Experiment in steeping DIY mixes

[Bryan123456]

Is PG not absorbant? Dunno?
Could be that it absorbed some moisture but I don't know if that affects vapour.
I'm a big bag of don't know.



I figure this will apply to premixed as well. Some premixers will advise on time to steep, Pixie Juice for example.

PG is highly hygroscopic - which is why the idiots who create their own folklore/alchemy around "leaving bottles with tops off for two weeks" are so full of bollocks. PG will absorb any moisture in the surrounding air and anything carried by the water particles too. This could include anything exhaled or expelled from the human body, cooking, spraying etc etc.

The two key elements of steeping are:

* Oxidisation
* Infusion

Infusion and oxidisation can be speeded up by warmth. It is only necessary to have enough air space in a sealed bottle for oxidisation to take place.

Exposure to ultra violet or infra red light (including that within sunlight) can also cause reactions within eliquids - one of the reasons some flavour concentrates are supplied in green or brown bottles (as are some wines) is to reduce the effects of this.

Great experiment OP and very worthwhile

 

[Cyberpixie]

That's an interesting post

Just some random steeping stuff I have observed: I don't do it with mixes I sell but for my own use and experimentation, I like to do a fast steep, some say float the bottle in a cup of hot water, I tend to just run the bottle under a hand hot running tap for 1-3mins, with some mixes you can see it get darker and darker within 20 mins after doing this so it works well, approx steeps it as far as 2-3 days in taste as if you just left it alone for that many days for real but in 20mins instead. However, some flavours don't work well using this method, it can actually fade and change which is why I don't put the bottle into a cup of hot water until the water has cooled as that'll increase the chances of changing or fading.

I have also found that steeping with the cap off is only necessary if a juice has a chemical/floral/perfume or whatever taste in it you don't like. Steeping with the cap off helps it disperse. Otherwise juices steep just fine with the cap on. Those chemical/floral/perfume notes seem to be when the % of flavouring in a juice is too high for your particular taste buds (some won't taste it, some will). Also seems to be more common with tobaccos too those notes that you don't quite like in a juice. Steeping with the cap off for over 3 weeks also seems to start lowering the nic strength in the juice (madvapes did their own study on this), not by much but it does go down, it goes down by more and faster if left in direct sunlight. Flavours can also change or fade if left in direct sunlight or in a hotter place/room.

 

[Bryan123456]

W|hat you're doing with the cap off is letting some of the more volatile aromatics evaporate off. That's not an issue and it can be done in other ways - I worry more about what gets in to the bottle and the PG in specific.

 

[Purplefowler]

I think the best way to steep is to send via royal mail so they can deliver to your neighbour who happens to be on holiday for 2weeks! Garenteed It will be kept in a dark hole somewhere until it can be picked up and you can't get impatient an try it before its ready

 

[GDog1666]

So you are saying I will have to keep my ejuice in the fridge!! Man my wife will love me for that ;-)

 

[Purplefowler]

This is such a handy thread I've stickied it

 

[Mark]

This is such a handy thread I've stickied it

Why does that even sound rude..

 

[Purplefowler]

I have that effect on things