I noticed that if I microwave my high vg juice, it loses it's viscosity and seems to shake/mix better. Is this not recommended? I only microwave a plastic 30mL bottle for like 5 seconds to the point where it's warm to the touch and hot to grasp.
Be very careful. I have exploded a few bottles this way. If anything I would just get some hot water going on the stove and use that instead of using the microwave.
Tried it once, the vg foams up like a marshmallow and gets really hot under 6 seconds in. If you even try it, make sure the caps off or somethings gonna explode. With that said, it gets really hot and almost cooks the juice and ruins the flavor. What I do is take a mug and fill it with really hot water and mix my flavors in the bottle sitting in the mug. Works like a charm.
In a pinch I just microwave a coffee mug half full of water, let it cool from boiling for a few minutes, and plop a bottle on it. Becomes the consistency of water after a few minutes!
Why don't you microwave it for less time if it's too hot?
http://m.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-1-2-qt-party-dip-food-warmer-33101
Ended up getting one of these free... I think it was when we bought a large sized crock pot.
I use it to steep my juice, it works amazingly well.
I find the bowl of microwaved rice works really well. Fill a cereal bowl with rice, microwave for 1:30-2:00 minutes (1100w microwave) and then take the top off and stick the bottle in the hot rice as far as it will go. I find that warms it up quickly and keeps heat for about an hour. 1-2 hours of that will let it breathe nicely, as well as thin it out to blend the flavors.
I would watch your temperature. I remember reading somewhere that anything over 112F (boiling) degrades flavor at a rapid pace.
Interesting, because a lot of the mixes I do get heated to 70-80C during mixing specifically for flavor.
I personally wouldn't microwave plastic bottles because I don't want plastic leeching into my juice. However, I have microwaved juice in glass bottles for ~5 seconds at a time before shaking waiting for the bottle to cool down, and repeating three times more. Of course no speed-steeping method will ever work as well as time, but this method will work in a pinch.