Tetsubin

rainy
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Sun Nov 01, 2020 12:29 am

@pedant Yep, I first started looking at dutch ovens, then at bean pots (easier to handle and to pour), then at Kamas.

All of them unglazed of course.

A 2qt bean pot with a side handle for $30 is much cheaper and more readily available than a Tetsubin, and has an advantage of not having to take off the lid when pouring (edit: compared to Kama); but is harder to pour accurately. However so, it seems like a good option to try if you're not sure you need a tetsubin or don't want to spend that much money.
DailyTX
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:47 am

Victoria wrote:
Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:02 pm
DailyTX wrote:
Sat Oct 31, 2020 12:50 pm
The used Tetsubin I got from Ebay arrived super quick, I guess I can start my cleaning project today :)
Here are some photos of the outside and inside. I am still uncertain if inside is coated with lacquer. The outside has some patina. What do you think about the inside Victoria?
Image
It does look like it’s been treated with something, maybe iron powder, rather than enamel. I don’t know much about iron powder, but have seen it used in a few Japanese videos repairing rusty tetsubin. The rust on yours looks pretty minimal. Your plan sounds good, vinegar to loosen rust, followed by boiling tea leaves a few times, rinsing, and boiling fresh water to see how it tastes.
@Victoria
So far, I have boiled 2 pots of Sheng Puerh, 1 pot of longjing tea, and 3 pots of water. The water came out clear, the bottom still has a fading ring, and I am not sure if the coating came off or not. I decided to boil another pot of longjing now. I notice the tea color is blackened. My gut feeling tells me to keep boiling tea. What do you think?
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Bok
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:39 am

@DailyTX I'd keep on boiling one more time, then keep boiling clear water until it comes out without any colouring. That can be another couple of rounds of boiling just water. Cleaning a Tetsubin is a long process...
DailyTX
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:27 am

Bok wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:39 am
DailyTX I'd keep on boiling one more time, then keep boiling clear water until it comes out without any colouring. That can be another couple of rounds of boiling just water. Cleaning a Tetsubin is a long process...
@Bok
Cleaning tetsubin does take a while lol, I spent last weekend doing it. I don’t know if the teas I used and this tetsubin have any reaction. When I boil water, the water is clear. When I boil tea, I can see blackened partials in tea. I will do more tea boiling later today.
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Victoria
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:35 am

DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:27 am
Bok wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:39 am
DailyTX I'd keep on boiling one more time, then keep boiling clear water until it comes out without any colouring. That can be another couple of rounds of boiling just water. Cleaning a Tetsubin is a long process...
Bok
Cleaning tetsubin does take a while lol, I spent last weekend doing it. I don’t know if the teas I used and this tetsubin have any reaction. When I boil water, the water is clear. When I boil tea, I can see blackened partials in tea. I will do more tea boiling later today.
Try using an oxidized tea, this may work more quickly. It does take many tries for sure.
DailyTX
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:01 am

@Victoria
I was thinking of boiling some sencha, I guess my TieGuanYin will do a better job if it’s oxidized. Sheng puerh seemed less effective. I’ll try to post a photo today. My question is even tetsubin is not for tea, but when boil with tea, the black partials in the tea is either rust or foreign substance that has been built up inside this tetsubin? I should boil until no black particles, right?
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Victoria
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:20 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:01 am
Victoria
I was thinking of boiling some sencha, I guess my TieGuanYin will do a better job if it’s oxidized. Sheng puerh seemed less effective. I’ll try to post a photo today. My question is even tetsubin is not for tea, but when boil with tea, the black partials in the tea is either rust or foreign substance that has been built up inside this tetsubin? I should boil until no black particles, right?
Sorry, it’s been a few years since I boiled tea leaves to remove rust, but I don’t remember seeing any black particles other than rust being dislodged. Are they solid or?
DailyTX
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 2:27 pm

Victoria wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 1:20 pm
DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:01 am
Victoria
I was thinking of boiling some sencha, I guess my TieGuanYin will do a better job if it’s oxidized. Sheng puerh seemed less effective. I’ll try to post a photo today. My question is even tetsubin is not for tea, but when boil with tea, the black partials in the tea is either rust or foreign substance that has been built up inside this tetsubin? I should boil until no black particles, right?
Sorry, it’s been a few years since I boiled tea leaves to remove rust, but I don’t remember seeing any black particles other than rust being dislodged. Are they solid or?
Initially, when I boiled Sheng puerh 2 days ago, the black particles look like scrubbing cast iron pan with an abrasive sponge. After I boiled TieGuanYin for about 2 hours this morning, the liquid had a light ink color infused with the TieGuanYin green color. The kettle is drying now. I may do another boil of TieGuanYin later.

Here are two photos of the bottom before and after. I do noticed improvement.
Attachments
Before
Before
thumbnail_IMG_2566.jpg (181.06 KiB) Viewed 9411 times
After
After
thumbnail_IMG_2576.jpg (245.3 KiB) Viewed 9411 times
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Bok
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 6:36 pm

@DailyTX I think your Tetsubin has had a Urushi coating throughout the inside, not the same as enamel coating! I had that once before. If it’s old it will come off, just need to do more and prolonged boiling with tea.
DailyTX
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Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:35 pm

Bok wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 6:36 pm
DailyTX I think your Tetsubin has had a Urushi coating throughout the inside, not the same as enamel coating! I had that once before. If it’s old it will come off, just need to do more and prolonged boiling with tea.
I also think it’s urushi. The tea broth still look like a diluted ink color. I typically boiling tea for 1-2 hours then I would change water and leaves. This kettle really enhance my knowledge about tetsubin lol. My YouTube page is constantly feeding me with tetsubin cleaning videos :lol:
.m.
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Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:40 am

DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:35 pm
The tea broth still look like a diluted ink color.
I think the raw iron will always react with the tannins in tea to some degree, turning it black.
DailyTX
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Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:14 pm

.m. wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 2:40 am
DailyTX wrote:
Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:35 pm
The tea broth still look like a diluted ink color.
I think the raw iron will always react with the tannins in tea to some degree, turning it black.
@.m.
That makes sense when I boiled water, it came out clear but when boiled with tea, it has an ink like color. I read some info online that the urushi coating eventually will come off. Any idea if I should scrub it off or just wait for it to come off naturally?
.m.
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Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:24 pm

DailyTX wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:14 pm
I read some info online that the urushi coating eventually will come off. Any idea if I should scrub it off or just wait for it to come off naturally?
I'd try first how the water taste, see if it has any negative effects. I think wouldn't use anything more abrasive than a regular scotch-brite to clean it.
DailyTX
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Tue Nov 03, 2020 3:58 pm

.m. wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:24 pm
DailyTX wrote:
Tue Nov 03, 2020 12:14 pm
I read some info online that the urushi coating eventually will come off. Any idea if I should scrub it off or just wait for it to come off naturally?
I'd try first how the water taste, see if it has any negative effects. I think wouldn't use anything more abrasive than a regular scotch-brite to clean it.


@.m.
Water came out to be clear, a little iron taste, the steam smells like my cast iron pan, and I didn’t taste any burnt, smokiness, chemical in the water. I checked closely on the inner wall of the tetsubin, the coating only applied on the bottom all the way up to about 2 inches above where the joint of the body. No coating on the under side of the lid. A lot of coating on the wall has gone. Do you think it’s safe to use just leaving the remainder coating as it is?
DailyTX
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Tue Nov 03, 2020 10:25 pm

I found another copy of my tetsubin from the yahoo Japan auction site. It seems like this tetsubin is made by Iwachu. Anyone know if it’s a reputable shop?

https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r445527682
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