Hello!
Today, I’m excited to share the process I use to make handmade incense sticks and cones. Traditional incense-making is a labor-intensive craft that requires time, patience, and dedication. Here, I’ll walk you through the process from preparing the ingredients to storing the finished incense.
Preparation: Gathering and Processing Ingredients
- Confirming the Recipe and Ingredients
The first step is to confirm the recipe, carefully deciding which ingredients will create the desired fragrance and effects. - Sourcing Quality Ingredients
Sourcing quality ingredients is essential for making incense with a rich, authentic aroma. Some ingredients are rare, and each has its unique properties. - Processing the Ingredients
This step varies depending on the recipe:- Cooking, Steaming, or Preserving: Certain ingredients need to be softened or enriched by cooking, steaming, or even preserving in wine to release their full aroma.
- Grinding to a Fine Powder: Other ingredients are ground to a fine powder, then sifted through a mesh screen to remove larger particles. This results in a smoother incense texture.
Making the Incense Dough
- Mixing Ingredients
Next, combine the various powdered ingredients in a ceramic bowl—yes, I’m a big fan of ceramics! I find that the bowl itself brings a certain beauty to the process. - Adding Water
Carefully add water, just a bit at a time, working it into the mixture to form a dough. Water quality matters; some artisans even use mineral water to achieve the best results. - Kneading the Dough
Hand-kneading the dough is where the art truly begins. Although recipes provide guidelines, experience helps me judge when the dough reaches the perfect texture. There’s a meditative joy in kneading by hand, a mindfulness that lets me connect deeply with the process. - Resting the Dough
Once the dough is ready, I will place it in a clay jar with a tightly closed lid, allowing it to rest and fully absorb the ingredients’ properties.
Crafting Incense Sticks
- Pressing the Dough
After the dough has rested, take a small portion, place it in a presser, and form it into long, slender strips. Since the sticks shrink slightly when drying, I make each strip a bit longer than the final desired length. Although machines can make many sticks in a minute, I take my time crafting each by hand. This slow, mindful approach feels like a form of meditation. - Trimming and Perfecting
Trim each stick to the correct length, checking for flaws and reshaping any uneven pieces. - Drying the Sticks
The sticks are transferred to a drying net where they dry slowly, away from direct sunlight. I will check them regularly and sometimes use a ruler or board to keep them straight and flat. After two to three days, they’re usually ready for the next step.
Crafting Incense Cones
Crafting incense cones follows a similar process to sticks, but with a few differences:
- Shaping the Cones
Pinch a small amounts of dough (around 3-4 grams each) and shape each cone by hand. This personal touch gives each cone its unique form. - Drying the Cones
Like sticks, cones dry naturally on a drying net, but they require more drying time due to their thickness. I allow them to cure until fully hardened.
Storage: The Final Step
Once the incense sticks and cones are completely dry, I will perform a quality check, lighting one to test its fragrance and burn quality. If everything is perfect, I will then store the incense for three to six months, depending on the recipe. Like fine wine, incense often improves with age. Blended incense, in particular, needs this time for the scents to meld into a harmonious whole, resulting in deeper, more balanced aromas.
Coming Next
In my next article, I’ll dive into the art of burning incense and exploring its calming effects. Until then, I hope this glimpse into my incense-making process inspires you to appreciate this age-old craft.
See you soon!
