Making your own instant
- Thread starter Edward
- Start date
It is your duty as a pioneering Kavasseur to document the hell out of it. See, in three years we'll be referencing this thread instead of my old one
That long? ;-)It is your duty as a pioneering Kavasseur to document the hell out of it. See, in three years we'll be referencing this thread instead of my old one
lol. Let's put it this way. If we're referencing this thread in three years it will be because everyone is showing off their instant kava making stations. By the way your station is far more compact and....manageable. The first incarnation was neither of those things. Also it was very loud, between the water pumps, ball mills and vacuum pumps.
wanderingwoodsmith
Kava Enthusiast
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of the process when I did my run. 10 tbsp, 8 cups of grog, took about 5-6 hours to fully dehydrate at 100 degrees. It yielded just a hair under 1/2 cup of ground instant. I am having the problem of not getting a fine enough grind with my coffee grinder. I am sure a 4-blade grinder would do better than my 2-blade grinder. A burr grinder would be a better choice. My instant ended up being very granular, and is very hard to dissolve, even after soaking for 5 minutes. It takes a couple minutes in the blender to dissolve completely. I will be saving my Squanch instant until I can properly grind it more. I also know not to put too much liquid in the trays. The thicker the layer of grog, the harder it is to grind in the end.
I will be looking for a very cheap ginder of some sorts that can grind to a flour like consistency.
I will be looking for a very cheap ginder of some sorts that can grind to a flour like consistency.
Don't forget though Kapm, the instant isn't for everyone... some people have notions of tradition ;-) . My view on it is on the last page, more KL's, less peppery liquid, less filling, more thrilling!
wanderingwoodsmith
Kava Enthusiast
less drinking more stinking
@Bwiggy I like that... less bloaty, more floaty...
How about less chugging, more hugging? Less gippy, more hippy?
This one will only work in South Wales... Less bad, more bard... ;-) I understand it and thousands of others just won't. Sorry @dr phalloid @ta-va
How about less chugging, more hugging? Less gippy, more hippy?
This one will only work in South Wales... Less bad, more bard... ;-) I understand it and thousands of others just won't. Sorry
@dr phalloid @ta-va
Just doing a test run today as my sheets haven't arrived. Started off with this...
I've got just over 1.5 cups of water in my blender. I'm using 4 tbsps. of Malekula Magic which is one of my favourites from GKE. I'm doing this as @Kapmcrunk requested a run with normal session prep to see how much instant it produces. I'm also using my strainer from @CactusKava which is really good thank you M
After straining I was left with this. This smells awesome and it was so tempting to drink it there and then! ;-)
Below are two pics of loading the dehydrator. I had to use whatever I could find for the vessels. I wouldn't want to put so much in each one ideally but I think it should be ok for the first run until my sheets come.
I've got the machine set on just under 105 F, basically the lowest setting. I'm giving it 2 hours to start with and I'm guessing it will need another 2 or 3 after that to get completely dry. I'll update again after 2 hours and then once it's finished.
I've got just over 1.5 cups of water in my blender. I'm using 4 tbsps. of Malekula Magic which is one of my favourites from GKE. I'm doing this as @Kapmcrunk requested a run with normal session prep to see how much instant it produces. I'm also using my strainer from @CactusKava which is really good thank you M
After straining I was left with this. This smells awesome and it was so tempting to drink it there and then! ;-)
Below are two pics of loading the dehydrator. I had to use whatever I could find for the vessels. I wouldn't want to put so much in each one ideally but I think it should be ok for the first run until my sheets come.
I've got the machine set on just under 105 F, basically the lowest setting. I'm giving it 2 hours to start with and I'm guessing it will need another 2 or 3 after that to get completely dry. I'll update again after 2 hours and then once it's finished.
wanderingwoodsmith
Kava Enthusiast
You're killin me smalls!! I cant wait to see how it turned out for you
Definitely starting to dry out now, one of them more than the others and that one was nearer the back so I have moved them all to the back. I noticed earlier that it wasn't very hot at all so I must have had the setting too low, it thought I wanted it off. I've turned it up so it's about on the 105 F. Hopefully it won't kill any KL's. I think they might have been finished by now if I'd have had it on that temp from the start. Never mind, getting there.
In the instruction book there is a whole section on making jerky. I had some commercially made product one time and didn't like it because of the flavour, far too sweet. The texture and the idea of it was nice though. I might make my own sometime.
wanderingwoodsmith
Kava Enthusiast
I dont do beef jerky very often, but I usually make a couple batches of deer jerky every year. Might try some squirrel jerky soon