Wandering Adventure Party

So I know when I am makiing stir fries if I want lots of sauce I either add lots of different ingredients to build flavors. For example last night I had a sauce with Gochujang, Soy Sauce, Black Vinegar, Roasted sesame seeds oil, chili oil, chili garlic sauce. Each of which was in a smaller quantity but created a spicy and umami flavor that overall covered anything. So try to make multiple flavors together (which is traditional any way). I do love strong flavors so that might not work for you. If that doesn’t work the water + corn starch slurry is a good method to make a sauce thick without adding much flavor.

Tomatoes are the base for most mexican style sauces so add more tomatoes. You can make your own or just use the most mild salsa you can find as a base.

If you aren’t removing all packing and mixing everything together before you go you are missing out. Usually write out the meal, how much water to add and all instructions on the gallon bag they are going in. Saves so much time and brain power on the trail.

I need to get another coffee grinder for spices, herbs and now mushrooms. I love mushrooms in dishes so soaking and throwing them and their liquid in dishes is the plan.

I’m on a search for dried mushrooms at the two Asian grocery stores by my house. I’ve never had them but love mushrooms. Good idea to just have them ready

We use this one from The Woks of Life. Which does have any lobster or mushrooms. Our last batch used a hotter chili pepper and was almost too spicy. That’s kind of how it goes when you can’t read the labels on the dried peppers. Need to take better notes of branda

Star Anise keeps a while so you can keep them as long as you keep them whole.

I made my own star anise tincture with the extras I have. Just fill a jar and top with an alcohol (I use grain alcohol) and let sit for 4-6 weeks and decant the liquor. It’s delicious to add to cocktails

I love this stuff. We make huge batches to keep all year. Haven’t used the serious eats recipe

Someone below mentioned that dry ice would be needed to freeze the ethanol but you didn’t say you wanted to freeze it. That is partly why I was confused since freezing would damage compounds. Keeping it cold would not

Typically for herbal extractions I want everything from the plant. Herbalism basically says that the mixture works better than any individual compound. If you want to a more focused effect you take multiple plants with similar effects so you want to grab everything.

I have a friend who saved his sticks and stems from his homegrown cannabis plant. I will definitely try this if I want to try to extract from that. I bet that has much more undesirables than something like basis which is edible from root up.

When I was working I did more formulation (a.k.a. mixing and titration) and we had an analytical lab which did all of the NMR and mass spec work. Academics was all steam distillation.

It makes sense that heat degrades but that’s why I keep it low and slow for extraction. Water baths and keeping everything below 140 °F at most with the ideal between 100-120°F. That is just for oil infusions for lotions and balms. I know for honey extraction you want to keep the enzymes active to keep it at most 100 °F. I do alcohol at room temp.

I will have to try the cold method. Sounds like fun. Any excuse to try something new. Also playing with dry ice is a hoot

I would love to know where you found this method? I have read a lot of herbalism books and went to school for Chemistry and nothing I have seen would suggest this. In fact my organic chemistry knowledge is screaming that making things colder make everything run slower. By freezing something you may be rupturing the cell walls but the ice crystals are shredding and denaturing all of the compounds you are extracting. As a general rule things move fast at higher temperatures since the average speed of the molecules increase which has more energy to react. If you wanted to get this done faster you would need to heat the solution not freeze it. Especially since OP is using the standard Folk Tincturing Method method which works great if not fast. I have seen modifications that start with the solution below boiling and then let sit for time but that is generally done with things like honey which is easier to pour that way. I haven’t seen it with alcohol since that will reduce the alcohol content since the alcohol will boil before the water.

I know when making a cocktail you want to put the herbs in the cocktail shaker first and then muddle in some liquor. This will allow the cell walls to rupture and the alcohol will pull out all of the flavor. After you add ice and shake with the rest of the ingredients. The solid ice will continue to break the material and the additional water will extract additional materials while chilling down the drink which provides a better flavor. But you don’t freeze it.

I have been my own alcohol based tinctures using different herbs both culinary and medicinal. I made 4 oz of a basil tincture last summer with some of extra basil using a similar method. (I used 151 proof EverClear since we can’t buy the 190 proof here and I did mine in an exact 1:2 (w/v) ratio instead of the more traditional folk method like you used here.)

It shouldn’t only take 4-5 weeks to get full extraction and it is delicious. I have been using it in cocktails and taking a dropper full when I want the benefits of basil. (Most for digestion when feeling gassy or ate too much. But I do take it when I am feeling a bit of a cold coming on as well). It is super fun and nice to have a few tinctures around. I have almost a dozen now and its nice to have. If I have one recommendation is try to get an old cheap metal Potato Ricer which allows you to squeeze all of liquid out of your basil leaves when they are done. It is worth it.

I have seen dried mushrooms and never purchased them before. I love mushrooms but I only get them fresh which are mostly cremini and sometimes shiitake. I think I will have to purchase some because its great to just throw them into dishes.

Dnd 5e. It was my first system I played and then got the PhB. Then did a bunch of 3.5 and pathfinder 1e before moving back to dnd 5e. I have done most of my time in 5e but read a lot of different ttrpg that I haven’t gotten to play yet.