Cannot break emulsion - cacti

[licketyswig]

So, a friend brewed up some tea from three foot-long Pedros (vinegar and water), reduced it to about 600 mls, filtered the sediment, and based the hell out of it.

He let it sit overnight and it separated into two layers, one of which looked like plant fats. So, he added more base. It separated again. He kept adding more and more base until it seemed like it couldn't take any more and then he decided to try doing his limo pulls.

That led to an instant emulsion. After giving it a hot water bath all day and letting it sit overnight with no progress, he added tons more lye to about 200 mls of distilled water and mixed that into the soup. It didn't break the emulsion, either.

So, he added more and more lye. The total lye in the mix has to be around 300 grams, maybe more. That seems like a crazy amount of lye to add without breaking the emulsion.

Any ideas?

 

[1ce]

Centrifuge it.

 

[licketyswig]

Is there a way to do that without a centrifuge?

 

[1ce]

You could perhaps try compressing it in a syringe for the same effect. It's a tedious PITA but it works ok.

leave headspace in the syringe. If that's not doing it try covering the dispenser part of then syringe with your finger as to allow the compression to build.

:3

 

[licketyswig]

Cool, I'll see if that works.

Thanks!

 

[1ce]

Syringes are my best friends. They can be used to transfer bs chemicals, used to purify a solution in a number of different ways. They even double as a microscale sep funnel

 

[expandaneum]

three tips:
- put your jar on a speaker and listen all day to you favorite music.
- heating your mixture may help
- adding brine is also advisable but since you added extra base this might no help