How much root is optimum to use?

In DpTek1 we are not separating out plant matter at any stage, so naturally we’re dealing with a higher viscosity (i.e. thicker) mix than would be the case with teks that involve straining out the root (to leave coloured liquid and a little sediment) prior to adding the lye (basifying)

Currently, we strongly suspect that soup viscosity above a certain threshold causes the following.

• increased difficulty and longer time taken to achieve separation of solvent from the lye soup

• increased likelihood and severity of emulsions

• reduced overall yield

As well as the root, dissolved lye & salt also increases viscosity. Therefore there appears to be a balance to strike with the quantities of each to maximise separation/yield/purity.

So far we have anecdotal evidence that suggests if using a 2L capacity container, the maximum amount of useable bark without appreciable yield loss will generally be around 100g but experience suggests that the exact figure is dependent on the batch and might actually be less in some cases.
More tests will be needed to fine tune the ideal amount but our current conjecture is that the finer the power or smaller the shreds of bark, the more root can be used in a given volume of the soup, given the same quantities of lye/salt

More tests are planned to further investigate the credibility of the above.