found this:
http://docs.google.com/vi...A06pF_qzzjm3zA&pli=1
http://docs.google.com/vi...A06pF_qzzjm3zA&pli=1
report: optimizing the extraction of kavalactones during prep of kava
- Thread starter kl.rcoz
- Start date
kl.CanonGrayThompson
Kava Curious
good find ,thanks!
kl.Project460
Kava Enthusiast
So blending is better than kneading? Hmm. And 45 c water, damn I use 75 c for hawaiian and higher kavain kavas, and 140 c for stronger kavas (DHM/DHK)
Ya, good find. I'll try to get those 45% and 54% results, although I'll increase the dilution for D to 3:1. I knead my frozen root for about 10 minutes. I wonder how that differs from readding the water to the mash and doing 3 cycles of 2 minutes.
Looks like it's best to blend the dried root. I used to do that, with blend-squeeze-blend-squeeze, and it was potent. But it's messier, takes longer and is not as fun.
I would like to see them test lecithin as well.
Looks like it's best to blend the dried root. I used to do that, with blend-squeeze-blend-squeeze, and it was potent. But it's messier, takes longer and is not as fun.
I would like to see them test lecithin as well.
Ok, I soaked 1cup of stone in 3c of water for 30 mins with 1 Tbl of oil. I then heated it on the stove to ~113F, constantly stirring. I blended it 3 times for 2 mins and strained. Wow, it was strong. After 2 shells I had to add more water (1:3 is my usual ratio for stone). The downside, nausea onset was quick and ruined the experience towards the end but that could of been caused by my lack of ice and mint candies to to remove the taste in my mouth. I also did something I haven't done, before the session I drank Emergen-c, a vit c and b drink.
It's worth to experiment more with less root, maybe this prep is a money saver.
It's worth to experiment more with less root, maybe this prep is a money saver.
kl.Swingline
Kava Curious
Interesting article. A home out there still following the recommended method?
Crunked
Proselytizer
Many thanks for the link. I am going to try this asap. I wish there was a little more detail in the slideshow. Presumably 3 x 2mins in the blender is better than 1 x 6 mins because during the interval separation occurs in the mixture. But then what is the ideal interval?
BTW, note that the authors used an 18000 rpm blender which sounds very heavy duty to me. I have a Kitchenaid that I thought was very powerful as it is big and can easily crush ice. It sounds like a jet taking off. But it has a max of about 13000 rpm.
BTW, note that the authors used an 18000 rpm blender which sounds very heavy duty to me. I have a Kitchenaid that I thought was very powerful as it is big and can easily crush ice. It sounds like a jet taking off. But it has a max of about 13000 rpm.
Crunked
Proselytizer
Well, I made some last night. I used my Kitchenaid blender. I found that 40g root + 120ml water was not sufficient for the blender to properly start mixing so I added another 120ml of water (all water was at 113F = 45C). I did the 3 x 2 mins at max speed. Each interval was only long enough for the mixture to slide down to the bottom of the blender jar. At the end of 6 minutes the mixture was steaming! (smiley: eek) I should have taken the temp. (smiley: embarassed)
I put the mixture into my kava bag and gave it a good squeeze. I then added another 500 ml of water so that I had enough for 6 shells. When discarding the squeezed mixture I noticed that it was much oilier than it would be after using the traditional kneading method. I suspected that the KVL had not been well extracted from the mixture through simple squeezing. After trying a few shells I concluded that it was actually weaker than if made the usual way. However, I am going to give it another try with a fresh batch and this time knead it for 2 minutes after putting it in the kava bag.
I put the mixture into my kava bag and gave it a good squeeze. I then added another 500 ml of water so that I had enough for 6 shells. When discarding the squeezed mixture I noticed that it was much oilier than it would be after using the traditional kneading method. I suspected that the KVL had not been well extracted from the mixture through simple squeezing. After trying a few shells I concluded that it was actually weaker than if made the usual way. However, I am going to give it another try with a fresh batch and this time knead it for 2 minutes after putting it in the kava bag.
kl.Gray Owl
Kava Enthusiast
20 C = 68 FProject460 said:
23 C = 75 F
45 C = 113 F
60 C = 140 F
75 C = 167 F
100 C = 212 F
140 C = 284 F
Kavalactones are believed to hydrolyze around 60 C (or 140 F) they are cyclic esters, the ester breaks and the kavalactones change from cyclic compounds to chain compounds. Water boils at 100 C or 212 F at sea level. For water to stay liquid at 140 C (which is 284 F) it would have to be in a pressure cooker.
kl.Gray Owl
Kava Enthusiast
The last slide is a bit unclear, I am guessing that "*" means that it makes a difference, but what the heck do they mean by "ns" normally it would mean "not significant". Also, the chart on the previous page does not appear to jive 100% with the conclusions, e.g. trial #13 appears to have the most kavalactones at 54% and it is a "K" for kneading, but it is also frozen fresh root. I guess they must have averaged the results for kneading across all kneading trials or something. Also, the way that the trials are sorted seems random and not logical, I would guess it was the order in which they did the trials. Normally, when you are doing an experiment, you hold several variables constant and vary one variable to see how it affects the result, it would be good to hit some intermediate data points to see if there is really a trend, for example temperature, or 2:1 water to kava.