How to Make Incense
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You will need:
A mortar and pestle and an electric coffee
grinder
Two bowls; one large, one medium
A glass of warm water
A whisk
A wet cloth
A kitchen scale
Waxed paper
Long-handled (laboratory-type) tweezers or kitchen tongs
Jars with lids or sealable sandwich bags
A knife
Various resins, herbs, barks and oils (see Step 1)
An incense burner
A lighter or matches
A notebook and pencil or pen
A candle
Optional (for stick incense): wooden or
bamboo splints, broom straws, twigs, or
long wooden skewers (all must be very thin--think of the incense sticks you
find in stores for a guideline), and something to poke the sticks into so they
can dry upright (clay, dirt or styrofoam, for example)
After you've gathered everything you need
and powdered all the ingredients (the
time involved will vary depending on how many ingredients you're using, what's
already powdered, and so on), give yourself five or six hours to put everything
together. If you need to powder several ingredients, allow an extra hour or
so.
If you use a coffee grinder to powder your
ingredients, make sure it's one you
won't use for coffee afterward--or you'll definitely end up with some "strange
brew."
To avoid a difficult clean-up, spread some newspapers over the surface on which
you'll be making your incense.
If you're missing an herb, you can substitute its essential oil (never
synthetic or perfume oils, which are toxic if burned). A few drops is plenty.
If you don't want to use a store-bought incense burner, you can make one
yourself with a bowl or a large, thick shell, such as abalone, that's
half-filled with sand or salt.
Gum arabic absorbs less water than tragacanth.
Store any leftover ingredients in tightly sealed jars or plastic bags in a dry
place, out of direct sunlight.
When burning incense, make sure no other combustible items are nearby, such
as
newspaper, cloth, curtains, and so forth. Never leave burning incense
unattended. You can always put it out and light it again later if necessary.
If your incense is burning too fast, you probably added too much saltpeter.
If
it keeps going out, you didn't add enough.
Charcoal stays hot for a long time, so wait until it burns out and then pick
it
up with the tweezers or tongs and dowse it in cool water before disposal. Never
leave burning charcoal unattended
Making scents
Burning incense makes great sense. It's a natural, nontoxic air freshener that
serves as a terrific alternative to today's aerosols, plug-ins and the like.
And it has a great track record: people have been using it for thousands of
years and for all sorts of reasons.
Incense is basically a mixture of herbs, woods and resins that can be powdered
and then burned slowly for a fragrant effect. Ancient cultures burned it for
ceremonies and worship. The Chinese and Japanese once burned it as a
measurement of time, and today it's used in religious rituals worldwide. But
mostly it just smells good.
We'll show you how to collect and prepare the ingredients needed for making
incense, including a couple recipes to get you started. After that, it's up
to
you to experiment and create your own custom-made scents.
There are two types of incense, combustible
and noncombustible. Combustible
incense comes in cone, block or stick form, and is what most people are
familiar with. Noncombustible incense is burned on a piece of charcoal (see
Step 7).
We'll discuss both types, with a focus on combustible incense (which takes a
few more steps, but is well worth the effort since it's so easy to use). The
task may seem daunting the first time around, but the more you practice the
easier it is to make.
You can find most incense ingredients in your kitchen or garden. Others are
available at herb stores, drug stores, religious supply stores, health food
stores, and bath and body shops. (Check the yellow pages under "incense"
for
local suppliers.) Popular choices include:
Woods:
cedar
juniper
pine
sandalwood
Resins:
frankincense
benzoin
myrrh
orris root
Herbs/gums:
cinnamon
thyme
tragacanth or gum arabic (for molding combustible incense)
Liquids:
essential oils
a liquid such as honey, wine, sap or the like
The exact ingredients you'll need will
depend on your recipe. Most recipes
include a type of wood, a resin, fragrant herbs and a liquid. If you want to
make combustible incense, your recipe needs to include tragacanth or gum
arabic, which is used to mold the incense into specific shapes.
Buy at least two ounces (powdered) of each dry ingredient. Keep in mind that
wood is used most often and in the largest quantity. Try to gather as many
pre-powdered ingredients as you can, to save yourself time and effort.
Aside from the recipe ingredients, you'll need some saltpeter (for igniting
the
incense; ask for it at drug stores) and some charcoal tablets (available where
incense ingredients are sold; don't use barbeque charcoal for this).
Once you've collected everything, grind each dry item (except the charcoal)
that isn't already crushed into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle and
electric coffee grinder. Woods and some resins won't powder as easily as
others, but if you keep at it they'll eventually break down. Consider using
the
electric grinder for these items, then finish them off with the mortar and
pestle (they will break down but not be completely powdered in the grinder).
Use a knife to chop stubborn bits of stem and root if necessary. Once powdered,
keep everything tightly sealed and labeled in plastic bags or glass jars.
Noncombustible incense is basically a mixture
of powdered herbs, resins and
woods that can be burned on charcoal tablets or stirred in as the fragrance
for
a combustible mixture. The only difference between the two types is that
noncombustible incense needs the charcoal to burn (you light the charcoal and
then sprinkle the incense on top of it--see Step 7 for specific details), and
combustible incense burns by itself (you can light it directly).
To create a noncombustible incense mixture,
try one of these recipes:
Combine equal parts of powdered frankincense, cinnamon, and nutmeg
Combine one part each of nutmeg and cinnamon and one-half part each of orange
peel and lemon peel.
To try making your own recipes, see Step
7.
In a large bowl, mix a small amount of the ingredients for your chosen recipe
together (say one part equals one tablespoon). You can always add more later.
Once everything is combined, your noncombustible incense mixture is complete.
You can skip to Step 7 if you don't want to make combustible incense.
Otherwise, it's time to make the paste.
Tragacanth or gum arabic is used to mold your mixture into sticks, cones, or
blocks. Here's how to make them into a moldable paste (a paste you definitely
don't want to eat!):
Place a tablespoon or so of the powdered gum into a medium-sized bowl and fill
it with eight ounces of warm water. Whisk it until the gum is completely
dissolved (this will take a few minutes), skimming off any foam that develops.
Let the dissolved gum absorb the water until it becomes a thick, gelatin-like
paste.
Cover the bowl with a wet cloth and set it aside as it's thickening. The
thickening process will take at least a couple hours. You can mix in more gum
or water to adjust consistency as needed.
The following recipe will result in a basic,
combustible incense mixture. If
one part equals one tablespoon, you'll end up with enough incense mixture to
create approximately 60-80 small cones.
Six parts powdered wood (sandlewood, cedar, pine, etc.)
Two parts powdered benzoin
One part ground orris root
A few drops essential oil or other liquid like wine, honey, etc.
Three to five parts noncombustible incense mixture
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together in the order given. Weigh
the combined mixture with a kitchen scale.
Determine what ten percent of the total
weight is, and add exactly that much
saltpeter. (So if the mixture weighs ten grams, add one gram of saltpeter.)
This measurement must be exact so the incense can burn properly. Mix in the
saltpeter thoroughly.
Add the paste, one teaspoon or so at a time, and judge consistency. It should
be dough-like, very similar to that of a pie crust (not too wet but moist
enough so you can mold it with your hands).
Note: When creating combustible incense,
the ratio of powdered woods to resin
should be two to one. Your resin (benzoin, frankincense, myrrh, gums, saps,
etc.) should never make up more than one-third of the final mixture.
When your mixture has reached the desired
consistency (again, similar to pie
dough), it's ready to be molded into shapes. Cones and blocks are the easiest
to mold. Sticks are much more difficult, especially if you don't have a special
press (sold in craft stores). Try the cones and blocks first. Then when you
decide you're an expert, move on to the sticks.
Cones: Roll the incense mixture into small,
marble-sized balls with your hands,
then shape them into one-inch long cones. Arrange them upright on a sheet of
waxed paper and place them somewhere warm to dry. They'll take three to seven
days to dry. During this time, turn them regularly so they dry evenly and don't
crack.
Blocks: Shape incense into long strips
approximately one-third of an inch in
height and width, and then cut the strips into one-inch long rectangles. Use
the same drying process as you would for cones (but the blocks can lay flat).
Sticks: Add more paste to the mixture until
it's wet but still thick. If you
don't have a special press (highly recommended), pat the dough on waxed paper
until it's very thin; then place one stick at a time onto the dough and roll
a
thin coat around the stick (leaving a few inches on one end uncoated) until
the
coating is twice the thickness of the stick (no thicker). Squeeze or press the
dough onto the stick so it will stay put. Place the uncoated end into some
clay, sand or another substance that will allow it to stand upright to dry.
To burn cones, blocks, or sticks, place
them one at a time in an incense burner
or bowl half-filled with sand or salt. (For instructions on how to burn
noncombustible incense, skip to Step 7.)
Light one end (for cones, place them point-up
and light the pointed end) with a
match or lighter, holding the flame against the tip of the incense until the
incense catches fire. Let the flame burn for a few seconds, then blow it out
gently.
The lit end of the incense will glow and begin releasing its aroma (and a small
amount of continuous smoke). Each cone, block, or stick will burn for
approximately ten to 25 minutes.
Soon after the incense is lit, the surrounding air just may seem heaven scent.
You can create your own noncombustible
recipes and use charcoal tablets as a
guide to test the scent. As mentioned previously, noncombustible incense can
be
burned by itself (on lit charcoal) if you don't have time, or if you find it
too difficult to create cones or sticks.
To light the charcoal, pick it up with
the tweezers or tongs and hold it over a
candle flame (it will spark at first, so be careful) until white spots begin
to
appear. You can also blow on it to see if it's lit (the spots will glow orange
when you blow). Place the lit charcoal in a bowl or large, thick shell that's
half-filled with sand or salt. Wait until it's burning evenly and is no longer
crackling before putting any ingredients on it.
Sprinkle a small amount of each herb, wood
or oil onto the lit tablet to test
the scent. Make notes regarding what you like and what works well together.
Many things will smell different when they're burning than when they're not.
Eventually you'll end up with a custom incense recipe book.