Science™
dennymayo replied to your post: What would the A-B test look like? I have more limes…
As I read it, the oil won’t go into water/booze without sugar - hence the need for the simple syrup. Simple syrup is less polar than booze, making a better solvent for the oils.This man should know - he is a Professional Chemist.
So, does that mean we should muddle the citrus with sugar before doing the soaking?
No. You need a solvent (water) to get the extraction to work well –- there’s more surface contact with a solvent extraction than a dry grind, which is essentially what would happen in a citrus + sugar grind.
A proper ‘A–B Test’ would involve equal weights of citrus soaked in straight booze and citrus soaked in simple syrup + booze (equal total volumes of liquid would be best here, to lessen the variables). Let the citrus sit in solution for their week, filter off the remaining citrus peelings, rinse them with a bit of water, let them dry, and re-weigh them. The citrus peelings with greater mass loss were in the solution where the oils were more soluble. This is likely the booze + syrup solution.
If you’re really curious, do an A-B–C test –- the third jar with just simple syrup, no booze. That’s getting to the point of wasting limes though.
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donwhiteside reblogged this from fedward and added:
I wonder if the alcohol-only approach is done accepting the inferior extraction but done so as to prevent any...
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fedward reblogged this from dennymayo and added:
If “dry grind”...specific term I’m unfamiliar...it, but...
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tbridge reblogged this from fedward
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dennymayo reblogged this from tbridge and added:
No. You need a solvent (water) to get the extraction to work well –- there’s more surface contact with a solvent...
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tbridge posted this
