Yixing Pot as a Kettle?

[edkrueger]

If you do decide to do it, then get an acrylic bunker and film it.

[trent]

I boiled some water in a 130ml yunnan sourcing ben shan pot... no explosion and the water tasted great.

[Intuit]

Contacted several vendors selling the aforementioned larger vessels, asking if the zisha pots they sell are suitable for heating on stove top (Kam and Chinese Teapot Gallery) or whether the insides are internally glazed (Imperial court / earthenware kettle).

Kams large teapot looks as though it has thicker walls. Kam is reputed to be reasonable and honest, and I'm hoping he can supply an answer or steer us to a moderately-priced source for high quality red clay kettles - if they can indeed be used on stovetope.

It's a bad sign when you see them heated by candle power.

I found zisha purple clay electric kettles that are recommended for herbalist use here in the US, but no retail source or price.

[Dreamer]

All the recent talk here about kettles...electric and otherwise...and the fact that this week I toasted my trusty stainless whistling kettle (they don't whistle if the whistle is flipped up!)...has me shopping for a new kettle.

All the stainless kettles I am looking at locally are either thin/poorly made/ugly or $$$. None of them are aesthetically pleasing.

I've come across this ceramic kettle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RBTN

It is glazed so it won't enhance the taste of my water, but on the other hand it also should not react in any negative way with the water either. I like the look of it and the price is decent (Amazon seems to have the best price that I've found so far).

I would have to be careful to bring a timer with me if I put it on to boil and walk out of the kitchen...but I already do that if I put a tea on to steep anyway.

Does anyone have this kettle?

Thanks,
Dreamer

[odarwin]

perhaps if there are any people from malaysia here, you guys can help us out...

on my trip to KL before, i went to a tea shop and saw lots of clay kettles, im not sure if its yixing, but its looks like red terracotta clay material. im not sure about how much it is, but should be around 100 RM, then they use a small stove which is somewhat a very nice fit to the kettle, which is not more than 150RM. now with prices like that, you cant beat it.

plus, the shop was mentioned in clouds most recent post.

-darwin

[Oni]

I got an answer from funalliance, kam said that those kettles are not recomended to boil water in, I didn`t ask if he would try it for us, and if a ben shan clay teapot took the heat, that is great, but I believe those extra large teapots are not made of such good material as those little ones I think.

[Oni]

What about the Chao Zhou stove set http://tea-obsession.blogspot.com/2007/ ... e-pit.html , seen here for 200 $, that is an authentic chinese teaware, made of local red clay, that will certainly change the experience.

[Herb_Master]

perhaps if there are any people from malaysia here, you guys can help us out...

on my trip to KL before, i went to a tea shop and saw lots of clay kettles, im not sure if its yixing, but its looks like red terracotta clay material. im not sure about how much it is, but should be around 100 RM, then they use a small stove which is somewhat a very nice fit to the kettle, which is not more than 150RM. now with prices like that, you cant beat it.

plus, the shop was mentioned in clouds most recent post.

-darwin

I was in KL recently and saw them in several tea shops - Evergreen on Jalan Sultan had a fantastic Range of different ones from Kamjove at about 95 RM up through Yixing look alikes at about 150 RM on and up to some goregeous looking ones with a pale beige sand grain finish costing about 700 RM. I asked questions about them and the majority of them are designed only to be ever used over the Alcohol / Spirit burner - not the quickest of boiling methods.

So apparently many users have one by their drinking station but bring the water to near the boil elsewhere first pour into this rascal and then sit down for a relaxing session. This sounds great but I wonder whether this signicantly ameliorates the suggested benefits of boiling in clay

I wanted one, but declined mainly for 2 reasons, lack of space for my return airflight and the inability to buy cheap spirits in the UK - all cheap heating spirits [methylated] have a repugnant smell [purple colour] to prevent down and outs drinking it I am not sure I would appreciate the smell whilst consuming or brewing tea.

[JoeCha]

I've always been partial to this clay kettle.

http://shop.luhyutea.com/product.sc;jse ... oductId=61

I've also considered this pot to use as a vessel for a water warmer. I ultimately decided against it becuase the bottom was not really wide enough for my warmer, but I think it would work great.
http://www.sensationalteas.com/LGzhunistrong.html

You might want to contact either the folks at Life of Tea or the Taiwan Tea Guy. They are both willing to shop around for you. And, from my experience are both very helpful and an excellent resource.

http://lifeoftea.com/
http://www.taiwanteaguy.com/teas-teaware-accessories/

Well, that's my wooden nickle.

-- Joe

[Intuit]

Joe Cha wrote: I've always been partial to this clay kettle.

http://shop.luhyutea.com/product.sc;jse ... oductId=61[/url]

I wrote to Luhyutea.com customer service in NY this afternoon to ask if the kettle Joe Cha mentioned is suitable for stove-top use. Their kettle is unglazed.

Their reply:

"Yes, this kettle can be used directly on stovetop's open flame. The low to medium heat setting is recommended by us for two reasons. First, the handle would not be too hot to touch. Second, when heat is high the boiling water can shoot out of the kettle's spout if it is overfilled. High heat would not damage the kettle itself. The special note was posted so users know how to handle the kettle comfortably, esp. if this is their first clay kettle. I hope that answers your question."

So this kettle is yet another option for heating tea on a stove. The price is reasonable and so is the shipping. It is not a red clay, but that doesn't mean that it won't condition water.

Thanks for posting the recommendation, Joe.

[woozl]

There is a black clay kettle for 10$ less.
http://shop.luhyutea.com/product.sc?cat ... oductId=74

I'm guessing this is also good for open flame, ie. gas stove on low

[bearsbearsbears]

I've come across this ceramic kettle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004RBTN

It is glazed so it won't enhance the taste of my water, but on the other hand it also should not react in any negative way with the water either. [snip] Does anyone have this kettle?

Amongst my kettles I have a Joyce Chen glazed clay kettle similar to the one above, but in a different shape. It works great, insomuch as it keeps the water very hot after it boils and pours well. An additional benefit of clay kettles is heat retention; metal conducts heat out, and glass is too thin to insulate as much as clay. However, clay kettles can take longer to boil because they're insulatory rather than conductive.

This is also one reason that clay not formulated to take high flame is not a wise choice for a kettle. The heat from the flame does not spread well through the kettle, and each flamelet shocks the clay in the concentrated area where it hits the kettle, causing very uneven expansion.

The likelihood of explosion is such that only one US pottersells "flameware" pieces, and even then, he doesn't make a kettle. The liability is just too high. Joyce Chen is the only major company making clay kettles with a presence in the US market that I know of. I'm sure they have excellent quality control. I'd love to have their clay body recipe!

[bi lew chun]

Thanks everyone, your thoughts have steered me away from experimenting with an acrylic bunker and potentially spending money only to have something explode. I'll probably be getting one of Lin's kettles. Maybe one day I'll come across a true Yixing kettle.

[Tead Off]

Joe Cha wrote: I've always been partial to this clay kettle.

http://shop.luhyutea.com/product.sc;jse ... oductId=61[/url]

I wrote to Luhyutea.com customer service in NY this afternoon to ask if the kettle Joe Cha mentioned is suitable for stove-top use. Their kettle is unglazed.

Their reply:

"Yes, this kettle can be used directly on stovetop's open flame. The low to medium heat setting is recommended by us for two reasons. First, the handle would not be too hot to touch. Second, when heat is high the boiling water can shoot out of the kettle's spout if it is overfilled. High heat would not damage the kettle itself. The special note was posted so users know how to handle the kettle comfortably, esp. if this is their first clay kettle. I hope that answers your question."

So this kettle is yet another option for heating tea on a stove. The price is reasonable and so is the shipping. It is not a red clay, but that doesn't mean that it won't condition water.

Thanks for posting the recommendation, Joe.

I'm curious how you made the jump from 'not red clay' to 'it doesn't mean that it won't condition the water'?

I am not an expert in chemistry, but, like you, am interested in getting the best water possible. So, in my research on this subject, depending upon what your choice of teas are, there is a limited choice of kettles that actually deliver the goods. Real, natural red clay that has been processed and reduced in high kiln temp, unglazed iron tetsubin, and, this product out of Taiwan, Purion, which some people swear by. Personally, I am not going to throw my money away by hoping that a clay kettle that is not a proven natural red clay which has been high fired and attested to by knowledgeable consumers as producing great water that changes the flavor of tea.

[Intuit]

Good question.

Yellow clay will still have an absorbant surface capable of binding excess minerals.

I do know the minimum iron content in any given clay necessary for catalytic treatment of organics and heavy metals. The iron must also be produced in the reduced state.

Lins kettles do not look to be red zisha clay (especially since this specialty ceramics firm is located in Taiwan).

Water quality in much of Eastern China may be characterized as soft river water with contaminants characterized as organic (industrial waste, natural organic acids produced from biodegradation of wastewater (BOD) somewhat oxygen limited conditions, nutrient (phosphate, nitrate) and pesticides).

Zisha clay may well been or is a good match for this water type.

Customer service at luhyutea.com sent an additional email today. They will reduce the price of their unglazed clay kettle by $5, is we can get 10 members to purchase a kettle each. The shipping is *very* reasonable.