Boyarskaya,
Irina, yes .... I'm with you now
snot I will shed tears ...
You are a heroine !!!! I'm not talking about tea, although what you have done is almost a feat!
I mean the description! Thank you. that they wrote so much! I love to read such details. But I can imagine how many emotions poured out during this process!
So,
let's go in order.
1.
You have made tea!!!! In any case, the one that does not stink, but smells like hay.
Freshly dried tea is virtually odorless... Only during dry fermentation for a month or more, in a dry, dark place, the aroma you have been waiting for will appear. Have you read in the recipe that it is not recommended to taste the tea immediately after preparation? Be patient!
2. May tea from such tiny and delicate leaves I personally like less than from the leaves collected during the flowering fireweed. But many people really like it. Here is a matter of taste. Maybe you should wait for flowering?
3. Are you sure the leaves have withered enough? Didn't the clump of leaves crumble after opening the cam? If you don't wither enough, it may not work very well.
4. You have loose leaf tea, therefore
need oppression during fermentation... Did you put oppression? greenish blotches indicate that the mass is partially fermented. This may be due to the fact that you did not crush the leaves enough and did not put oppression. It would be nice not to twist the rolls, but to knead like dough. Then everything will definitely be rumpled. And fermentation will go better. And so you have left untreated areas on the leaves.
Therefore, many people prefer to make granulated tea. There, the leaves will have no chance of being left untreated.
But you
no disaster happened... There will be tea, you'll see. But it won't be black. Many people like this.
Layer 1.5-2 cm. I stir every 15 minutes for hours. After half an hour, I put a thermometer in there in a mass of tea, there is 60 *. I am surprised to make a 150 * pen. Smells good so far. After 20 minutes there is 85 *, begins to smell like hay
A 2 cm layer is a lot. It can become steamy and lose its smell. No need to "stick" the thermometer into the mass. This, of course, is not bad for tea, but it is very bad for your nerves. See, you started going from one extreme to another? 150 * can be set at the beginning of drying, but not in the middle! Late. It may not turn out what you expect.
I put it in the dryer for half an hour, more my nose could not stand this stench.
Irina, VON ??? What smelled like? I have never stinked tea during drying, even spoiled! Unless I burned it ... Then there was just a burning smell. But don't stink ... Are you sure what exactly stank? Then it says about one thing - the tea went bad during fermentation. But with you it simply could not deteriorate - it did not have time in the time that you are writing.
I stir every 15 minutes.
At the beginning of drying, this should be done more often - after 5 minutes, especially leaf tea - it dries faster than granulated tea. And given that the layer is too large during drying, it is likely that the tea steamed up in 15 minutes and lost its smell ...
oven dry 30 minutes from 85 * to 110 *
ARE NOT CONFUSED? It is necessary the other way around - from 100 * and below ... Otherwise, it will be worn out again ...
the leaves are 90% crumble, 10% soft, although the layer was very thin and interfered every 5-7 minutes.
They crumble because they are leafy. Without this, it does not happen. But this is not a marriage. And soft ones will dry at a lower temperature in a dryer and a bag ... Do you remember what else you need to dry in a bag?
I have a suspicion that hay appears when the leaves dry in the oven until they crunch
You are smart! And there is! This is the only way it should be! I will write again - ONLY THAT DRIED TEA DOESN'T SMELL ANYTHING !!!!!!
sluggishly interfered every 15-20 minutes.
Be sure to shorten the time, especially at the beginning of drying. For loose tea this is a lot !!!! 3 - 5 minutes at the beginning of drying, as you lower the temperature, you can also 7 - 10 minutes. For a sheet, a lot of 15 - 20 minutes. lots of.
conclusions:
1. The tea is too dry due to the fact that it is leafy, and you rarely interfere. And it looks like it took a long time to dry. Hence it is brittle.
2.Make the layer thinner when drying, then you need to mix it even more often.
3. You have one baking sheet, so the tea will dry even faster than two or three. You are clearly overdrying the tea. Hence the hay ...
Recommendations.
1. It is necessary to look not at the time, but at the state of tea. As it begins to dry out, you need to be especially vigilant. Dried in a dryer and a bag. Better to put underdried there than overdried.
2. Set the temperature to high only at the beginning, not in the middle of the process. This also makes the tea dry.
4. Only granulated tea can be "fry" at 150 * at the beginning of drying. Leafy run the risk of overdrying or burning. For sheet, 100 * is the maximum.
5. I strongly recommend trying to knead the next tea like a dough, or twist it in a meat grinder. Granulated tea is almost hassle-free. And the result is always more predictable. The tea is black, strong and aromatic due to better fermentation and more even drying.
6. Wait for June, until you get the hang of making tea. The result will be much better. Or do less than you did this time so that the process does not take so long.
7. Place tea away in a dark place hermetically sealed. Forget it for at least a month, better - longer. Your first tea will surprise you. You will see!
Question:
What kind of oven do you have - electric or gas, stationary or mini, where does the heating come from - top, bottom or top / bottom, is there convection, how many trays can fit? The characteristics of the oven greatly affect the result. You can dry in any, but there are nuances.
Advice.
1. Making tea is magic ... And for some reason you have stretched this process so much that you lost your nerves. you need to correlate your time capabilities and the amount of tea prepared at a time. Otherwise, the magic will turn into violence against yourself and everyone around you. Such tea will not bring pleasure - neither now, nor later.
2. Irina, please reread my answer to you several times. If you have any questions - ask. We will find you a way to make tea for pleasure, not flour ...
I ate all the candies, and half a pack of chocolate balls with a liter of milk.
Irochka, it's you in vain ... One ... And us? We also want sweets ... Better come with sweets to our
Tea Gazebo... We will calm you down, amuse you, give advice, help you cope with sweets and save your figure and nerves from such shocks ... An active link to the Tea Arbor is
under my every post... Click and come. We will be very glad to see you! It's great there - friendly, fun, beautiful, informative and versatile ...
Come, you will not regret it!