Hi everyone,
I've learned so much from this sub over the last two years, and before I go into my post, I'd like to thank everyone here for all the information and detailed flavour notes that have helped me improve my mixing!
After a long time of developing my own flavours, I'm finally ready to start mixing small(ish) commercial batches of e liquid for a new company I work for.
We're going to be starting with approximately 1L batches of each flavour.
In the past I've used magnetic mixers, but these seem to be horrendously slow/ineffective for any mix over 500ml.
I've seen mentions of drill attachments/other devices before, and now I'm wondering what they are/where to get them!
Since we're not mixing industrial amounts of liquid, i do need an affordable bit of kit though!
Any suggestions/pointers are very much appreciated as always!
Thanks in advance!
I'm planning to do a giveaway when the first batch is ready by the way!
Go buy a used paint shaker from your local paint store. Heck, you can even get a pneumatic shaker for ~$50 from Harbor Freight, NAPA etc. They make adaptors that are externally the size of a gallon, yet you can fit a 1L bottle in very easily.
Your local Sherwin Williams would be the first place I'd look. Just ask if they have any old ones in the back, you may get it for $5 like I did.
I'm from the UK, so I guess ill have to look online, but thanks so much for the tip!
You can get drill attachments for mixing paint/drywall plaster at the hardware store. It's basically a long shaft with paddles on the end. My only worry would be that they might be too large for you application, they're used for mixing a few gallons at a time, not individual liters.
Another thought is maybe a handheld emulsion/immersion blender might work for you, though I can't say I know how well they circulate liquid versus just chopping it up.
Edit: after further though, why not just use a handheld electric mixer/egg beater with the whisk attachment? Won't do for much more than a couple of liters, but they sure are cheap.
Charlie Noble here. I do not recommend the paint stirrer attachments, they are usually not made out of stainless steel or food-grade.
What's your budget? I have a couple different options, depending on what you can afford.
I won't argue with ya, you got a lot more experience under your belt than i; but that's not totally true. this is polypropylene, which is a food safe material..
that's what ya get your ketchup in! (:
Nice. I had trouble a few years ago, when first started ramping up production, in the end of 2013/beginning of 2014. The cheapest food-grade things I could find then were the aerators for beer/wine making. They worked fine for 1 or 2.5 liter batches, except that someone had to stand there and actually mix it for a while, instead of doing other things. Looking back on it, with what I've learned since then & via much trial & error, I would recommend a Vitamix blender, if you can afford it. They spin incredibly fast, have great torque, and will last forever. They even suggest running the blender at high speed for long periods of time, to heat soup to serving temperature. Like that's an intended use, suggested by the manufacturer. They're basically bullet-proof. They're also fairly pricey, but I would highly recommend them for any smaller-scale production.
If you don't want to do the drill-attachment, which would probably be the best (even if you stuck a hand mixer attachment to it). You could just get an immersion blender. I've seen it used for probably a gallon or more of other products, so I don't see why it couldn't work for this.
I agree with the shaker though, that removes anything you have to put into the liquid in the first place. And it is probably less maintenance in the long run without having to constantly clean it.
Have you considered a milk frother?
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01JPF5LAY/ref=s9_acsd_top_hd_bw_b5w2xUp_c_x_w?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=R9CCMQBMGTDJ850849DB&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=680bcafb-fccb-5abf-ab16-84660ba18c9b&pf_rd_i=5438397011
I have a plastic paint mixer for my drill and I also have a "liquid blending rod" for my kitchenaid hand mixer.
I much prefer the kitchenaid to the drill for quantities less than 3 liters. Any more and it gets iffy. Any less than 4 liters with the paint mixer and it gets iffy.
I've tried many options, and for me the kitchenaid is simply the best fit.
https://www.kitchenaid.com/shop/-[KHMBL]-400074/KHMBL/
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I've seen people wrap some resistance wire up, load it into the drill and use that as a stirring device.
shape it kinda like a J, top half goes in the chuck, bottom half in. stir at a mid to low speed. should only take a little bit. You could probably speed it up by making three of these attachments.
This way is as cheap as 100ft of your preferred wire.