Aug 12th, '09, 20:13
Posts: 199
Joined: Jul 2nd, '08, 15:44
Location: Brooklyn, NY
by Abracadaver! » Aug 12th, '09, 20:13
Hi!
I bought a supposedly-new tetsubin some months ago and just now have a hot plate so I plan to break it in this week. It has an unlined interior, but there are whitish patches throughout. It looks quite different from the interior of other new unlined tetsubins that I've seen. I'm confident that it is new--the spout looks clean and there is no build-up, but if the white patches are mineral build-up and not casting residue, I would rather not work too hard trying to clean it out. I'd also rather not poison myself, either.
Based on the photos below, does anyone have any thoughts?
- testu1.jpg (14.64 KiB) Viewed 1009 times
- tetsu2.jpg (14.37 KiB) Viewed 1009 times
- tetsu3.jpg (13.33 KiB) Viewed 1009 times
Sorry the photos aren't great...there wasn't much light today. If you would like to see a detail or another view, let me know.
Aug 12th, '09, 21:31
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by brandon » Aug 12th, '09, 21:31
At a closer look it looks quite different from mine.
I would characterize mine as a number of colonies of tiny white specks. This builds into a more solid piece, but yours has air bubbles in it. Almost like soap residue?
Since its new, it won't hurt to give it a scrubbing out. If the build up is mineral deposits from your water, it should be back in a week or two.
Aug 13th, '09, 20:43
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Joined: Mar 15th, '06, 17:43
by MarshalN » Aug 13th, '09, 20:43
For the OP: Have you used it at all? Have you rinsed your tetsubin yet?
Aug 14th, '09, 10:54
Posts: 199
Joined: Jul 2nd, '08, 15:44
Location: Brooklyn, NY
by Abracadaver! » Aug 14th, '09, 10:54
Brandon: Thanks for the info and the pictures for comparison. It does look almost soapy. The interior of the tetsubin itself has more texture than I've seen in any other iron kettle. The streakiness of the white residue seems to follow the interior texture.
MarshalN: No, not yet. I wanted to see what I could find out here first. I know that you have a lot of experience with old and new kettles and I'd like to hear what you think. Any suggestions for how best to prepare it for use? At the shop I purchased it from, they suggested that I boil rice to mush inside before using it, but I've seen other methods mentioned on here in the past.
Aug 22nd, '09, 19:00
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Joined: Jul 2nd, '08, 15:44
Location: Brooklyn, NY
by Abracadaver! » Aug 22nd, '09, 19:00
Has anybody else heard anything about boiling rice-mush in a tetsubin before you use it the first time?
