Still Alive!
Hey fellow bubblers,
Wanted to stop in and say a quick hello and an early seasons greetings. I apologize that I've not been on it quite some time, nor have I posted many of the things I've wanted to post. I haven't forgotten about this community - not one bit! I look forward to more experimentation and bubble making in the upcoming year.
2015 has been a very intense roller coaster of a year, and things have just been too busy to even blow a bubble!
I look forward to seeing all of your posts and trying some new recipes in the new year!
All the best!
Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1.a (a as in ARG!)
This post is a continuation of: Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1.
Frustrated by the immediate findings in Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1, I decided to run another test in parallel, this time testing my guar hydration technique with two additional solutions. Edward has noted in several places that this is the most common issue with sludge. Based on the instructions in the Basic Mix page, I believed my hydration technique to be adequate, but thought that for any testing to be accurate going forward, I better get a handle on exactly how much agitation and attention I should be spending with each test batch to ensure that I wasn't confounding my own data by inadequately hydrating my guar.
- 1 The Test
- 2 Preparation
- 2.1 Sample A
- 2.2 Sample B
- 3 Observations
- 4 Shaking it…
Tap vs. Distilled: Round 1
I spent a small portion of the weekend running some tests using my tap water and distilled water in otherwise identical batches, as Edward suggested.
So far, findings are rather inconclusive. I was hoping for a conclusive "calcium rich hard water is the cause of sludging" indication, but have instead found what might, with further testing, turn out to be the opposite. Hopes aside, I'll continue my testing to the best of my abilities to fully prove or disprove my hypothesis, as any result that furthers our knowledge is a good result!
- 1 The Recipe
- 2 Initial Measurements
- 3 Preparation
- 3.1 Washing
- 3.2 Labelling
- 4 Mixing it Up
- 4.1 Measuring
- 4.2 Creating the Guar Slurry
- 4.3 Hydrating the Guar
- 4.3.1 Heating the Water
- 4.3.2 First Hydration Phase
- 4.3.3 Second Hydration Pha…
Hard Water Experimentation
It seems that a number of bubble juice brewers on the forum have attempted to mix guar juice using one or more of the recipes posted and have run into sludge issues. It is possible that this is due to failure to follow the steps as listed for the given recipe, but I've witnessed a case first-hand where steps were followed exactly only to have sludge form hours after brewing. I believe that the variation in results may be due in part to variations in water hardness between the locales of those brewers. In the upcoming weeks, I'll be doing some testing to verify whether my hypothesis that hard water (specifically due to calcium hardness) causes guar juice to develop sludge is verifiable, and if so, at what concentration calcium becomes a pro…
Guar Sludge Blues
The recipes I've used to date have all been based on the Basic Mix recipe, and regardless of how much I stir, how hot the water I use is, or the amount of guar gum used, I always end up with about an inch of sludge in the bottom of my container. I've prepared about 10-12 batches all using the same recipe with variations in temperature, agitation level, hydration time, etc. and always end up with the same sludgey result.
The juice produced works relatively well despite the sludge, but the bubbles always seem to be lacking the reported self-healing and lifespan of the guar juice described in this forum. I would describe the bubbles as good, but not great, and not nearly as eye-popping as some of the photos posted here.
I live in an area with w…