Kishu Binchotan Water Purifier
Japan's Kishu binchotan is revered as possibly the best charcoal to grill with. As an activated charcoal, it has an immense inner surface area, making it a very effective water purifier. One 120g stick of charcoal per 5L of water ensures all the dirt and chemicals are trapped and removed from the water. This means the water is healthier, but can also taste better. At WAZA we use charcoal purified water to make our green tea.
Contents: One thick piece of kirimaru charcoal of at least 120g
How to use binchotan:
- Boil the charcoal piece in a pot of water for 10 minutes.
- Remove and let it dry and cool down.
- Add the charcoal to a container with tap or other water and let it stand for 2-3 hours (at room temperature, or in a refrigerator).
- Decant the water for drinking, to cook with, make green tea, or for watering plants.
- Keep refilling the container as needed and wait 2-3 hours before use.
- After one month, boil the Kishu binchotan stick again for 10 minutes to clean out the pores, like in the beginning.
- Continue doing this monthly for three months. After three months, replace the charcoal with a new piece and crush the used charcoal piece into your garden soil as part of your compost.
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To be called "Kishu binchotan" it must be charcoal made by an officially registered charcoal maker in Japan's old Kishu province (now Wakayama and a part of Mie prefectures). The WAZA charcoal is made from Ubame oak, sourced sustainably in Wakayama Prefecture from three different family businesses.
Trees are coppiced, or branches are pruned, and either used as a thick round whole (komaru), thin round whole (kirimaru), split into half-moons and quarters (hanmaru), or thin branches (hosomaru).
The Ubame oak branches are slow fired over 10 days in kilns under oxygen-deprived conditions, which pyrolizes the wood into 98% carbon. The charcoal is cooled using sand and ash, giving it a distinctive white colour. What is produced in this process is an extremely hard, smokeless and pure charcoal, which burns at a constant temperature for up to five hours, and can be re-used as a grilling charcoal for up to four times. It has become a firm favourite with chefs around the world.
The global demand for Kishu binchotan is very high, therefore we offer it per weight for use as water purifiiers, or with our range of Japanese shichirin - hand-cut diatomaceous earth stoves which offer the perfect insulating container for a delicious table-top cooked dinner.
To split the wood, use an axe, and be careful, since it breaks clean, but can also shatter. For cooking, use an open flame to ignite the binchotan, since it takes longer to combust than regular charcoal.