It somewhat sounds like you're not preheating your cast iron enough. Cast iron takes quite a bit of heat to reach 175F, if your water temp is dropping to 140 it is still pulling heat out of your water to warm the pot. Try making sure your pot's temperature is equalizing with the water before switching it out.
IIRC the Shogun pot is flatter and wider than most, meaning more iron surface area to heat up as well. It also is going to cool down faster due to the increased surface area.
My suggestion would be to use hotter water in and let the pot cool the water down to the appropriate temp.
IIRC the Shogun pot is flatter and wider than most, meaning more iron surface area to heat up as well. It also is going to cool down faster due to the increased surface area.
My suggestion would be to use hotter water in and let the pot cool the water down to the appropriate temp.
Aug 27th, '08, 14:57
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Pentox beat me to it. I would try all the temperature settings and then take the temp of the water in the tetsubin for each. Most people just end up keeping the Zoji at 208 for pretty much the same reason. Also remember that the first couple/few ounces out of the Zoji will be cooler, as that's the water sitting in the dispensing tube instead of the heated pot.
The point of the water heater is to produce water at that specified temperature, and most likely it is doing just that.
The issue is not so much with your water heater as much as your pot. Cast iron pots take an immenese amount of heat in order to preheat. But because of that once it is preheated it will retain that heat for a longer period of time.
Cast iron pots are also well known for their ability to dissipate heat. Hence the small bumps on most tetsubin, this increases surface area and thusly exposure to air for cooling. I believe this is in some part due to times when water heaters were not available to the degree that a zoji is now. The temperature settings are a relatively new feature on a zoji. If you only had a traditional kettle (i.e. stovetop boiling) it would be ideal to use a tetsubin to make green tea, you would add boiling water to it and it would cool down to the right temp for green tea.
Most of us use our zojis for non-tetsubin brewing devices which don't require large amounts of heat to preheat. This takes advantage of the temperature regulation on the zoji.
Also when you are preheating your pot, are you stirring your water at all? where are you measuring your temperature at? If you were to just fill it with water and stick a thermometer to the bottom you might not be getting the best reading. Water close to the edge would adjust to the temperature of the pot where the water in the center would stay warm. Try stirring it some to redistribute the warm ater. And try measuring the temperature of the water in the center, not touching the sides.
The issue is not so much with your water heater as much as your pot. Cast iron pots take an immenese amount of heat in order to preheat. But because of that once it is preheated it will retain that heat for a longer period of time.
Cast iron pots are also well known for their ability to dissipate heat. Hence the small bumps on most tetsubin, this increases surface area and thusly exposure to air for cooling. I believe this is in some part due to times when water heaters were not available to the degree that a zoji is now. The temperature settings are a relatively new feature on a zoji. If you only had a traditional kettle (i.e. stovetop boiling) it would be ideal to use a tetsubin to make green tea, you would add boiling water to it and it would cool down to the right temp for green tea.
Most of us use our zojis for non-tetsubin brewing devices which don't require large amounts of heat to preheat. This takes advantage of the temperature regulation on the zoji.
Also when you are preheating your pot, are you stirring your water at all? where are you measuring your temperature at? If you were to just fill it with water and stick a thermometer to the bottom you might not be getting the best reading. Water close to the edge would adjust to the temperature of the pot where the water in the center would stay warm. Try stirring it some to redistribute the warm ater. And try measuring the temperature of the water in the center, not touching the sides.
Sep 5th, '08, 22:09
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Sep 5th, '08, 22:27
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Sep 5th, '08, 23:02
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