Some problems extracting

[froggydays]

Hi, I've done quite a few successful extractions, say ~700mg for 100gr MHRB, standard tek (vinegar, boil, naoh, naphta).

However for some reason two recent extractions with a new batch of mhrb almost didn't give any deemzy.

I did try one new method, to use 1:1 NaOH vs MHRB, instead of 0.8 times the obtained liquid volume after filtering the boiled mhrb solution.

Also, one mistake may have been added water to my bottle (for naphta mixing) after I had added the NaOH to increase the volume (for easier pipetting). After adding the water I immediately added the naphta.

I think then I observed the water/naphta mixture didn't really want to mix with the mhrb solution anymore. Can this be the case?

Normally the naphta after the 3 inverting steps is quite yellow due to the saturation with the mixture or deemzy, I think at least. This time however the naphta remained very transparent.

Could it be any of these above 3 reasons?

1. Batch of mhrb
2. Too much NaOH
3. "Adding" water to the naphta before mixing with the mhrb solution.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Pandora]

Hopefully more knowledgeable people will comment but here goes:

1. A bunk batch of MHRB is possible. It's kind of looking like that might be the case given that this has happened more than once.

2. Not really possible to have too much NaOH in your vessel. pH will max out at 13 no matter how much you add.

3. This is worrisome and may be the issue.


Maybe try another small 50 g extraction, and really watch the details.And if that yields nothing you might want to procure some new MHRB.

I hope you could get to the bottom of this and start extracting spice again soon.