So, I'm ready to move up and make a powdered instant kava which I can store indefinitely and can make large batches of whatever type I want to use. This also opens the door to custom blended batches.
First step was I selected an evaporator plate from an ice machine. This is our family's line of work, so everything was scrap items. The plates are used to evenly disperse refrigerant vapor over all parts of the coil to freeze an ice cube. These fail (the grids detach from the copper subsurface) and we had tons of them around. So I found the one with the most loose dividers. Below is an example of how the lines on the back of the plate are fused to the copper subsurface and allow for efficient heat transfer. Mines a bit smaller due to countertop space.
This is the plate I selected below.
The difficult part was removing the copper dividers, but after 3 or so hours they're all out.
After removal comes the task of sanding down any left over solder points. Another hour later and i'm left with an almost usable surface
This is the surface I will be using to dry out my kava down to instant. You can carefully regulate the temperature of the water circulating in the lines behind the plate so you wont scorch or kill off any kavalactones. I'm thinking if I keep the temp at 100 degrees F I should avoid most of those things. The next step will be coming up with a hot water source or a circulating pump so I don't dump hundreds of gallons of water down the drain. Oh don't worry about the hole in the center, I'll silicone that in.
First step was I selected an evaporator plate from an ice machine. This is our family's line of work, so everything was scrap items. The plates are used to evenly disperse refrigerant vapor over all parts of the coil to freeze an ice cube. These fail (the grids detach from the copper subsurface) and we had tons of them around. So I found the one with the most loose dividers. Below is an example of how the lines on the back of the plate are fused to the copper subsurface and allow for efficient heat transfer. Mines a bit smaller due to countertop space.
This is the plate I selected below.
The difficult part was removing the copper dividers, but after 3 or so hours they're all out.
After removal comes the task of sanding down any left over solder points. Another hour later and i'm left with an almost usable surface
This is the surface I will be using to dry out my kava down to instant. You can carefully regulate the temperature of the water circulating in the lines behind the plate so you wont scorch or kill off any kavalactones. I'm thinking if I keep the temp at 100 degrees F I should avoid most of those things. The next step will be coming up with a hot water source or a circulating pump so I don't dump hundreds of gallons of water down the drain. Oh don't worry about the hole in the center, I'll silicone that in.
