What are the use of beakers exactly? I can't imagine wanting your liquids in an open container like that.
to be honest it's nice to be able to measure accurately and to see where I am without having to second guess myself. It's also nice to have a large open top with my super shaky hands. And they do sell lids for beakers
> measure accurately
Beakers are not designed to measure liquid accurately. If you want accurate measurements, a volumetric flask is your only option. Even a graduated cylinder would be better than a beaker.
I used beakers when I first got started, but I stopped using them and started mixing directly into the bottles. Unless you are making a ton at once don't waste money on beakers.
10-4
I don't agree with this. If you buy cheap syringes, like I do, it's nice to double-check your measurements using another reference. I'm not saying that you need to measure everything with both beaker and syringe, but if you have a measurement that's questionable, or your measuring two different bottles, same flavor, at two different PG/VG ratios and you're getting different levels, it might not hurt to have the beaker handy.
Also, my experience with plastics so far has been that they hold at least the scent of the flavor previously used in them, even after cleaning. Even if this has no effect on the next flavor, I would go with glass just for ease of cleaning.
I use a beaker sized for my overall product volume and a $4 milk frother I found on Amazon. I hear my beaker with all the components in a water bath (crock pot) until the VG is thinner, remove from the heat, and stir the shit out of it with the milk frother as it cools, then bottle it. I find the added energy of the heat and motion helps steeping times decrease.
In two side by side bottles I made a strawberry banana juice. One mixed in bottle, the other mixed as described above. The stirred one turned a deep yellow in 2 days. The un-stirred bottle took 4 days to reach the golden yellow color.
I will have to try this. I made some juice this weekend and the juice the cloud and clear. Been steeping for 24 hours with no change. Any more advice. I'm not using any PG just VG
High VG juices will always take longer to steep. In my experience it can take weeks before the flavor is completely where it needs to be, even with the heat and (then) stir method. I would use caution however as heated VG based nic can come out of solution if heated too long and it is difficult to get it back into solution.
Steeping, as best I understand it (aside from every youtube video and reddit theory) is usually related to two factors. One is the even distribution of flavor compounds through the entire volume of liquid, and the chemical reaction that occurs with the flavors and nicotine. Both are very much dependent on the level of entropy on the liquid (more energy = more heat = increased entropy). Without actually drawing out the reaction that occurs, I would say it is an oxidation/reduction reaction, which, depending on the direction it occurs, requires energy inserted to overcome the activation energy of the redox reaction.
If you are willing to add PG to the mix, there is another method that in theory can decrease the steep time. In you place all of your unflavored VG into a beaker and heat it while you combined your PG, nic, and flavors into another.
Heat the beaker containing the nic and flavor and then stir gently but thoroughly while it is cooling. You want to create an environment in that beaker that is moving most of the liquid, but not excessively whipping it around. Just like making whipped cream, too much stirring can cause it to go flat. However in this case you're not beating the air out of the mix, you are beating the thin liquids (nicotine and flavoring) out of the thick liquids (PG and VG). You can let this sit until cool, or even bottle it and let it steep for a day or so. This allows the nicotine to oxidize the flavorings at a faster rate because the concentrations of the "active" components are higher. Then heat your VG, combine with the rest of the components, and stir until cool. I haven't actually tested this yet, but in theory this may decrease your steep times.
Or if you have steeped liquid of the same flavor, you can try to add some of that to your new batch. This "seed steeping" method should also work based on the same idea. Since redox'ed components are present, given enough energy, the reaction should continue at a higher rate in the new batch.
And professional chemists agree or disagree? This is not my primary field of science.
Cheaper products tend to wear out and break faster than more expensive products. Invest in something that will last longer. Practicing and developing safety and caution habits with glass won't hurt. glass is easier to clean while plastic is easier to scratch and become worn down over time. Also, plastics tend to seep into and contaminate whatever liquid they are containing, whereas glass usually doesn't (for example, soda in a glass bottle usually tastes better than soda in a plastic bottle). idk what else. Glass looks and feels nicer? it doesn't look cheap.
yeah, I thought so. Good news is I found a set for only $10. Bad news is now I want graduated cylinders as well :P
do you like cinnamon pineapple or banana? they can all melt plastics..