The right way to clean a kyusu ?

[ummaya]

Today I made a thorough inspection of a kyusu that I broke a few days ago and noticed that the color of the metal mesh screen was brown and not metal gray like when it was new. After I cleaned the metal mesh for a few seconds with a piece of Scoth-Brite and washed it with water it got back its shiny metal gray color.

I bought it from O-Cha.com (http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea/tokonameteapot-602.html) and I believe that if it is advertised that the metal mesh is stainless then it is. In spite of that I am a bit worried that maybe there was some defect and the stainless metal mesh was not so rust free. I had the kyusu for a bit more than one year and I don't know how long it was in this state. It is also possible that the brown color was made by the tea leaves(tannin). The metal mesh original color is gray so it is quite easy to see the brown color on it but the kyusu itself is of brown color and it's quite difficult to see if there are also brown spots on its inner wall.

I used to clean it is with by washing it with water without any detergent. I know that it is recommended that after having the kyusu washed, to pour very hot water inside (for fast evaporation), immediately pour the water out and then put the kyusu upside down to dry ; the truth is that I did not always remember to do that. Is it possible that this was rust ? Did it happen to you ?

Is it OK to clean a kyusu only with water and how to clean the brown spots if these are made by tea leaves ?

[olivierco]

It is also possible that the brown color was made by the tea leaves(tannin).

Yes very likely.
I have this kind of color on my porcelain kyuusu too even if the filter isn't of made of metal.

Is it OK to clean a kyusu only with water and how to clean the brown spots if these are made by tea leaves ?

I clean my tokoname kyuusu only with hot water.

[chamekke]

I agree that the brown is from tannin staining. My dad had a favourite stainless-steel spoon that he used for fishing his teabags out of his mug or teapot, and this spoon would regularly develop an amazing brown build-up. Every three months or so I'd have to give it a vigorous scrubbing with copper wool. Even my own "stainless" steel cutlery (which I don't use for tea) needs a bit of remedial cleaning now and again.

Although stainless steel is "stainless" in that it doesn't oxidize, it's still just as prone to build-up as other materials...

[Chip]

Yeah, just good ole tea stains and maybe scale? One thing I have noticed since I am using the GraviTea water purifier and have virtually eliminated scale ... I have hardly any tea stains any more.

I guess what I am wondering/thinking is that tea stains adhere more to scale that to non scaled items.

The screens with so much surface area have a lot of room for scale to form. I had in the past had to scrub the stainless steel screens because the tiny openings were closing ... not good.

[Chip]

BTW, stainless steel is NOT necessarily RUSTPROOF, though it is certainly usually very rust resistant. I found this out with the different steels used in high end knives which I collected a bit in a "past life."

Generally the "harder" the stainless steel, the less resistant to rust it will be. These stainless steel screens are not made of "hard" SS and are thus very resistant to rust.

[ummaya]

I just placed an order for:

http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... amaru.html

No more true or false rust alert

[fortunato]

I just placed an order for:

http://www.artisticnippon.com/product/t ... amaru.html

No more true or false rust alert

Sure, but how you will clean up your Sasame built-in strainer ?

I use a dental water jet only dedicated to wash inside the teapot spout and the sasame very tiny holes built-in strainer :

http://www.amazon.com/Waterpik-Ultra-De ... B000GLRREU

Maybe it's funny, but my kyusu is always clean...

[ummaya]

Sure, but how you will clean up your Sasame built-in strainer ?

Hmm...So it is just an exchange of problem ?

I knew about the Sasame built-in cleaning problem. I almost ordered one of these but luckily I noticed my mistake :

http://www.biodiesel-machine.com/sesame ... pment.html

I'll see how I deal with it when I get there

[Tead Off]

Sure, but how you will clean up your Sasame built-in strainer ?

Hmm...So it is just an exchange of problem ?

I knew about the Sasame built-in cleaning problem. I almost ordered one of these but luckily I noticed my mistake :

http://www.biodiesel-machine.com/sesame ... pment.html

I'll see how I deal with it when I get there

Don't worry about cleaning the sasame filters. It's no problem. And, if they do get clogged over time, take a paper clip, open it up and just push the end through to unclog any debris that might accumulate.

For me, other than really old Tokoname kyusu, modern Banko handmade kyusu are my #1 choice. This is the sleeper of Japanese Kyusu.

[Chip]

I knew about the Sasame built-in cleaning problem. I almost ordered one of these but luckily I noticed my mistake :

http://www.biodiesel-machine.com/sesame ... pment.html

... I prefer to use a wood tooth pick (snapped in half), the softer material (versus a metal paperclip) is less likely to damage the rather fragile looking sasame screen, and the screen is not repairable nor replacable.

But clogging can be mostly prevented through proper and prompt cleaning. I Pour water through the spout both ways. Also, use HOT water for the rinsing. Then drain with the spout pointing straight down for at least several minutes.

[fortunato]

Will post a video as an example about what I told you, it works very well, only water is used, nothing more...

Cheers !

[Chip]

By the way, don't neglect your spout. I will usually check it out with a tiny bottle brush every so often. Works pretty good.

[fortunato]

By the way, don't neglect your spout. I will usually check it out with a tiny bottle brush every so often. Works pretty good.

Chip, I can't neglect the spout of my kyusu, since 17 years old I used more than 30 different kind of kyusu, I always used that kind of way to clean up them...

As I said, will post a video link soon.

[Tead Off]

I knew about the Sasame built-in cleaning problem. I almost ordered one of these but luckily I noticed my mistake :

http://www.biodiesel-machine.com/sesame ... pment.html

... I prefer to use a wood tooth pick (snapped in half), the softer material (versus a metal paperclip) is less likely to damage the rather fragile looking sasame screen, and the screen is not repairable nor replacable.

But clogging can be mostly prevented through proper and prompt cleaning. I Pour water through the spout both ways. Also, use HOT water for the rinsing. Then drain with the spout pointing straight down for at least several minutes.

Toothpick is good. With Fukamushi Sencha, I've had no problem clogging the sasame filter. But, with my Houhin, once a week or so, I must unclog it with a tool. I think older filters can be rougher than the ones made today and are more prone to catching the leaves, especially unglazed.