aha, the quote box says it all.
yeah, you should never have to boil water for lye.
once you add it, it's already exothermic.
odd tek, it's definitely a gamble.
ideally, you want to use a nonpolar solvent that doesn't react with base;
its sole purpose to to facilitate migration of neutrally charged alkaloids from
the aqueous layer. you also want to avoid emulsions, of course. typically, emulsions in
most biphase solutions eventually homogenize with the the two liquids. in an oil, it's takes a lot longer for that to occur (especially if you have base in the aqueous layer)
"Nothing is true, everything is permitted." ~ hassan i sabbah
"Experiments are the only means of attaining knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." -Max Planck