Raw materials include aggregates, adhesives, spices, etc. Aggregate is the main body of incense, mainly wood powder, which requires no odor, that is, no unpleasant smell; The fineness is generally around 100 mesh, and there are no other special requirements. Recently, other plant powders have been used, such as orange stalks and grass powders of various crops. Or a combination thereof. The traditional binder is elm bark powder, whose function is to bond the aggregates together, so that the incense made is firm, elastic and not easy to break. The quality of elm bark powder is also different. It is mainly the core bark in the bark that works, but the old bark outside doesn't work. The custom without old skin is called white elm powder, and the custom with old skin is called red elm powder. The ratio of elm bark powder to aggregate is about1:1-1:2. Due to the limited amount of elm bark powder, chemical binders have been added in modern times. ?

Perfume can be a variety of natural spices, such as sandalwood, agarwood and so on. There can also be spices in various Chinese medicines, such as star anise and fennel. In recent years, the most used are various flavors. Obviously, the cost of different spices varies greatly. Most of the products on the market are all kinds of essences. The use of essence can produce all kinds of people's favorite smells, which are no less than or better than natural spices and Chinese herbal medicine spices, because some essences are extracted from natural spices. But when it comes to the benefits to the human body, I'm afraid it's far from natural spices and Chinese herbal medicines. ?

In addition to the above raw materials, when making incense now, it is generally necessary to add pigments to make colors that adults like. There are no special requirements for pigments. Then there are some trace things that producers add in order to improve quality or reduce costs. These are the secrets of the producers, and each has its own tricks. At the same time, it is precisely because they are secret that it is unknown to what extent these tricks are scientific and reasonable. ?

The last thing you need is water. Strictly speaking, water can't be counted as raw material, because water only plays a role in the process of making essence, and the essence after drying, drying and dewatering can be counted as finished product. But in the process of making incense, water is indispensable. Water accounts for about 40%-60% of the blended raw materials, which varies greatly due to the variety of incense, the technology and equipment for making incense.

Data expansion: making and burning incense has a long history.

Perfume is the finished product of spices or incense. Such as fragrant slices, sweet cakes, sachets, sticks, threads and strips. Incense can emit aromatic substances when ignited at room temperature.

Spices can be divided into two categories: natural and synthetic. Natural spices are taken from animals and plants, such as agarwood, musk, sandalwood, clove, civet cat, Long Xianxiang, realgar, rose, wormwood, storax oil, etc. They are not only fragrant things, but also can replenish qi and nourish the heart. In order to reduce the cost and beautify the appearance of fragrant products, many chemicals are often used in modern technology, including chemically synthesized spices. What it pursues is "aroma nourishing nose", and the difference between the two kinds of incense is very obvious.

The ancient incense-making technology has gradually matured and improved, but some technological processes have been replaced by modern technologies, such as Qinglong County in eastern Hebei.

In the past, incense shops or workshops were mostly located near temples and markets. Pilgrims will burn incense to show their respect; In folk customs, ancestor worship is also burning incense. Nowadays, people think that spices have the function of expelling peculiar smell and refreshing the brain.

Traditional aroma-making technology

To sum up, it mainly includes: repairing, steaming, boiling, burning, frying, baking, grinding and molding.

Repair system

That is, the spices are picked, picked, kneaded, screened, dried, purified, then cut and crushed.

Cooking material

Use steam or water to heat spices, and the duration and times of steam depend on needs. This method can make the spices change from raw to cooked, and can also separate the fragrant materials and adjust the medicinal properties.

Cooking material

Soak in clear water or add auxiliary materials (honey, pear juice, wine) to remove its odor and increase its viscosity. Some spices are cooked with charcoal water, wine or rice swill, and then fried when the water turns yellow.

Gun material

Stir-fry with strong fire, or stir-fry with cattail pollen. The difference between cannon and frying is the temperature. Use strong fire for guns and slow fire for frying.

fry

When frying spices, some should be fried yellow and some should be burnt. Like frying sandalwood, the method of frying is: choose sandalwood material to make it the size of rice grain, and then fry it with slow fire to make the smoke purple and fishy.

Baking material

Stir-fry spices with liquid auxiliary materials to make the auxiliary materials penetrate into the spices.

toast

The roasted spices are put into a ceramic container, then baked to completely dry the spices, and then crushed.

pestle

Grind the crushed spices with water, and then let the slurry stand for precipitation to make the spices more delicate.

Forming/shaping

The ground spices are dried and precipitated into paste in the natural state, put into a sealed wooden barrel, covered with a wooden cover, and pressed downwards. There is a hole in the bottom of the barrel. Under the action of pressure, the strip-shaped fragrant blank will be extruded from the hole and then dried. As for the forming method of coil incense, tower incense and column incense, it is injection molding.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia.