How do you heat your tetsubin

[edkrueger]

Wrong assumption. Hojo Tea sells Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Indian tea; green, black, white, oolong, and yellow varieties. They never said a tetsubin was not good for any Chinese tea, in fact they said it was fine for all except oolong, black, and raw puerh.

....fine for all except oolong, black, and raw puerh. So, besides green, what else is left? maybe brown??

Shou Puerh, White and Yellow.

[chingwa]

Hojo told me water heated in a tetsubin would be good for other uses too, such as ramen. I haven't tried it in Ramen yet, but I did try it in Hot Cocoa... though I don't think I really noticed any difference with the cocoa.

[TIM]

Hojo told me water heated in a tetsubin would be good for other uses too, such as ramen. I haven't tried it in Ramen yet, but I did try it in Hot Cocoa... though I don't think I really noticed any difference with the cocoa.

Ha, Ramen! What a great Idea, I will have that for late dinner tonight. Coffee will be great too. At least it is brown.

[hpulley]

I used mine to make hot cereal this morning. Of course I poured the water into a bowl with the cereal, not putting the cereal in the tetsubin!

[Tead Off]

Wrong assumption. Hojo Tea sells Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, and Indian tea; green, black, white, oolong, and yellow varieties. They never said a tetsubin was not good for any Chinese tea, in fact they said it was fine for all except oolong, black, and raw puerh.

....fine for all except oolong, black, and raw puerh. So, besides green, what else is left? maybe brown??

Tim, beautiful setup you've got. I have a couple of practical questions for you:

If your target temp for let's say green tea is 85c, do you heat the tetsubin to that temp and remove it from the charcoal? Where do you put the tetsubin to prevent it from getting hotter? Will it maintain that temp for a period of time or cool off fast?

In an enclosed apartment, will the charcoal give off noxious fumes? How long will it last for heating the tetsubin? And, will it make the room very hot without ventilation?

Just my practical mind churning away.

[hpulley]

Don't use charcoal indoors! It produces carbon monoxide which can kill you.

Traditionally, tetsubin or kama are left on the bintsuke, furo or ro. You don't remove them to another location. You want to set it up so that it is at the right temperature when you want to make tea and the coals will keep it warm afterward. Traditionally you don't use a thermometer either

[scruffmcgruff]

Don't use charcoal indoors! It produces carbon monoxide which can kill you.

That small a pile doesn't make *that* much carbon monoxide. As long as the room is well-ventilated, there shouldn't be an issue. The Japanese have been doing it for ages (with proper ventilation, of course), as I'm sure you know.

[hpulley]

Yes but due to a warmer climate (for the most part) Japanese houses are not insulated like western buildings, especially apartment buildings which may have sprinkler systems. I sure wouldn't use one indoors, not with enough charcoal to boil water. Just my advice, take it or leave it.

[MarshalN]

Unless you're in a really small room that is well sealed or have a huge amount of charcoal lit, the likelihood of dying from oxygen deprivation is really pretty low.

[wyardley]

There have been some good threads about this before on Teachat also.

I thought there was another one that touched on safety more, but I haven't been able to find it so far.
http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=85138

I agree that it's worth being careful, and you should probably crack a door or window, especially if you're in a small, enclosed space. But tea stoves are pretty small, and I know plenty of people who use them indoors without problem.

[Tead Off]

Don't use charcoal indoors! It produces carbon monoxide which can kill you.

Traditionally, tetsubin or kama are left on the bintsuke, furo or ro. You don't remove them to another location. You want to set it up so that it is at the right temperature when you want to make tea and the coals will keep it warm afterward. Traditionally you don't use a thermometer either

No thermometer? Finger?

[TIM]

No thermometer? Finger?

Yes, Finger testing water temp for Japanese green is actually use by most japanese master. Or you can have a yuzamashi?

....If your target temp for let's say green tea is 85c, do you heat the tetsubin to that temp and remove it from the charcoal? Where do you put the tetsubin to prevent it from getting hotter? Will it maintain that temp for a period of time or cool off fast?

In an enclosed apartment, will the charcoal give off noxious fumes? How long will it last for heating the tetsubin? And, will it make the room very hot without ventilation?

Just my practical mind churning away.

Tead off-I usually heat a rolling boil on the charcoal station, then transfer to a table top heating stove. The tabletop one will keep the water in a low, slow small bubble temp. which to me is ideal for most of my tea. For green tea, I will have a cooling vessel. The tetsubin should maintain a good temp. off the heat for another 20 mins? Depending on the size.


You can see from the pic. the amount of charcoal are 4 small pieces. And should use the highest quality "White Charcoal" if possible, odorless, and burnt really hot and slow. Ventilation and good air flow is important.

[MiaAzayzel]

Simple question:

So I tried to start a new topic with this question and the administration shut me down and asked me to ask it here instead...to save space I suppose???????

I want to know if one can heat a cast iron tea pot on a traditional modern stove top without damaging it.

I've been having the issue of trying to find a tea pot for the first time (recently got my own home for the first time) and have all these old romantic ideas and memories of lovely simple tea pots sitting on the stove top and whistling merrily away...but now apparently the only teapots one can find designed for stovetop are strange modern alien ship looking contraptions...not romantic at all. Otherwise you have to get a lovely teapot of your choice and then heat the water in some seperate system and only use the teapot for steeping and keeping the tea warm...which is what I was thinking I'd have to do but then one of my friends said that there shouldn't be any reason why a cast iron teapot can't be heated on the stove...

Anyone know for sure?

[chingwa]

I want to know if one can heat a cast iron tea pot on a traditional modern stove top without damaging it.

Probably no. if it's got a coating on the inside which it most likely has than definitely no.

If it doesn't have a coating on the inside, and it doesn't have a hole in the lid, then you've got yourself a tea kettle, which would be a yes. otherwise keep it away from the stove.