How much quicker would a lab-grade homogenizer make steeping liquids? Would it cut steep time in half for example?
He isn't very active here anymore, but /u/fizzmustard mentioned having good success. So did the great /u/abdada. It makes great sense to me, forcing molecules to blend together. Which is what time steeping does. If I remember correctly, a few seconds was all that was needed. No heat introduced.
The key would be an actual for-real homogenizer. The very expensive kind that 99% of us cheapos don't have. I would love the chance to conduct my own experiments using one of these. If you've access to one, I say go for it, and would love to hear how that goes.
Thanks, this is exactly what I was looking for. I have a friend who works in a lab that's got one. If I can try it out, I'll update with any findings.
If it's one of the thousands of dollar 30,000 RPM models, I too would leap at the chance. I'd start with a recipe featuring Cap VC, or something really creamy, heat to 100F for 5 minutes to thin, then run half the batch thru at full speed for a minute or two, and compare. From what I gather there should be a marked difference.
Look forward to your findings!
/u/buildingmybody
I tested 4 different sub-$1500 homogenizers over a year ago that I imported from China and they were all pure shitstorm central.
The reason a quality lab homogenizer works is because it shears the molecules together versus mix/blend them. That's a big difference.
The cheap homogenizers didn't shear, they mixed/blended and raised the temperature significantly. Not necessarily a bad thing for some volatiles and compounds but can "bake off" some of the lighter compounds and really disturb the flavor profile you're going for.
Be careful using used or refurbished homogenizers because the probe (the part that does the shearing) may have been refurbished as well and you really don't want to blend e-liquid with tissue and carcass material present, lolol.
FWIW the only cheap Asian homogenizer that worked well is the D160 from Scilogex, you can find it online sometimes for $99. Do note that the probes can be another $1000 though. Those probes raised temperatures only slightly, not enough to worry.
One thing to also note is that homogenization doesn't actually remove the steep process entirely, because in most e-liquid blends there are some lighter volatiles you're praying will air-off eventually because they taste foul or hide some of the other notes. So just shearing the shit out of a mix isn't enough, it does still need some steep time.
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