The Rotavap | Food & Drink Techniques and long term review

In this video I show you the various culinary and drinks techniques I use the Rotavap (Buchi Rotavapor) for. I go into more detail on how the system works and give a long term review of my buchi r100 rotavap.
I'll cover rotary evaporator techniques for food, drinks and distilling including -
Low temperature vacuum distillation for food applications, making hydrosols (Water based distillations), low temperature flavour concentration, making compound honey, Noma's tamari method, removing alcohol from products and go over the pros, cons and price of the rotavap system .
DOWNLOAD MY COOKBOOK HERE - eddieshepherd.squarespace.com
More from me -
PATREON - www.patreon.com/eddieshepherd
WEBSITE - www.veggiechef.co.uk
INSTAGRAM- eddiesheps
TWITTER - vegetarianchef
INGREDIENTS I USE - specialingredients.co.uk/?ref=e-s
TASTING MENU RESERVATIONS - www.exploretock.com/thewalledgardens/
MY COOKBOOK - carelpress.uk/walled_gardens
Other related videos -
Blue Algae Miso Dish - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mp2TkpiJps5pgNk
Distilled Chilli without heat - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYesY6KCiL6Ibs0
Rotavap Concentrated Flavours - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWLXiqVvpdpsjcU
Ultrasonic Infusion and Distillation - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXzYnKh9lNiJacU
Introduction to the Rotavap - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJfMeYt-oZiLhK8
Video Timestamps -
00:00 Introduction
01:15 How The Rotavap works
2:19 The Buchi Rotavapor System
3:33 The Chiller
4:20 The Vacuum Pump
5:00 Low Temperature Distillation
5:39 Rotavap Gin
6:43 Distilled Chilli
7:40 Hydrosols (water based distillation)
9:27 Concentrating Flavours
11:28 Compound Honey
12:15 Noma Tamari Method
12:52 Removing or Reducing Alcohol
13:28 Long Term Review
15:20 Price and Pros and Cons

[@cmxproject1368]

I'm regretting paying a thousand euros for a molecular and bar chef course. I wish I had discovered your videos sooner. congratulations.

[@giosanchez90]

May you be blessed with millions of subscribers and parking spots close to the grocery store entrance. Very glad I found your channel

[@Winther83]

here is a tip, if you cant afford a rotovap you can use a normal distillation setup and use vacuum pump or water aspirator depending on what pressure reduction that is needed on, the downside is that the distillation/reduction just takes longer to do. and you have to control temperature and pressure yourself and look up tables on what pressure and temperature things distill over. is it as cool, no it's not and is till want a rotovap but does it work after some trial and error? yes it should since it's used in chemistry labs all over.

[@mndlessdrwer]

On a side note: he's basically utilizing foundational perfuming and cosmetics techniques for food, which is why it makes so much sense that he's able to get the aroma to express how he wants it to. The only thing he hasn't done is a steam distillation of soluble compounds from floral organics. That's the primary means of creating the coarse extracts of aroma compounds from most botanicals, particularly flower and leaves, since it doesn't clog or burn as easily as conventional distillation methods, but the results he's getting from vacuum distillation should be similar. So I have no doubts that the end products taste and smell fantastic, even if this particular type of food preparation isn't really my thing. It's a level of pretentiousness beyond what I can cope with, but that's fine. I don't have to be the target audience to appreciate the amount of effort you put into your food preparations. On a side note: yes, it is possible to get an even larger rotary evaporator, but the price scales with the size because the glassware and mechanicals are more expensive, the temperature controlled ultrasonic waterbath is more expensive, the vacuum pump needs to be even more powerful, and the chiller also needs to be even more powerful to cope with the much larger distillation column. This is an ideal size for small-scale applications because it becomes significantly more expensive in a hurry when you try to go up a size or two. In many cases, it can end up being cheaper to just buy a duplicate set and run two extractions in parallel.

[@henrik.norberg]

Here I thought I was fancy using Sous Vide cooking... I built my first Sous Vide since when I started some 15 years ago nothing pre-built existed (that I could afford at least). This shouldn't be THAT impossible to make either, obviously not at the same speed and/or precision. This is basically a low temperature Sous Vide distiller with a vaccum pump and chiller... When my queue with my other 100 projects dry up I know what to make 😅 When I was young and naive I thought my maker queue would shrink... Thanks for an interesting video, you got a new subscriber (and probably my friend as soon as he has seen my message. Edited: Yeah, he was as exited as me 😀) Edited: Btw, as someone that has worked as a bartender and was about to start a takeaway Sous Vide food truck (before I got burned out badly) that mainly eat vegetarian this channel is hitting perfectly!

[@EddieShepherd]

Aw thanks man :)

[@miost]

That's awesome, I would like to have one. I remember when I use to used at the university in my laboratories. Back then I never thought to used it for cooking

[@Jimunu]

The youtuber thoughtemporium made one themselves a couple years back.

[@jazzpotato1572]

Thankyou for sharing this knowledge, really appreciate the production of your video. super clear and concise. amazing work chef

[@infn]

I'd love to see a video of an actual dinner that you host, produced with various techniques and dishes that you've gone through in your channel.

[@RKleyn]

For anybody looking for a more budget "friendly" option. I see Vevor sells all the components needed for a combined cost of around €1600

[@kindageeky2]

That video is just JEDI Eddie, thank you!!! 🙏

[@klpe1251]

There are versions where you use dry ice instead of the spiral condenser, it makes it quite a lot simpler to use and to clean. You need to buy the ice of course but less of a cost up front.

[@EddieShepherd]

Yeah the ‘cold finger condenser’ style. I haven’t used one, but I think if you had dry ice on hand it could work well as another option

[@BurhanHalilov]

Thanks!

[@davidkolo]

havent watched it yet and im already jealous, god i want one of these things lol

[@uaking21]

Very cool video, just need a heidolph unit instead of buchi

[@siggyincr7447]

Just thought someone should mention that for most of what he does, you don't actually need the rotovap. A magnetic stirrer/hotplate can do pretty much the same thing in most circumstances but you still need the glassware and vacuum pump. The chiller isn't a necessity either as most home chemists will just have a small pump recirculate the cooling fluid though an ice bath in a cooler. And many of the things he's distilling probably don't even need to be done under vacuum as boiling temp under normal atmosphere won't degrade most substances. Keep in mind that distilling under vacuum is a pretty standard chemistry technique and there are loads of chemistry videos that explain what is going on and what is needed. You can do this sort of thing for far less money if your a DIY sort of person.

[@slavapopkov7910]

wow.. just wow

[@davidelabrasca6256]

Amazing video! Question, do also ingredients retain all their natural benefits vitamins etc. after distilled?

[@davidbalfour3390]

You should use propylene glycol instead of ethylene glycol as it's not toxic. Also if you mix water with the glycol you can achieve lower temperatures

[@SickOnerable]

are you a chef / alchemist ?

[@melanieOh]

Excellent video as always, very informative. It's a shame my state doesn't allow home distillation, including vacuum distillation, this has been on my mind for some time :(

[@EffYouMan]

You would never get caught and raided if you’re just doing this small scale stuff for cooking. Even if you did (which is completely improbable in my opinion) I’m pretty sure you could easily win a judge over

[@ErickvdK]

​@@EffYouManMaybe in a red state...😊

[@Chzydawg]

It’s worth checking through the laws extensively with that stuff. Where I live it’s illegal to distill alcohol at home for consumption, but not illegal to make perfume or sanitiser. It’s a funny little part of the world, they basically don’t want people dodging taxes on alcohol.

[@craft_classiccocktail]

Hello there. Great job you are doing here, very interesting. Any advice on how or where I could learn more in how to use this device to make cocktails? Thank you

[@EddieShepherd]

Hi, thanks very much. Cockrails aren’t really my world but I would recommend Dave Arnold’s book ‘liquid intelligence’ & also the aviary cocktail book, I think they both cover a little about the rotavap from memory but I can’t be sure how much

[@craft_classiccocktail]

@@EddieShepherd I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. Thank you and you just got one more subscriber 😁

[@BngLrd]

Awesome! Great content as usual! I was wondering what other special gear you use, e.g. are you using a pacojet or some kind of microblender?

[@EddieShepherd]

Hi, pacojet is the main piece of equipment I am missing I’d say. I use a thermomix mainly as my blender but have the vitamix too, the centrifuge I use for clarification I made a video about too

[@Yoggoth]

Consider buying a vacuum blender, which can reduce oxidative damage during blending

[@BngLrd]

I used to had one from Bosch, but that didn't work very well. But thanks :) And thanks @EddieShepherd!

[@diannabrownridge6618]

Is that automotive antifreeze or did you add dye to your glycol for the video? I was told ethylene glycol with dye in it will ruin the internal components of my chiller.

[@davidelabrasca6256]

Love your channel. How and when do you determine the exact moment to stop the distillation process in order not to end up with unwanted flavours in the distillate? Thanks in advance

[@EddieShepherd]

Aw thanks. So that’s a bit of a mix of experience, theory & just having to test. I would generally leave around 1/4 as the tails of a distillation which I will discard, but depending on the ingredient & how I want to use it that might change. For things that make the menu or regular use I tend to test them until I get exactly what I want, the best way to do that is to take cuts of the distillation (keep separating off what you have distilled so far, then carry on distilling & repeat until the flavour changes / becomes weaker or undesirable), then you can can make that process simpler & repeatable for the future :)

[@davidelabrasca6256]

@@EddieShepherd Make sense. Thank you so much for the answer! Just another quick question,since it is a low temperature process do fruits,veggies and herbs retain all their natural benefits ? vitamins etc...

[@Caffeine.And.Carvings]

Heyy, i have this exact copper still (friends giftet it to me) and i have avsolutley no clue how to use it, yet. Is there a video of yours, or could you make one, where you show how one would make sth with it? My plan is to make a foresty gin. I would have a sous vide for temp control, amd could buy a vac pump if that could be integrated into this system

[@EddieShepherd]

Hi, I have a video I made a months ago about making gin with a copper still that I think should help you, if you scroll back on my page its maybe about 6 or 7 videos back

[@Chzydawg]

I love the idea of it, it would be so good to have a tool like that in the kitchen, but the price point and the fragility of not just the components but the machine itself would be difficult to justify. Did you get your spinzall 2.0 yet? Got mine a couple weeks ago and clarifying literally everything I can think of as well making Justino’s. Maybe we can convince Dave Arnold/BDX to make a cheap rotavap; vapzall.

[@EddieShepherd]

That would be the dream if they would make a cheaper version aimed at bars & kitchens. Still waiting on my spinzall 2 but excited to get using it soon, and because I’ll have the old one as a spare I’ll hopefully get even more use out of the new one

[@suganyaashree]

Pls talk about fat separator

[@_Liquidlifestyle]

I can see labels like 48hr 35C 45abv. What does mean the hr? Do you let rest the ingredient for some hrs into alcohol before to use the rotovap?

[@EddieShepherd]

Most of those notes are the amount of time an ingredient is cold infused into the alcohol (or a note on if I used ultrasonic rapid infusion), then the distillation temperature - ie 35C, and then the abv I have diluted it back to :)

[@liiam9449]

no bump trap?

[@EddieShepherd]

No, I just have to be careful & gradual in reducing the pressure to stop it boiling over. Buchi do a sensor to automatically stop any over foaming but it haven’t been able to invest in one (unless they see the video and fancy sending me one one day)

[@francescogiacomopelagatti8221]

I don't fully get how you remove alcohol with this. Do you just set temp and pressure so that the alcohol evaporates (78C in normal conditions or its equivalents) and then collect the remaining liquid?

[@EddieShepherd]

I have an older video that goes over the basics of vacuum distillation that might help explain it

[@MedoKojiZiviOvde]

Distillation is a separation technique based on difference of boiling points of the liquids. Pressure affects proportionally the temperature at which the liquids boils. The most volatiles will be separated first so if you want water and ethyl alcohol, you will decrease the alcohol content in mixture as it boils over time.

[@angrymurloc7626]

is this home expensive, stupid expensive, or medical? 😭 I really want one now

[@thetaintpainter5443]

Stupidly expensive. Anyways nobody should be using something like this for food, wayyyyyy overkill. Better for actual science

[@siggyincr7447]

15:42 he mentions that his set up costs about 7000 euro. This is semi-professional lab equipment. For most of what he does, you don't actually need the rotovap. A magnetic stirrer/hotplate can do pretty much the same thing in most circumstances but you still need the glassware and vacuum pump. The chiller isn't a necessity either as most home chemists will just have a small pump recirculate the cooling fluid though an ice bath in a cooler. And many of the things he's distilling probably don't even need to be done under vacuum as boiling temp under normal atmosphere won't degrade most substances. Keep in mind that distilling under vacuum is a pretty standard chemistry technique and there are loads of chemistry videos that explain what is going on and what is needed. You can do this sort of thing for far less money if your a DIY sort of person.

[@dudesweetpro]

You could definitely build your own if you know your chemistry gear for way less than 7k.

[@chestnutrice9855]

holy shit