Problems with Dry Balls

[Kavacus]

Has anyone had problems in this area? Sometimes when I use the Alu-Ball the medium grind will stick to, and block, the little screens in the 'ball. Can't shake it loose, so I have to open it up and scrape the screens with a butter knife or spoon. After that my balls are good.

Thanks for any advice on how to deal with the annoying effects of Dry Balls!

Heee heee!

Kavacus D

 

[Zaphod]

Has anyone had problems in this area? Sometimes when I use the Alu-Ball the medium grind will stick to, and block, the little screens in the 'ball. Can't shake it loose, so I have to open it up and scrape the screens with a butter knife or spoon. After that my balls are good.

Thanks for any advice on how to deal with the annoying effects of Dry Balls!

Heee heee!

Kavacus D

LOL - so when I was still using my aluballs regularly I found that if I put in new kava into a ball that was still a bit wet it would stick and block the holes. The key is to dry your balls. If I was reusing a ball that was wet I would clean it out and then dry with a paper towel - or put a little less in the ball so the water could get through and shake it loose.

 

[AlexisReal]

One time, I, admmittedly knowingly overfilled an Aluball.

I am OCD and dor everything by weight. Differnent Kava cultivars take up different volume per gram.

For example, last evening I put 20 grams GHK M'oi innthe ball,,not overlaoded at all. Twi really good, thick extractiions and lovely effect.

But anothr time, different cultivars, 20 grams was jam packed. I knew it was pushing it.

But still I was really surprised when I've got a weak, see-through and watery grog. It was like barely anything was actually being extracted and washed through the pores.

I basically had to open it up and split it into two lots and that fixed the problem but that's the only time it's actually happened to me.

Otherwise just maintaining regular cleaning of the balls and the gauzes in particular with hot soapy water should maintain optimum function for quite some time I believe.

 

[AlexisReal]

LOL - so when I was still using my aluballs regularly I found that if I put in new kava into a ball that was still a bit wet it would stick and block the holes. The key is to dry your balls. If I was reusing a ball that was wet I would clean it out and then dry with a paper towel - or put a little less in the ball so the water could get through and shake it loose.

Yeah maybe that is partly why I am hsving no trouble getting cosistent performance from just a single Aluball daily, last 5 weeks in fact.

I always at least rinse with warm water after use, if not dumpled in a hot soapy bowl.

Either way, I run a scourer over the gauzes and rinse again.


But the....the point here- I typicallay dry it quick with a tea towel.

So yes, dry gauzes and interior may be another factor.

 

[_byron]

If your ball do get dry and you dont want to throw out any of the kava in there you can add water inside the balls and that works to get the balls going again. Cleaning your balls after is important

 

[AlexisReal]

If your ball do get dry and you dont want to throw out any of the kava in there you can add water inside the balls and that works to get the balls going again. Cleaning your balls after is important

I always do two, consecutive washes as standard with my Aluballs. Purely to get better buck's worth overall, and that bit of extra effect.

I typically aim to load about 15 grams Kava root into each ball, I often add a little Sunflower Lecitin.

I am also pretty fond of the strainer bag shake in a jar/Alubittle method.

I have been doing two washes this week- 40 grams Kava, lecithin, 700 ml unheated water.

That 1st wash is very effective. But the point I'm getting at is that the second wash with the bag can be be all most as thick and potent.

But then I do do half fill the jar with the bag in with hot water give it a little shake and leave it for several hours before I "require" it lol.

Either way the bag method seems to to allow a much more equal second wash vs the balls so this is a big reason why I always do two consecutive washers with my balls and makes them both together using 300ml on the bottle the first time and about 250ml the second time.

 

[Kavacus]

So I'm getting that clean, dry balls are important and I agree-not so sure about using the scouring pad though!