Sam Handwich
Kava Enthusiast
I too have a similar mortor and pestle on order. I just received my extra fruit roll sheets but will probably have to wait until next weekend to try it all out again.
Making your own instant
- Thread starter Edward
- Start date
I'd say 20mm or larger. If money weren't a factor I'd invest in some yttrium stabilized zirconium oxide media. Ceramic will work but of course it will stick a bit to them. I used a stainless steel strainer. Just pour the ceramic media out onto it and shake. It'll knock all the kava loose.
Bwiggy
I like plants
@Edward - It's slow to rehydrate. But do I care? Nope. Mine seems to be super strong, so I only need a little. I'm most often putting it under my tongue for absorption that way, and it's working great for me. I've had it in a glass - and it's not fully broken down. I added some cayenne pepper, which fast forwards the digestive process in a healthy way.
That's what I am hoping, that the flakes I made the other day are really that strong that it won't take much to make a good strong brew. If not then I have no idea where 250g of root went?!
Cayenne pepper?! Ok, I'll take your word for that one, everyone thinks I am odd with the milk...
BTW, the ball mill and hopefully the balls too should be here midweek, should hopefully get a chance to grind it one evening and have a go the next
wanderingwoodsmith
Kava Enthusiast
Getting my mortar and pestle in the mail today. Cant wait to try out some instant Squanch.
I don't know
Kava Enthusiast
This all seems like a lot of work and i'm too lazy. I will just chug and read this thread. That will make it feel like I accomplished something.
Rock tumbler/ball mill arrived today along with media... It's a bit late at night here to start milling kava so might try and have a go tomorrow. I'm away the next 4 weekends so the instant kava project is on hold somewhat but I'm still excited to get going again. The proper sheets are in the post office awaiting collection so the next weekend I get completely free will be taken up with dehydrating and milling kava
. After last weekend with a few errors I've been thinking of ways to improve and streamline the process. I'm sure we can make this worthwhile with a bit of effort. It would help if we could find out the max temp for dehydrating without killing KL's. Any help would be appreciated?
wanderingwoodsmith
Kava Enthusiast
That sure is a snazzy looking machine! How much did that run you?
Geeze mortar and pestle grinding kava flakes sure is a lot of work. Its working great, but its a slow process. I'm gonna have to drink some good ''ol med grind in an aluball tonight while I grind up all my flakes
Geeze mortar and pestle grinding kava flakes sure is a lot of work. Its working great, but its a slow process. I'm gonna have to drink some good ''ol med grind in an aluball tonight while I grind up all my flakes
About $180 all in with postage and everything. I think it's a good idea to use the mortar and pestle to get it down to as fine as you can get it and then I'm going to mill it in this baby to get it as fine as possible. Should mix better then for a more pleasant experience.
@wanderingwoodsmith yep, pestle and mortaring dry kava flakes is hard work! I've got it down to a reasonably fine powder ready for the mill. I haven't got loads there, maybe 2 or 3 tbsps. from a whole 250g of root so I'm hoping this is strong stuff. It smells absolutely awesome.
I think next time I will just make up smaller batches of root with plenty of water to get max extraction and then let it settle for a while as advised by someone above (above in the thread, not God). I'll see how many sheets I can fit in the dehydrator and just keep recycling them as and when they are dry and top them up with more. Over the course of a long weekend I should hopefully be able to dry and mill quite a bit of root.
I forgot to say, I was on my second shell and grinding the kava in the mortar and pestle, feeling good, watching something on the television. I suddenly became aware of a tightness around my head. Not painful or unpleasant in any way just a bit odd. It took me a while to realise that I still had my hat on
God
Yahweh or the highway.
Mmmm hmmm.
That was me this time, lolHAAAAAAA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAAA Shakas... Stop it!!!
maelstrom
Kava Curious
I'm excited about this, but I have no experience with dehydrators. Will this model of Excalibur do the job? I saw a couple more expensive models, but I think the only difference is that they have timers or fancier controls.
I think that a silicone pan would be a lot better to use than any kind of ceramic or glass dish if there's an issue with residue being stuck at the end. I've got a couple silicone cake pans, but I found this jelly roll pan that should just fit, although I'm not sure on how much space is between the trays. If one could fit on each tray, using nine of those would be extremely efficient.
I think that a silicone pan would be a lot better to use than any kind of ceramic or glass dish if there's an issue with residue being stuck at the end. I've got a couple silicone cake pans, but I found this jelly roll pan that should just fit, although I'm not sure on how much space is between the trays. If one could fit on each tray, using nine of those would be extremely efficient.
