7 replies to this topic

[rocketman]

Seems like a pita, but buying pre powdered/shredded is likely to result in a weaker or useless product due to oxidation. Does anyone have a clever method for pulverizing the vine?

[Hippie3]

reduce to powder with a nutmeg grater,
hammer the larger pieces before putting them in a coffee mill
chisel is useful
got a wood chipper ?

[Elf Salvation]

I would hammer vine sections into fibers on a two-by-four, on the floor, on newspaper (to catch loose peices). Then cut up fibers (fiskars) and turn to dust in a blender. More dust is better and I often would filter out dust and throw left over crap back into the blender. Works great

Elf

[Hippie3]

... boil the vine to make it soft enough so I can shred it by hands. Hot Vine is very soft and easy to break in smaller and smaller pieces.

pounding it with a hammer on a smooth cement floor , then separating the "softened" vine into sliver-like pieces by hand . When working with whole vine sections , I use a large "scissors", made for cutting tin , to cut up the vine after hammering it

[phalanx]

A concrete floor or footpath is a must. Wooden floors bounce and absorb the energy of the hammer blows. If you hammer directly on the concrete, you will get concrete particles embedded in the vines. Therefore I hammer on a flat piece of hardwood on the concrete surface. Some vine fragments get scattered so I put a pillowcase between the wood and concrete to catch these.

I use a heavy masons hammer with a square head. I use the edge of the head, rather than the flat face, to give more concentrated blows. As the vine cracks, I pull loosened pieces off and hammer them thoroughly until they are flat and soft. I hammer bark strips and core segments individually. I use a strong scissors to cut the strips of vine into half-inch pieces, but sometimes it is soft enough to do it by hand. Then I grind the hell out of them in an electric coffee grinder. If the vine isnt hammered thoroughly, hard pieces may crack the plastic lid of the grinder.

It is laborious but gives good results.

I don't think harmala alkaloids oxidise that easily. I'd say powdered or shredded vine is fine.

[Hippie3]

tried the boil/pc method
very happy

before pc'ing
[attachment=846404:DSCN0808.JPG]
after pc'ing
[attachment=846405:DSCN0810.JPG]

shredded vine by twisting/bending sections
[attachment=846406:DSCN0812.JPG]

chopped vine threads with scissors
[attachment=846407:DSCN0813.JPG]

finished hand shredding/chopping
[attachment=846408:DSCN0816.JPG]

after running bits thru coffee grinder
[attachment=846409:DSCN0818.JPG]

into the brew
[attachment=846410:DSCN0819.JPG]

[phalanx]

Sounds like a good method if hammering isnt a practical option.

[Hippie3]

much less strenuous than hammering the crap out of it.