Preparation and Sieving of Incense Powder
Good incense starts with good powder. Incense materials must be processed to remove impurities while preserving their essence, then sieved and graded before entering the dough for blending incense.
Incense powder is the starting point of blended incense. For the same incense material, the scent differs greatly between raw use and after processing, so processing is a discipline in itself.
Processing Methods
- Steaming: Steam over water to remove dryness and stabilize the fragrance (e.g., steaming agarwood).
- Boiling: Boil together with wine, honey, or juice to infuse flavor and remove toxicity.
- Stir-frying: Stir-fry gently over low heat to release aroma and remove moisture.
- Roasting / Baking: Dried thoroughly by fire to prevent mold and set the shape.
- Grinding: Grind into fine powder with a stone mortar and stone mill.
Sieving and grading
After grinding, sieve (sift) to separate coarse powder and fine powder. The fine powder is used for indirect heat and seal incense, the coarse powder for incense pills. Processing and sieving follow the same standard,Refining honey and blending incenseonly then can it blend evenly and thoroughly. For the origins of incense materials, seeIncense Materials Illustrated Guide。