What kind of pot should be used to cook Chinese medicine?

Usually, many friends will choose to treat certain diseases with traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medicinal materials have relatively fewer side effects on the human body, but they are relatively irritating when taken, so we need to choose suitable utensils to boil them. When boiling Chinese medicine, it is best to choose a traditional casserole so that the medicinal effect can be fully exerted.

Many families do not usually have clay pots for decocting medicine. Once they need to boil Chinese medicine, they use stainless steel pots or aluminum pots as an emergency measure. At this time, some problems will arise and everyone needs to pay special attention.

Stainless steel pots transfer heat too quickly, so you need to stir the medicine frequently when decocting it, otherwise the herbs will stick to the wall of the pot and easily burn if you are not careful. However, apart from this disadvantage, stainless steel pots are still a good alternative. There are many problems when using aluminum or iron pots to decoct medicine, because aluminum and iron are active elements that can easily react with the various chemical components in traditional Chinese medicine, reducing its efficacy and possibly even causing toxic side effects. For example, aluminum and iron can react with tannins in traditional Chinese medicine to generate aluminum tannate and iron tannate, producing black-green precipitates that can cause nausea and vomiting after taking them. Aluminum and iron may also react with flavonoids contained in Scutellaria baicalensis, Pueraria lobata, and Psoralea corylifolia, or with anthraquinone compounds in Rhubarb and Polygonum multiflorum to generate insoluble complexes. After being absorbed by the human body, some of these complexes accumulate in tissues such as the liver, kidney, and brain, producing toxic side effects to varying degrees. Aluminum and iron may also undergo replacement reactions with traditional Chinese medicines containing heavy metals, such as cinnabar, to generate toxic free mercury. Each type of traditional Chinese medicine contains dozens or even hundreds of compounds, and countless chemical reactions may occur when boiling medicines in aluminum or iron pots.

The main component of the casserole is silicate, which has stable chemical properties, heats evenly, transfers heat slowly, and the water is not easy to evaporate when decocting medicine, making it the first choice for decocting medicine. It should be noted that sudden heating or cooling of the casserole will cause cracks. Therefore, do not wash the casserole that has just been used to boil medicine with cold water immediately. Let it cool on dry wood chips or racks before cleaning the medicine stains. The grease on the casserole cannot be soaked with detergent to prevent sewage from seeping into the pores. It can be wiped with leftover tea leaves, or soaked in rice water to heat it, and then scrubbed with a brush.

It is best to avoid using aluminum pots when cooking Chinese medicine. Some stainless steel pots will not only leave a large amount of medicine residue during use, affecting the life of the pot, but also may cause chemical reactions between certain Chinese medicines and the country during the cooking process, thereby reducing the efficacy of the Chinese medicine.