Freeze/Thaw Question (New user, cannot post anywhere else)

[Hypernoid]

What is the importance of freezing./thawing my ACRB before doing acid boils? The Root Bark is already dry, I do not fully understand what I would be freezing. Does this mean to soak it first then freeze/thaw? Or should i Just powder it and move on. It is shredded at this point, I am going to pulverize it into powder tomorrow. I am following Joshisom's Tek, and I understand the A/B extraction, I guess I am just a little thrown off by the freeze/thaw. I apologize ahead of time if I have posted wrongly, I am just concerned and need an answer before I start with my extraction. Would this step reduce my yield? And if I skipped it, does this mean I should just boil it an extra 20 minutes instead per boil?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks for any/all replies.

 

[d*l*b]

What is the importance of freezing./thawing my ACRB before doing acid boils? The Root Bark is already dry, I do not fully understand what I would be freezing. Does this mean to soak it first then freeze/thaw?

You don’t have to freeze thaw but it will help to break cell walls and release the alks. It will be most successful of there is liquid added, I would not do this with bark in shredded form, powder it first. I have performed this in a bottle when I have done it. Leave some space as the water will expand when it freezes.

Or should i Just powder it and move on. It is shredded at this point, I am going to pulverize it into powder tomorrow.

As noted above you don’t have to freeze/thaw.

Would this step reduce my yield? And if I skipped it, does this mean I should just boil it an extra 20 minutes instead per boil?

You could add some time to the boils if you are worried. I must admit I have never done, or seen, side-by-side analysis of yields with and without freeze/thaws, nor have I done the tek you mention. Missing out freeze/thaw will not leave you with no spice, that is for certain though.

 

[Hypernoid]

I presumed the same thing, but I am not nearly as astute as most folks on this site, so I figured I'd ask. Ill just add a few minutes to my boil times to be sure. Thank you for the reply, i really appreciate it.

 

[Clockwork Maggot]

I wouldn't say freezing the bark is important, it's just an extra step you can take to increase yield even by a small amount.

Rock can be cracked and split with frozen water, it can be cracked with heating. Long ago when tooling was primitive rock was split this way using fire, nature does it with ice.

The key factor is expansion which can be achieved with both high temps and low temps. In freezing plant matter the expansion comes from freezing water, which as mentioned already, helps break up the cells more than just boiling. In a sense you get more cell destruction from a greater range of temperature application.

I haven't done a freeze myself but I might be inclined to do it in stages. firstly with just water, as impure water freezes at lower temperatures, then maybe do subsequent freezes with vinegar added. It might be slightly more difficult to freeze with vinegar in... I'm not sure. Perhaps some room for experimentation, but either way I'd start with clean water, enough to completely soak the bark plus half an inch above powder line, agitate occasionally once the water starts to thicken/freeze/crystalise to maintain an even suspension.

It might be interesting to try a series of boils and freezes.