How to clean your teapot

snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com11/6/03

SOAP????**** Never, ever, never. No dish washer, either.

I dry the outside of glazed ones, and let the unglazed ones air dry.

I use baking soda on glass only. I do use boiling water. I never soak overnight.

I leave the old leaves in the yi-xing pots some extra hours, even over night, and then do a very quick rinse. I seldom if ever do more than rinse the inside of glazed teapots. I do scrub out glass with a brush and baking soda.

I NEVER let SOAP touch my TEAPOTS. I have been known however to clean my eating bowls with tea.

Michael

i dip mine in motor oil. are you writing a book?

I have several Brown Betty teapots all of which I clean by pouring boiling water on a spoonful of baking soda in the base ... I leave it sit for an hour or so and it rinses clean as new with just a soft cloth.

Pen

snipped-for-privacy@dhaka.net (Ripon) wrote in news:40276237.0311060013.71bdeff5 @posting.google.com:

Interesting question - and maybe worth some discussion. Perhaps the "right" way to clean a teapot depends on the material out of which the teapot is made, and perhaps, personal taste. In particular, one might treat glazed teapots and porous teapots differently. I own some glazed porcelain teapots, a gaiwan set that is glazed inside but clay outside, and an unglazed kyushu (Japanese teapot with the handle sticking out the side).

While some people believe that the tea buildup inside a teapot can enhance the flavor of the brew, I do not march to that drummer. For one thing, I brew a wide variety of teas in my porcelain teapot. I don't want a smoky lapsang souchong flavor (or the jasmine scent/flavor from Dragon Pearls) in a subsequent brewing of a more delicate tea. I don't even want my favorite Yunnan Golden Needles to flavor or scent the new Darjeeling I am about to try. As a result, I try to keep my porcelain teapots free of tea build-up. Following this principle, I have the same attitude towards my gaiwan (and matching drinking and aroma cups).

I suppose that if I had a breakfast tea habit I might dedicate a pot to that and forgo the thorough cleanings.

I eliminate tea build-up using detergent or soap, plus some scrubbing if it has gotten visible. I rinse thoroughly afterwards. Since I am dealing with glazed surfaces, I don't see how this could be a bad thing. There shouldn't be any detergent or soap residue left behind. I certainly can't taste anything. (Do I have defective taste buds?) I treat filter baskets (stand-alone or from Chatsford teapots) the same way. They are non-porous and should not retain soap or detergent if rinsed well.

I don't use detergent or soap on the kyushu. I limit its use to senchas.

Okay, maybe I am alone in this... am I?

Debbie

Salt

Dear Chandler:

LoL, Motor oil, Not a bad idea. Yes I am writing a book.

Ripon (From Bangladesh)

Dear J:

This is the answer I was looking for. One of my Nepalese friend adviced me once to use salt to clean up but I wasn't sure. Tomorrow I am going to try with salt. Thanks again for your valuable contribution. Where did you get this idea to use salt?

Ripon (From Bangladesh)

I've never cleaned a teapot. Simply over time cleaning will damage the surface especially for clay. The sheen for porcelain will fade over time if cleaned too often. I've had many a chuckle from someones pristine porcelein tea pot and dark spout. If you clean a teapot you're looking for a handling accident.

Jim

I got the idea, I think, from this newsgroup. Salt is good for cleaning staines from tea cups if you leave salty solution for a while in there. It also cleans pots. Never tried it on a metal container though.

JB

I have a 2 cup Chatsford (glazed). I normally just rinse it, but I'll use detergent or bleach to get brown scum off.

The everyday brewing vessel is a Pyrex 4 cup container. Normally just rinsed, but soap, bleach or baking soda occasionally. Stronger measures are taken with this pot as random herb blends get brewed every evening in it.

I use baking soda to clean my metal tea strainer.

If I want to use it, I'll mostly dry it inside and out, otherwise, they get put in the dish drainer. Everything is hand washed.

Both of these are non-porous, I wouldn't use detergent on unglazed pots.

-sew

My pots are mostly glazed, but I have one yixing pot.

The yixing just gets rinsed with hot water and air-dried.

The glazed ones can go either way. The oils in some teas can persist on the interior surface and take a lot of rubbing to remove without using a soap or detergent. Depends on my mood whether I use soap or not. Haven't had a bad soap-taste issue.

I guess I could just lightly rinse, but the slimy residue bothers me. Baking soda/salt does seem a better alternative to soaps.

BTW, I brew mostly greens and oolongs. Perhaps black teas rinse cleanly.

Joe