Every purple clay teapot has to be "opened" before it can be used, but many people also overlook some details. With just three actions, you can know the quality of your purple clay teapot. Now let me tell you some places and key points that you should pay attention to during the process of opening the pot .

Why open the kettle?

Generally, you need to open the teapot before using it. Most of the reasons are related to the word "cleaning". The purple clay pot is made of purple sand mud. During the firing process, some mud particles or dust will be hidden in the small gaps in the pot body. Therefore, the purpose of opening the pot is to boil out these particles and dust and clean them to avoid During formal use, the tea will be brewed, causing the tea soup to be turbid, affecting the taste of the tea soup and even affecting health. Of course, during the process of opening the pot, the pores of the purple clay pot using high-quality mud will open due to heat. Therefore, insiders or experienced users will identify the quality of the mud by opening the pot.

The process of boiling a pot is actually very simple. First, prepare a pot of boiling water that can cover the purple clay pot, and continue boiling the pot for a period of time. There are different opinions on how long it takes to boil a pot. Some say it only takes a few minutes, while others say it takes an hour. In most cases, the recommended boiling time is about 1 hour. High-quality purple clay pot clay can actually withstand thousands of degrees of heat, so it doesn't matter if it takes longer to cook. The purpose of boiling the pot is to boil out the particles and dust in the pot. Of course, users can also lengthen the boiling time depending on the condition of the purple clay pot, and try to clean the mineral debris and dust in the pot as much as possible.

(The boiling time depends on the cleanliness of the purple clay pot, and there is no need to specifically extend it.)

The next step of making a pot is the key. Three actions to understand the purple clay pot better.

After boiling the kettle, the entire process of boiling the kettle is basically half completed, but the next three actions are ignored by many people. With just three actions, you can know the quality of your purple clay teapot.

1. Observation | Color change, water vapor evaporation

After the purple clay pot is boiled at high temperature, the color will change slightly. The color change of a pot with good materials will be more uniform. If the mud material is not good or the mud is mixed, the pot body will have patches of uneven discoloration. Even dyed purple clay pots will change color after boiling. In addition to the color change, you can also see whether the clay material of the purple clay pot is good or bad by taking it out after boiling and pouring hot water on it again. Because the purple sand mud has breathable properties, good mud will evaporate in flakes when hot water is poured on it, and the water vapor will disappear in the body of the pot more evenly. On the contrary, when a purple clay pot made of poor materials is poured with hot water, the water will not hang on the pot body and flow away in the shape of water beads, with little or no evaporation. However, it should be noted that the mesh number of each purple sand clay material is different, which will affect the state of the purple sand hanging pot. For example, if the mesh number of Zhu Ni is higher, the mud materials will be arranged more closely, and less water will hang on the body of the pot. However, other mud materials with lower mesh numbers, such as purple mud, will have a more obvious effect of hanging water. Therefore, as long as you observe carefully, you can actually have an idea of ​​the clay material of the purple clay pot.

(The color change of good mud will be relatively uniform, and it will evaporate in flakes when hot water is poured on it, and the effect of hanging water will be more obvious.)

2. Smell | Earthy smell vs pungent smell

After boiling the pot, we need to smell the inside of the purple clay pot to see if there is any peculiar smell or pungent smell. A pot made of high-quality materials should have no peculiar smell or only a slight earthy smell after soaking in hot water. Some materials used are not good enough, and even chemical pots will emit an unpleasant and pungent smell after being cooked at high temperatures. It should be noted that some clay materials, such as bottom trough green, have a relatively strong smell, so there will be a lot of smell in the pot after boiling. Therefore, before smelling this step, you must understand what kind of mud is used to make the purple clay pot. Well, you can't judge the quality of a purple clay teapot just by observation or smell.

(A pot made of high-quality materials will have no peculiar smell after being soaked in hot water. Just note that some mud materials will have a stronger smell, as long as they do not emit an unpleasant and pungent smell.)

3. Touch | Clean particles of dust and check for small cracks

After completing the steps of boiling the pot and pouring water, if the purple clay pot does not crack, fade or have an unpleasant smell, it is basically considered to have passed the test and is ready for use. But if you are careful, you can touch the inner pot to check whether there are still purple sand particles or whether there are cracks inside the purple clay pot. If it is the former, just repeat the steps of boiling the pot and clean it. However, if cracks are found, it proves that the purple clay pot cannot withstand high temperatures. This may be due to the poor quality of the clay materials.

(You can check whether there are still purple sand particles by touching the inner pot wall, or whether there are any cracks inside the purple clay pot.)

The above are the basic steps for opening a kettle and three small tips for opening a kettle. As long as the purple clay teapot is opened according to the steps and carefully maintained, it will naturally last a long time.

Suggested reading:

[Artwork on the Tea Banquet] Decal technology and painting technology of purple clay teapot

[Answers to the Mystery of Purple Clay Pots] Is it better to be all handmade? Is it bad to be semi-manual?

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