What is the most common use for it...is it used in lure formulations, or as a bait additive?

yes

That was easy.

Seems to be kind of mellow...at least to me. Is it a scent that you go light on (as in drops), or one you can use more generously (as in 1/4 oz at a time)?

Then the stuff you have is junk. Asafoetida if left open should fill a room with its odor, even in tinctured form. Also if you store it near other bait jars or anything for that matter, that object will take on the odor. Its all preference as to how much to add.

what TDHP said

when I add it I add less than I think I need. Wait a few days and give a sniff. good tincture that smell will grow some. like good Tonquin. you can add a drop or two but its hard to get it out. look around and go to a store that sells stuff for India Indians. get gum not powder. its cheap. bust up the chunks as best you can and soak it in vodka. I just keep adding a little every couple weeks and shaking it up till it wont dissolve anymore. you can buy it online also.

https://www.planetspices.com/products/asafoetida-whole

Thanks Danny, got some ordered..

I would save your old batch and then compare the two. Set it down in different rooms give it a minute and walk back in. That odor should be the first thing you smell when you enter. Then set them right next to each other. The "good stuff" will take over almost as if they were the same tincture. Simple little test. Good luck!

Asafetida is used in foods for cooking and in various forms of lures and bait formulas. It is in the garlic family.

The strength of the end product is directly influenced by the tincturing agents and the volume of raw material used to each batch of tincture. A good gum will give the most desired results. The older gum was much better quality then the current available material.

As stated a good batch made properly will permeate through a formula over time as will tonquin and other similar products.

bob that stuff planet spice is selling lists Afghanistan as the source. been working for me.

What does it smell like? Never used it, so I don't know.

It's been stated several times...that it smells like garlic.

.

The current asafetida appears to have been more processed as it is very hard compared to the gummy sticky gum from years back.I am still holding some old product. Very big difference in the two.

The new material is small pieces rolled in sand/grit to reduce the tacky surface of the product I would imagine and to add weight.

The older gum was softer,very sticky, it came in a big gob mass and darker and much stronger. Very little waste and inert materials in it for the most part.

To quote Bobby, Old Authentic Asafoetida Gum was also different in acrid odor and darker in color, back then the re-working caused the sticky feel, drug stores sold it in the old days <<<+ 1940's, 50's, 60's, then faded away (War), it was used as an over the counter drug for human ailments, one being a Cold in winter among others! There IS a lot of garlic & onion odors in today's world, LOL. that is not the reason for the canine and cats being attracted to these odors of new age Asafaetida Gum, LOL, BION, a chemical in the plant gum causes this phenomenon, and can be synthesized today by a Craftsman!The simalarities being In one way like natural Catnip has a bizarre effect on the Cat family, strains have changed through the years, like hybrid corn & soybeans and ??' hybrid anything, today! LOL
(War) even changed the plants in northern Iran and Afghanistan! BION,,,

I probably should have been more specific. Well, anyway, the stuff I have is a 1 oz bottle of tincture that I bought along with some other ingredients for a lure I make. I bought it on a whim, to have around. My lure doesn't have any in it.

So my quandary...don't really have any recipes with it in it. I just finished a batch of bait, and will bottle it up this coming weekend. Maybe even to late to put some in there. I guess I don't know what to do with it, or how to utilize it.. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to shout 'em out. If you want to keep it under the table, please pm me.

dump it in a gallon of fish oil!

I've been using this too with good results. I still have about a kilo of the sticky gum with the bits of gravel and sheet plastic in it. I use it tinctured with DEP for some of my lure formulations.

I have to accept the fact the older gum made a much stronger tincture and required less material to accomplish the same result. We all have to adjust to the regular changes in our ingredients over the years.

I have seen many such changes and discontinued products over the last 30 years and I am sure they will continue to change to some degree or some may completely change in their odor, strength and potentially their intended effectiveness.

That would be easy enough. Thanks Tony. I'll give you a shout tonight, I'm just heading out to rip some lips...