I'm doing the STB tek and at first wasn't reusing my water then it occurred to me 'what if there is still some dmt in there?'. so now I'm reusing it and I've added more lye. I'm not really sure how it works, whether once you basify it it's done or if there is maybe an initial reaction needed so you have to re-add it each time.

And how do you know if your black soup has anything good in it? Just add naptha and let it sit? I notice substance will collect at the top. I a standard swirl of the naptha throughout the water for a while, and even I'll add the naptha a 1/2 hr before finishing the brewing step on this magnetic stirrer I purchased. Maybe that's totally enough, IDK, you tell me.

And is re-crystalizing just being OCD about it? Or will it affect the end product significantly somehow?

Thanks. Sorry if these have obvious answers. I've been reading but just started on all this so I'm slowly picking up the basics.