Guest guest Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Audrey, This is what I use, and for the vegetarians who started out as omnivores, this item might easily be found among your kitchen gadgets: an instant-read thermometer. This is the kind of cooking thermometer with the little " probe " at one end and the round or rectangular dial-like gizmo at the other end. Lots of people use it when cooking m**t foods, to see if the internal temp has been reached, but it's also useful for a lot of other foods and cooking preparations. When making tea, just get your water (in a tea-kettle or other container) to the temperature suggested by your tea...for some black teas, the temp. is just at boiling; for herbal teas, a full boil is fine, and for some green and/or white teas, it should be just less than boiling temperature. I just start the water heating and when it just BEGINS to look a bit " bubbly " , I stick the probe-end of the instant-read thermometer into the water until it is just at the " right " temp for the kind of tea I'm brewing. Some instant-read thermometers come with a little plastic tube-sheath for the probe to slide into when not in use, and a small loop on the side of the " pocket-clip " at the end of the probe-sheath. You can slide the probe rod thru this loop and use the sheath as a convenient " handle " to properly hold the thermometer in the hot tea-kettle water. (Don't submerge the " number-dial " part of the thermometer--just the lower half or so of the probe-rod--into the boiling or almost-boiling water. I have used a thermometer most of the times I've brewed tea in the past several years and it's not hard to do. You can get the hang of it pretty quickly. A good cuppa tea on a cold day is a warm and welcome treat! Enjoy! Wishing you a happy and prosperous ney year! --Laura B., in Illinois PS: For most white teas and green teas, the best temperature for the steeping water is just around 180-195 degrees F. (not quite boiling). Steeping time for teas vary. Some white teas take 5-6 minutes or so, while others are best only steeped about 30-60 seconds. I've tried both. The ones that take the shorter steeping time don't taste nearly as good if over-steeped. --L.B. Here's a question for you.... how do I tell how hot my water is? What kind of thermometer do I use? Audrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2010 Report Share Posted January 2, 2010 Good to know. I never did have any kitchen thermometers (meat or candy)... I'll bet I could borrow Mom's (if she still has one), just to get a good idea of how long the water needs to cool after boiling to be at the right temperature... Thanks! Audrey On Sat, Jan 2, 2010 at 11:45 AM, L.B. <elbee577 wrote: > > > Audrey, > > This is what I use, and for the vegetarians who started out as > omnivores, this item might easily be found among your kitchen gadgets: an > instant-read thermometer. This is the kind of cooking thermometer with the > little " probe " at one end and the round or rectangular dial-like gizmo at > the other end. Lots of people use it when cooking m**t foods, to see if the > internal temp has been reached, but it's also useful for a lot of other > foods and cooking preparations. > > When making tea, just get your water (in a tea-kettle or other > container) to the temperature suggested by your tea...for some black teas, > the temp. is just at boiling; for herbal teas, a full boil is fine, and for > some green and/or white teas, it should be just less than boiling > temperature. I just start the water heating and when it just BEGINS to > look a bit " bubbly " , I stick the probe-end of the instant-read thermometer > into the water until it is just at the " right " temp for the kind of tea I'm > brewing. > > Some instant-read thermometers come with a little plastic tube-sheath > for the probe to slide into when not in use, and a small loop on the side of > the " pocket-clip " at the end of the probe-sheath. You can slide the probe > rod thru this loop and use the sheath as a convenient " handle " to properly > hold the thermometer in the hot tea-kettle water. (Don't submerge the > " number-dial " part of the thermometer--just the lower half or so of the > probe-rod--into the boiling or almost-boiling water. > > I have used a thermometer most of the times I've brewed tea in the past > several years and it's not hard to do. You can get the hang of it pretty > quickly. > > A good cuppa tea on a cold day is a warm and welcome treat! Enjoy! > > Wishing you a happy and prosperous ney year! > --Laura B., in Illinois > > PS: For most white teas and green teas, the best temperature for the > steeping water is > just around 180-195 degrees F. (not quite boiling). Steeping time for > teas vary. Some white teas take 5-6 minutes or so, while others are best > only steeped about 30-60 seconds. I've tried both. The ones that take the > shorter steeping time don't taste nearly as good if over-steeped. > --L.B. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.