confuse the two, well, it becomes impossible for anyone else to understand what is going on.

 

[Bosco]

I tend to see it in a less complicated way. I have not been DIYing all that long - so take this as you will . . . but I see "steeping" as allowing the flavors to fully co-mingle and penetrate the VG/PG and nic . .so you get one coherent flavor. Sorta like with beef stew . .after a few days in the fridge, you no longer taste potatoes, carrots and beef seperately . .but instead you get one pervasive flavor "beef stew".

So to answer the OP, the flavor can't "steep" by itself because "steeping" means fully penetrating the base liquid.

This is just my opinion and, like all things on the internet, is incredibly suspect. YMMV.

 

[BakuPeg]

Personally, I see NO VALUE in "airing" a vape. We paid so much to buy, test, and taste those flavors. Why on earth would you leave the top off to let some of it escape?

 

[Blackbeard]

The OP, which is me, had the impression that steeping was more like oxidizing. I think my mind had taken the train of thought that steeping meant the same thing as oxidizing, much as Hoosier suggested. It's easy to confuse the two when reading all of this. A lot of the confusion comes from reading that most tobaccos need steeping, but the color change would come from oxidation (I may be interpretting this wrong as well). Both are needed, it appears, so the mind just takes the easy path to blend these reactions into the same name.

Always learning here. Thanks for all the input.

 

[boomerdude]

I have found that some recipes need a long steep, like RY4, 555 and BHT. Uncorking the bottle or " airing out " to my mind means letting alcohol evaporate. Steeping is trial and error, taking notes and experience just like Hoosier said. Flavor molecules need to join together in a proper manner to get the flavor you want. This takes steeping, just plain ol' steeping. No hot water, ultrasonic, etc. Only time will get you where you want to go IMHO. TB's take a long steep, fruits & veggies much shorter time and nuts, drinks are somewhere in between. It takes me a good 3 months to find out if a recipe is going to work and that's without the fine tuning.

" On the thirtieth day the Lord vaped and found that it was good. "

 

[Dansauls]

Where can I find a vendor for fairy dust and dragon farts?

 

[glassmanoak]

Hoosier, The Great and Powerful, I kneel at your feet. In all seriousness, I truly respect your opinion more than you can know. When I started DIY, I read your blog over and over and hung out in the DIY forum and learned SO much. Then a ton of experimenting and I have some good juices.

I do have to disagree slightly WRT steeping. Almost all of my juices are improved with steeping. Some a week and some 5 weeks. I also find this to be true with some vendor juices. I find Boba's Bounty and Gorilla Juice totally unvapable until they have aged 5 weeks. My own TFA M-Type Tobacco needs 5 weeks also. Most of my fruit blends are ok from the start, but a few become Magnificent after a week.
The bottom line is, of course, that tastes vary... pure and simple.

And thanks for the good that you have done in this community and for me, in particular. I hope I can do the same.

 

[Hoosier]

I do have to disagree slightly WRT steeping. Almost all of my juices are improved with steeping. Some a week and some 5 weeks. I also find this to be true with some vendor juices. I find Boba's Bounty and Gorilla Juice totally unvapable until they have aged 5 weeks. My own TFA M-Type Tobacco needs 5 weeks also. Most of my fruit blends are ok from the start, but a few become Magnificent after a week.

I'm not seeing the disagreement here. You've tried steeping and discovered it helps more of your recipes. That's pretty much my point here, try it and see, which you did. I encourage folks to try airing out too and hopefully make side by side comparisons to the same recipe that was steeped.

If you were to say, even infer, that steeping and airing out were the same, then there would be a disagreement.

But, as it is, I agree with your post completely...Well I can take exception with the whole "great and powerful" thing, but that would only happen if I left my sense of humor in Ohio or something.

 

[glassmanoak]

A sense of humor in Ohio? If you left it there, it would surely follow you home!

No hate mail, Pleeze!

 

[unloaded]

Somebody in Ohio has a sense of humor, half of Amish Mafia is filmed there!

 

[BikerBob]

My powdered instant drink mix (just add water) needs only seconds to be fully blended. But putting a chicken in a pot of water and stirring twice won't give me soup. Eliquid mixing is similar: some is ready right away, others need more time.

Bosco's stew, above, is a great example of what we call 'steeping'. I mix a batch, try some right away, and put the rest on the shelf for future tasting. If a mix is really good, I'll vape it right away, and mix another batch to steep, and later decide if the steeping helped.