Can Chinese medicine be boiled in an iron pot? What is the best pot for boiling Chinese medicine?

When decocting Chinese medicine, you need to use a decocting vessel. However, it is very important to use the right pot to decoct Chinese medicine. So, what pot is the best for decocting Chinese medicine? Let's take a look at it together with Encyclopedia Knowledge Network.

What is the best pot for boiling Chinese medicine?

Clay pots and pottery jars are the best containers for decocting medicines; glass containers and enamel containers (intact) are second; iron pots, copper pots, aluminum pots and tin pots cannot be used for decocting medicines. This is because the chemical composition of traditional Chinese medicine is very complex. Due to the active chemical properties of metals such as copper, iron and aluminum, they are easy to react chemically with the chemical components in traditional Chinese medicines. For example, iron easily reacts with tannins to form tannic acid iron, which deepens the color of the medicine liquid and makes the medicine liquid have a rusty taste, affecting the efficacy of the medicine; aluminum reacts with organic acids to form compounds that are absorbed by the human body and accumulate in tissues such as the liver and kidneys, causing damage to the human body; copper utensils are easily oxidized by heat to form verdigris that is harmful to the human body. All of these will affect the quality of the decoction and are directly related to the clinical efficacy of the traditional Chinese medicine decoction.

In addition, some people will use the casserole used for cooking at home to decoct medicine, which must be cleaned so that there is no oil on the surface after being put into clean water, because oil will affect the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine.

Decoction temperature

Use medium or low heat. Cook over medium heat until boiling, then switch to low heat. Use low heat to keep the medicine soup bubbling, but not overflowing. Note: The medicine that is scorched will be wasted, and you cannot add water to boil it again.

How long does it take to boil the medicine?

Starting from the time the medicine soup is boiled, generally 15-20 minutes is enough for 100 grams of medicine. If the amount is large, it can be appropriately increased by three to five minutes. If the amount is small, it can be shortened a little. For example, children's medicine is sometimes about 20 grams. At this time, it can be boiled for two or three minutes after the water boils. If the decoction time is too long, the taste of the medicine will be difficult to swallow, and it will become over-boiled water, and the water molecule group will increase, affecting the permeability of water molecules to the cell wall. If the medicine is mainly composed of flowers or leaves, the decoction time should be shortened.

The amount of water for soaking medicine

If you can take it, you should add more appropriately. Don't be too particular about the number of bowls the doctor uses to soak the medicine, because many people find it difficult to grasp the size of the bowl. In fact, 200-250 ml per bowl is enough. Add a little more water, the medicine will be soaked thoroughly and the effective ingredients will be easily dissolved. You will just drink more medicine soup, but it is easier for the body to absorb. Generally, for about 100 grams of herbal medicine, I take about 250-300 ml at a time (equivalent to half a bottle of mineral water). If you take it twice a day, you can decoct about 600 ml, and if you take it three times a day, you can decoct 900 ml.

You can also calculate the amount of water like this: herbs absorb twice as much water, for example, a total of 100 grams of herbs (excluding stone ones) absorbs 200 ml of water (1 gram of water equals 1 ml of water). After 25 minutes of boiling, about 150-200 ml of water evaporates, and the remaining is the medicinal soup. Therefore, the total amount of water added (ml) = total grams of herbs X2 + 150 + 300 X the number of times the dose is taken. You can use a mineral water bottle to measure it roughly, and it doesn't matter if you add a little more.

How to preserve medicinal soup

The medicine decocted by the pharmacy can be stored for a long time because it is sealed and kept in a cool and dry place. It is no problem to decoct medicine for seven days at a time.