Bincho-tan; Throw Into Your Bath

Posted on Feb 24, 2015 in Hiroko's Blog

FullSizeRenderEast Coast is freezing. Want to have a hot bath which really warms up your body? Bincho-tan does that.

As you may know Bincho-san is the best cooking charcoals available. Bincho-tan is made from the very dense and hard wood of the ubamegashi (Quercus phillyracoides) tree. The wood from this tree is so dense that it sinks in water! Very unique production methods along with the very special characteristic of this wood produce a charcoal that is almost pure carbon. During combustion in still air bincho-tan charcoal burns at close to 1,000 degree F; much higher than conventional charcoal. If you fan it the temperature can hike up steeply. This is a very high temperature and it mostly cooks by infrared radiant heat.

Here are wonderful things which bincho-tan can do beyond the use for grilling.

1. Add the bincho-tan in your hot bath. Infrared radiated heat warms your body gently and thoroughly. After using bincho-tan, please make sure to dry it completely before using it again. Every six months replace the old one with a new one.

2. Add the bincho-tan in a pot of tap water. It filters the water, making it good tasting. My bincho-tan filtered water sit in the pot in the refrigerator throughout the year. Once every week I put the used bincho-tan in boiling water for 15 minutes to remove impurities. Dry the bincho-tan thoroughly before using it again. Every six months replace the old one with a new one.

3. Add the bincho-tan in a pot when you cook rice. 4 cups raw rice needs about 2 ounce bincho-tan. Infrared radiated heat cooks the rice plump and delicious.