I typically mix up to a liter at a time, and mixes are usually between 85%-90% vg. Any recommendations for an affordable setup that can handle the viscosity and volume?
I wouldn't use a magnetic mixer for just a liter.
I've personally mixed 4 gallons of juice in a 5 gallon bucket once just by shaking it vigorously until almost passing out then sprawling out over my workstation until my heart rate returned to normal. we usually used a gyroscopic bucket flipper/spinner but it had broke and we still needed juice.
But if you don't want to do that then yea a magnetic mixer might be cool.
Don't listen telling to the people telling you to buy milk frothers or hand mixers. Those aerate your mix, which will cause it to oxidize much faster.
https://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-stirrer-magnetic-Stirring-Capacity/dp/B072K24X5P
Something like that would be a better choice than a hand mixer.
Better still is just shaking by hand.
Really noob question but doesn't hand shaking also introduce air?
It does, but if the bottle is capped it's a lot less than actually sucking air into the mix each time the blades on a hand mixer spin around once.
I picked up a few used Corning magnetic stirrers on Ebay. 1 is just a stirrer, the second is heated and stirs. For my heavy VG juice, I heat to about 100-105 degrees to thin the viscosity a bit, let it stir for a few hours, then cool it down. Works pretty well for me.
If the mixing vessel can be capped, I would just shake it. Slowly of course, since you don't want to drop 1L. It will be much much faster and cheaper than a mag stirrer capable of mixing 85%-90% VG.
Also a mag stirrer can introduce enough air into the mix to degrade flavor.
I have a mag stirrer and rarely use it, even for 1L.
So I have been using a stirrer for my e juice, cheap Aporea setup ~$60 for the stirrer. It will definitely never stir 1L @ 80VG unfortunately, you may need to look into other methods then magnetic stirring for such high volumes. I have to mix 500ml max if I am using a 600ml beaker or the top layer will never mix in.
There's some excitement over on ELR forum about a homogeniser. Fits on a dremel, have a read, it's called the "game changer". Sounds too good to be true, straight shortcut to steeped juice in a minute. People who have tried it are all blown away.
I wouldn't bother with a mag stirrer, source: I have a heated mag stirrer gathering dust.
Most things that sound too good to be true are just that: too good to be true. There is no shortcut for steeping, only patience works, imo.
To be fair, to my understanding there was always one caveat to the idea that when steeping nothing beats time: unless you own a lab-grade homogenizer. They generally cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars though which is why no one really uses them (but a few people who have said it effectively steeps immediately). That's because homogenizers don't blend the liquids, they actually break down different substances to tiny particles so that they get uniformly distributed across the liquid, which is exactly what you need for flavor interactions and is more or less what happens when you time steep.
The GC Homogenizer is a game changer because it's both a ridiculously cheap Homogenizer at $200 (not including the price of a dremel), and because it was designed specifically for homogonizing ejuice (wheras even the expensive lab-grade ones might not do as good a job as the GC for ejuice; I haven't tried either but that's what people who have tried both are saying).
If it fits on a dremel, it will not be a homogenizer and it will add air, like Ediblemalfunction said.
I also highly doubt a dremel tool will "break down different substances to tiny particles so that they get uniformly distributed across the liquid". That is not how that works.
This. When I said it sounds too good to be true, I wasn't suggesting its snake oil. I used to think that time was the only way to truly mature a recipe, and there was something else going on apart from "thoroughly mixing". Well, I don't think that anymore. Over on ELR, members with no dog in the fight have done side by sides with steeped juice, and they can't tell the difference.
If it goes on a dremel, it's not a homogenizer and its going to force air into the mix. It's also $200.
I'm not sure why it still couldn't be a homogeniser just because it uses a dremel, are you suggesting the rotational speed is too low to qualify? Also, it may force some air into the mix, but would that matter if it was effective in creating an emulsion. I mean, it would be ready to vape, so what would be the issue with a bit of air?
I used a magnetic stirrer for years. The downside is that it has to get pretty warm to be able to mix. At room temp 70/30 juice is way too thick for the magnet to spin. It works, but it’s always a fine balance between hot enough to stir, and not so hot you are cooking off flavours (which are of course sitting at the top, compounding the issue). Looks bad ass though once it’s working.
I recently moved from the UK back to the states, and needed to start over. Before dropping coin on a new Mag stirrer (different voltages, so I left the old one in the UK) I tried a $20 milk frother from Amazon. Works amazing. I only mix 400ml at a time (though often a few of the same thing to make a litre of my ADV every few months) and it’s been fine. Don’t think I am going to bother with the Mag stirrer again. They are cool, but the cheapest decent one I have found stateside is north of $120 and for $20 the milk frother is getting the job done. And MUCH faster as there is no 20 min wait to warm up the juice.
Link for the frother?
https://www.amazon.com/Zulay-Milk-Frother-Handheld-Operated/dp/B074ZL35DH/ref=asc_df_B074ZL35DH/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198060165080&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8319416467953441187&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003483&hvtargid=pla-388731019411&psc=1
Could not recommend it enough. The original one had the button stop working after about a month. I emailed the company that makes it, and they sent me 2 replacements. And they arrived the next day.
Pretty sure they are just branded white label out of China, but you cannot argue with that kind of customer service.
I own a similar frother made for milk to be added to coffee. My frother introduces a significant amount of air (and the coil is attached to the very-bottom of the rather tall heating pitcher). However, introducing air to make milk foam is intentional for this application; air is introduced due to the high-speed of the frothing coil, which causes a vortex. I note that milk is considerably-less-viscous than VG.
Many people already have homogenizers in their kitchen if they own an immersion blender; they work quite well to make small amounts of mayonnaise (an emulsified product) and the better models do not introduce air if the correct speed and technique are used (activate only at bottom of container in pulses if needed).
I own a Braun model (the predicate product to this) and it works very well; it is IMPORTANT to note that this (and the one I own) are VARIABLE speed, which I consider essential. Mine has the whisk and food chopper and I use neither, but they are included with the variable-speed model.
This much-less-expensive ($35) Mueller model has 9 speeds and ALSO includes a milk-frother coil. It has gotten excellent reviews and is an Amazon's Choice. It undoubtedly has far more power than a battery unit, but the battery unit may work OK.
The Game Changer (GC) high-shear homogenizer is a common design for emulsifying small quantities like might be prepared in a chem lab; most models are expensive, especially those that process large amounts of product for industry. GC is expensive because the manufacturer is making them one-at-a-time with manual tools; a volume-manufacturer with automatic CNC tools could make them for less.
Using a rotary-hobbyist-tool to power GC is suitable; the Black and Decker unit is more-powerful than the Dremel (I own both), but it is heavier. It should not introduce air when used properly, as the shear action is at the very tip. The large holes are just drains to empty liquid from the support tube.
Amazon sells an entire lab homogenizer unit here for 99 cents more, though one buyer said there were loose electrical connections in the base that sparked; while undesirable, it is not especially dangerous (as long as it is plugged into a properly-wired grounding receptacle) since the unit has a grounded AC cord.
Both are high-speed, but it isn't even necessary (except to speed up the process). The vintage "Bel Cream Maker" (see here) used a hand pump to emulsify milk and melted butter into cream. I had one and it did work, but using it involved way too much effort with the hand pump.
+1 for milk frother. Great price and quite effective for small to medium sized batches. Just be careful to not start or stop until the whisk head is immersed in the juice, and don't lift it in and out or bring it near the surface while running. Basically you want to run it the opposite way that you'd run it to froth milk - you don't want to splash stuff anywhere, but the biggest concern is that you don't want to go introducing a ton of oxygen into the juice.
The "game changer " is priced at 200 dollars and you have to get on the list . If a magnet mixer is 120 I would go with the GC plus there is no steep time and no air injected to the mix. Hence the game Game Changer
Do you happen to have a treadmill? I usually put my giant bottles on it, tilt it back and let it run for a few. If not, another option is a wall mounted barrel swivel connected to a bag that you can put your juice in, then attach the bag into the chuck of the drill with what’s on your bag. I usually used carabiner clips small enough to fit tight in a drill Chuck. Just an idea that I do. Also in a pinch, I just roll my bottle back and fourth on the ground but that method of not a constant spin you get the tiny bubbles in your bottle.
I personally use the nitecore nff01 (aka flavor factory), got it around two years ago for fairly cheap, works great, mostly mix 100-200 ml with it, should work up to 1000ml as far as I know but never tested that, as for the viscosity, it should be able to handle even 100% VG, just needs a little heat (35-40°C more than that and the nic starts to degrade). I mix in glass beakers that I seal up before mixing, that way it doesn't loose flavor since no new air is introduced while mixing, most juices are ready after an hour (done some testing and 1h is enough for juices that would need a week of steeping, 4h was enough for even the most complicated mixes to be ready for vaping). For those who want to argue that juices still need to steep after hours of mixing I would like to remind you that steeping is basically mixing (I believe the process is called osmosis, but I might be mistaken on the name, English isn't my first language).