Infrared hot plate

[Tead Off]

I've been burning my pots! I could actually smell something burning but only figured out what it was yesterday. As you can see, the bottoms are charred. I asked Ricky about it and he replied that, while he hasn't broken any pots this way, he recommends only using inexpensive purple clay pots for boiling. So from now on I'll transfer the leaves to my 40 ringgit pot for the boiling stage. But there's no way I'm going to stop boiling--the ancients and I are on to a good thing.

Just between you and I, seems like a big waste of time. If you aren't getting what you're looking for in the tea during its normal session, maybe the tea is not as good as it could be. If those cheap pots have anything that leaches out of them, the boiling should deliver it right to your lips.

[kyarazen]

ok thats interesting.. I would have assumed that clay which was burned at 1000°C would withstand a cute little infared plate
I've been using the EoT Zini Kettle to boil water since several months, and it looks like new. Don't know if the fact that I use an iron hotplate makes any difference.

the clay can stand the heat, but stuff like tea stains etc, can get burnt. you're pretty lucky with that EOT kettle, i know a few people whom had busted theirs.

it is always the temperature difference/temp shock that causes cracking

[Puerlife]

the clay can stand the heat, but stuff like tea stains etc, can get burnt. you're pretty lucky with that EOT kettle, i know a few people whom had busted theirs.

Being new to this, I've let the pot boil over quite a few times, so there has been plenty of tea on the burner surface to burn. Level one on my burner doesn't boil the tea while level two will boil over if I'm not careful. I'm still getting used to it.

Just between you and I, seems like a big waste of time. If you aren't getting what you're looking for in the tea during its normal session, maybe the tea is not as good as it could be. If those cheap pots have anything that leaches out of them, the boiling should deliver it right to your lips.

Jeff, the boiled tea produces a different, often deeper qi, and I'm a total qi hound so for me, personally, it's not a waste of time. As for cheap pots leeching, hm, good point. Maybe I'll dedicate one good pot for boiling.
Edit: The only problem is that it takes so much time to boil it. Also, even if I only use three grams of decent material--and I have a lot of very decent qi producing material although nothing truly transcendent--I've had enough qi for the day but I can't leave it alone knowing there is still qi in the leaves. I blame Mom and Dad--they always made me finish everything on my plate

[miig]

you're pretty lucky with that EOT kettle, i know a few people whom had busted theirs.

Oh, now I'm a bit afraid I know most people use these over alcohol burners to keep the already hot water warm. I should add that I'm quite careful, I don't put the (1000W) plate on full power right away, but start slowly.... how did these people bust the kettles? Just by heating them on a hotplate?
I got a Lin's clay kettle, too, and with that one I'm not so tender.. I start on a low setting, too, but go to the higher one more quickly. So far, it has held its ground

I'm a total qi hound

nicely said

[Puerlife]

you're pretty lucky with that EOT kettle, i know a few people whom had busted theirs.

Oh, now I'm a bit afraid I know most people use these over alcohol burners to keep the already hot water warm. I should add that I'm quite careful, I don't put the (1000W) plate on full power right away, but start slowly.... how did these people bust the kettles? Just by heating them on a hotplate?
I got a Lin's clay kettle, too, and with that one I'm not so tender.. I start on a low setting, too, but go to the higher one more quickly. So far, it has held its ground

I'm a total qi hound

nicely said

I've copied what I've seen in Malaysia. I preheat the water in my stainless steel kettle, then pour it into the brewing kettle. That way I can start a session fairly fast.
The qi hound. hehe

[kyarazen]

Oh, now I'm a bit afraid I know most people use these over alcohol burners to keep the already hot water warm. I should add that I'm quite careful, I don't put the (1000W) plate on full power right away, but start slowly.... how did these people bust the kettles? Just by heating them on a hotplate?
I got a Lin's clay kettle, too, and with that one I'm not so tender.. I start on a low setting, too, but go to the higher one more quickly. So far, it has held its ground

i'm extremely violent with my lin's kettles and so far they hold up all sorts of incorrect treatment

one of the cases of the EOT kettle being busted was after hot usage, it more cool water was added, and it was returned onto flame, where the "point source" nature of the flame caused some stress at a single spot, causing the vessel to crack

i've heated some of the most fragile vessels i.e. vintage toko shudei on halogen before, as long as you heat it up evenly from cool it works very well. always transferring or adding hot water reduces contractions and prevents stress.

[Tead Off]

I've read that the Lin's kettles took years to perfect the recipe for them. I believe they use a mixture of volcanic rock and clays, probably similar to the one's Taiwan Sourcing is marketing. They should be tough and much harder than just pure clay.

Does your Lin kettle soften the water like a tetsubin does?

[Tead Off]

On 2nd thought, I'm talking about Purion kettles. Not sure if Lin's kettles are all Purion.

[miig]

Does your Lin kettle soften the water like a tetsubin does?

To be honest, I can't say for sure. First, I only have a stainless water kettle to compare it with, no Tetsubin lives here yet. But I haven't done side-to-side comparisons, so I'm not sure.
What I can say is that the kettle is a joy to handle, it looks and feels really nice. Not as opulently satisfactory as the gorgeous Yixing kettle, but still really nice. Also, it smells nice! When the clay is hot, its really quite pleasant. All this really puts a tea session to another level already.

On 2nd thought, I'm talking about Purion kettles. Not sure if Lin's kettles are all Purion.

Their product line is a bit of a mystery, since the aurlia page doesn't load very well in Europe. But I believe that they have a "ceramics" line and a "purion" line and that the kettle is part of the former, so I believe it's no purion.
Anyhow, its this one, since its difficult to get here, I bought it from CS in Canada
http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teaware ... -ceramique

This is a purion kettle for sure.. no idea if its the same material as mine or not:
http://www.taurlia.com/detail.php?id=284&lang=en

[BW85]

ok thats interesting.. I would have assumed that clay which was burned at 1000°C would withstand a cute little infared plate
I've been using the EoT Zini Kettle to boil water since several months, and it looks like new. Don't know if the fact that I use an iron hotplate makes any difference.

I use the same chen ju fang zini kettle on an infrared burner, no burn marks

[Puerlife]

I lightly scrubbed the bottoms of the charred pots and the black came right off.

[BW85]

I lightly scrubbed the bottoms of the charred pots and the black came right off.

We're the pots previously used to brew tea? Maybe it was burn tea oils

[Puerlife]

I lightly scrubbed the bottoms of the charred pots and the black came right off.

We're the pots previously used to brew tea? Maybe it was burn tea oils

Yes, Kyarazen identified the problem--tea that had boiled over and burnt onto the bottom of the pots. After cleaning them I used one to boil tea again while being careful not to let the tea boil over and there is no black color on the bottom now.

[Puerlife]

The other day I was drinking tea with the friend who sold me my infrared hotplate and he told me that in the short time he owned it (he sold it to me secondhand) he cracked two clay teapots by using level 3, which is the third lowest heat level of six. I have been boiling on level two without a problem; in fact I have never used a higher level even for the kettle. I must admit this news has dampened my enthusiasm for boiling, and it is time consuming, so I've stopped doing it for now. Not quit, just stopped for a while.

[miig]

Maybe you have some more details on how exactly he proceeded when he cracked the pots?
E.g. did he put the cold pots on the plate and switched to level 3 immediately, or did he even put the cold pot on a plate that had already been heated up, or did he increase heat gradually?

And what kind of clay pots exactly did he use (and ruin) ?

Maybe he should consider getting a Lin's. If you treat them in the right way, they apparently are really very resilient.