How to Make Non-Combustible/Loose Incense

Non-combustible incense is that of the ancients. Both loose incense that is burned atop of charcoal or other forms of modern-day heat sources and incense pellets are included.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Ingredients - Herbs, Resins, Dried Fruit, Woods
• Incense Holder - Filled with sand
• Charcoal - preferably natural
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Mortar and Pestle/Coffee Grinder

1. First things first: You want to find the best ingredients to use in your incense. Start with scents you find intriguing on their own to use in your incense. The best mixtures make use of either a wood or resin as a base. If you use herb solely, you will find they burn much too quickly and have a tendency to let off a fair amount of smoke.

2. The best course of action is to get fresh ingredients and then grind them yourself. However, powdered herbs and resins are out there if need be. I strongly recommend using a mortar and pestle, not an electric coffee grinder or food processor. Both machines produce too much heat and can end up releasing the scent that you are trying to capture.
   However, if you are attempting to grind woods, I suggest using an old hand-crank coffee grinder.

3. The actual grinding process should be fairly easy. I normally go, in order, from wood to herbs to resins. The reason being, the resins tend to stick to the mortar and pestle, especially if they are young. If that does happen, it can soak up any of the previous ingredients.

4. Once everything has been well ground, you can start to mix everything together. Just like in baking, mix the dry with the dry and the wet with the wet. In this case, that means mix the woods and herbs together and separately mix your resins together. After both are well mixed, you can add the dry ingredients to the resin.

5. Last, but not least, is the actual burning of your incense. To evenly distibute and disperse the heat, fill your incense burner with sand. Then, place a charcoal tile (preferably all-natural) on top of the sand. To light it, you may need to hold the charcoal with tweezers to make sure it is lit, but be careful not to burn yourself. After it is lit, simply sprinkle your incense on top. I use about a teaspoon per tile. However, your tile will likely stay lit after the incense burns off, so feel free to add more.

6. Storage for loose incense is best done in a glass jar with a tight-fitting, non-metal lid. After that, store it in a dark, cool, dry place.

Tips & Warnings

• Stick resins in the freezer before grinding in your mortar and pestle for a much easier time!
• If you are just starting out, try not to overdo it. Use two or three ingrediants until you get the hang of it.
• Never touch a charcoal tile with your hand after it has been lit, even if it looks like it has burnt out!