Cactus Juice Stabilization Temperature Question

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hooked82

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I searched the forum but didn't quite find this asked/answered, so apologize if it has been answered.

So I'm going through my 2nd batch of blanks right now in my toaster oven and I put my oven thermometer in there, get it to 200 degrees and then put my wrapped blanks in for curing.

If I check the temperature right next to the blanks, it's much higher than the section of the oven that's not directly next to a blank. It seems that the wood/foil is heating up and hotter than in an area that there isn't a blank.

My question is, do I just need to get the over to 200 degrees before putting in the blanks and then not touching the temperature dial while they cook, no matter if the temp rises in the oven? I'm having to constantly turn the temp up/down to maintain near 200 degrees at the blanks.
 
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How are you measuring the temp? If you are using an oven thermometer (recommended), you should not be seeing the temp swing. If you are using a non contact laser type thermometer...don't! You want the air temp in the oven to be right at 200° F. I recommend preheating the oven before putting your blanks in. I use a convection oven for more even heat.
 
The temperature in my toaster oven does fluctuate. I'd wager that if I graphed the temperature, it would be bouncing all over the place.

Using an oven thermometer, I've found a spot on the temperature dial that doesn't go much below 200 and doesn't spike up more than 230-250 or so. As long as I've done my part with the Cactus Juice with giving the blanks enough soak time and wrapping them correctly with foil, I've had very good success.
 
Thanks everybody. I went out and picked up a convection oven and an actual oven thermometer and it seems to be more stable now. Got a batch in there now, so I'll see how they turn out once done.
 
OK, so now that the blanks have been in there for about 45 minutes, here's what's happening.

I preheated to 200, put the blanks in and after 10 minutes, the temp was down to 190. Now, 40 minutes in, the temp is at 220. Is this fine or do I need to monitor and adjust the temp through the process?
 
It is fine. If it is consistently holding at 220, then lower it a little. It is not super critical. You don't want to consistently be above 200 by too much since it will cause more bleed out of the Juice. It won't hurt the resin, though.
 
Well, here's a few of the blanks that I've stabilized. The first 2 pictures are of the blanks that I've cleaned up and the next two show the mess that the blanks are in after curing them. I wrapped them in foil so I think that the temp either got a little high or they weren't fully dried before the process. The last picture is the vacuum chamber that I made. Working pretty well so far.

I'll figure it out as I keep working with them but overall, I'm happy with them.

I still have many many many left to be stabilized, just need to figure out if the highly punky wood is worth using the expensive juice.
 

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MesquiteMan said:
The blanks with the whitish areas of cured Juice on them is from moisture.
Click to expand...

I figured, from all the info I've read. Other than losing juice, are there any issues that will occur because of a stabilized blank that wasn't 100% dry?
 
Russ Hewitt said:
Hooked

What material did you use for your vacuum pot and how thick is it? Also, what did you use for the lid seal? It looks really good.
Click to expand...

It's 1/2" Clear Cast Acrylic that I got from Tap Plastics. The lid is starting to get some stress cracks in it, which doesn't seem like it will be a problem for a while, but will probably eventually put a 3/4" lid on it.

As for the seal, I'm not sure what it is exactly. It's some sort of 1/8" rubber seal that I had my brother grab for me from his work. We used it for sealing potable water pipe connections on tug boats. I'll ask and see if he knows what for sure, but it is a really nice seal. Just used some spray adhesive to glue it to the lid and it works great.
 
Since the cactus juice has close to no odor I gave up and just put it in my home oven.
It is the perfect temp!
 
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