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How to burn pure frankincense and myrrh?

post #1 of 35
12/27/09 at 11:05am
Thread Starter 
This Christmas we received a very nice gift box of frankincense and myrrh. The box contains many small nodules of the dried sap of the two trees. The inside of the cedar box itself smells very nice. Putting my nose up against the two sides of the compartment gives me different smells for the two kinds of incense. Naturally I want to burn it and make the whole room smell good.

The preferred way to burn this kind of pure incense seems to be on a charcoal fire. I don't have any odor free charcoal and I'm hesitant to burn charcoal inside anyway. I tried someone's suggestion of putting a lump of myrrh on the base of a Coke can, over a tea candle. The Coke can base got hot but after an hour the myrrh had barely discolored. All I smelled was burning candle wick. I've seen mentions of electric incense burners but didn't find them on any of the incense sites I visited.

What should I try next?
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post #2 of 35
12/28/09 at 12:10am
Go to your local middle eastern bazaar or larger indian store and they will have electric burner that look like steel mugs for around $12-$15.
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post #3 of 35
12/28/09 at 7:01am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, Dullah. I'm currently recovering from surgery, but I may comission an Indian-American friend to make this search for me. Do you know if it's easy or difficult to clean the inside of the 'mug' before changing to another incense?
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post #4 of 35
12/28/09 at 8:09am
When I was in high school, I used to melt/burn frankincense --the same sap as you have-- in a hand-held tablespoon over a candle flame. It only took a few minutes to scent the room. (BTW this ruins --irretrievably blackens-- the spoon.)

I've seen incense burners in a mall store called Blue Moon.
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post #5 of 35
12/28/09 at 11:46am
What a nice gift! (My husband picked up some of these on a trip to the Middle East.)

The resin looks like dark or yellow, uncut gemstones. You can get flat chunks of coal to use, but I have no idea where to buy these. Online?

The best thing is to be safety-aware with kids and pets out of the way, but it will smell marvelous, and you will see why these were worth their weight in gold in bygone times. (BTW, myrrh is still used in medicine to treat mouth ulcers and sores, and can be seen in some toothpastes.)
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post #6 of 35
12/28/09 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ECaruthers View Post

Thanks, Dullah. I'm currently recovering from surgery, but I may comission an Indian-American friend to make this search for me. Do you know if it's easy or difficult to clean the inside of the 'mug' before changing to another incense?

Hope you make a full recovery.
And you don't let it touch the burn surface, you put a foil under the tear-slice. I prefer stainless foil to aluminum.
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post #7 of 35
12/28/09 at 1:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Primrose View Post

What a nice gift! (My husband picked up some of these on a trip to the Middle East.)

The resin looks like dark or yellow, uncut gemstones. (BTW, myrrh is still used in medicine to treat mouth ulcers and sores, and can be seen in some toothpastes.)

LOL yes, my toothpaste contains myrrh.
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post #8 of 35
12/28/09 at 2:41pm
Thread Starter 
My F. looks opaque white and my M. looks redish brown. Here's the seller's site. I can't say anything about the quality until I burn some.

And what toothpaste contains myrrh? Lately I'm collecting anything-but-mint toothpastes.

Thanks, all.
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post #9 of 35
12/31/09 at 6:44am
As mentioned upthread, the two simplest way to burn these resins are on charcoal or in an electric incense warmer. Two sites that sell both are Mermade Magickal Arts (don't be put off by the extreme New Aginess) and Essence of the Ages. Both are, incidentally, excellent incense e-tailers. The latter has a wide variety of incenses from around the world. The former sells its own incenses and also has excellent hougary frankincense from Oman.
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post #10 of 35
1/3/10 at 7:23am
i like the spoon method too, but instead of ruining a spoon i prefer some thinner alumina like foil or a teared side of a tea-light. hold it above a candle for a minute or so, and your room will smell like heaven. dont worry about burning you fingers, aluminum does not conduct the heat.
you can play a bit with the height, closer to the flame will give you a more burned smell (which is nice i think) but if you dont want that, hold it higher so that it just barely smokes and stop when the incense turns black.

i do like the charcoal method, it's very heavy and transcendental. not for every day.
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post #11 of 35
1/3/10 at 2:08pm
I just use a brass brazier type burner and charcoal discs - you just have to make sure the burner is somewhere safe for the hour or so it is hot. You buy rolls of discs specifically for the purpose, place a (very) few "tears" on top and that's it. Frankincense melts and burns to smoke, myrrh sort of smoulders. Generally a ratio a few pieces of frank and a single piece of myrrh is good.
I just ordered my equipment online - if you google "charcoal discs+incense" I'm sure you will find..
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post #12 of 35
1/3/10 at 2:36pm
if you are going to buy a burner, getting one with a top is probably a good idea. then you can close it, there will be no oxygen and the burning stops. otherwise, the charcoal will smolder for hours.

i agree that there should be more frankincense than myrrh in the mix, just a little to enrich the frankincense is good, but i actually skip that part most of the time and go straight for frankincense, which smells sensational and is multi-faceted all by itself.

next time i want to order some benzoin resin. i suspect this mixes well with frankincense too, i've got to try that as well. any experience here?
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post #13 of 35
1/3/10 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 
This is my first experience burning incense so I don't know the quality of the resins I'm fooling with. But I cut the bottom off a coke can and used that to hold a lump of myrrh over a tea candle. (I wanted to try myrrh first, since I'm more familiar with frankincense.) The outside of the myrrh 'tear' got dark, but it didn't smoke or melt or give off enough scent of overcome the burnt smell of the wick. Then I put the tear in the coke can bottom in a cook pot on the stove. Up to medium-high heat, nothing. I'm a little afraid of melting the coke can and ruining the cook pot.

I think I'll try more and different lumps.

Thanks, all.
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post #14 of 35
1/4/10 at 5:34am
Yes, myrrh doesn't burn nearly as easilly as frank. I would really recommend a brazier and charcoal - who knows what chemicals/smells you are putting in the air with coke cans etc
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post #15 of 35
1/4/10 at 5:56am
you could try a proper candle instead of a tea light, they have larger flames and offer more heat.
get it to burn steady, and then play with the height over the flame.

i haven't tried the coke can but what i do is pretty similar (a very thin sheet of aluminum over a flame) and it works.
the myrrh should start to bubble and melt/disintegrate, not just turn black on the outside. it offers a rather peculiar base/dark smell, and is all by itself not as good as frankincense is. (in my opinion)
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post #16 of 35
1/4/10 at 7:21am
If you do want to use the spoon method but not ruin a good spoon, get a single cheapo one from Ocean State Job Lot
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post #17 of 35
1/4/10 at 3:14pm
Charcoal is really a must. You can buy a roll of 10 for less than $6 shipped on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Swift-Lite-Cha.../dp/B001B8OG9Q. It is only $1.99 locally for me, so depending on how much you choose to burn this type of incense it may be worth finding a local source.
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post #18 of 35
1/5/10 at 11:49am
These are the ticket. Absolutely fantastic and versatile. No mess if you use the foils.
Any incense, wood chips, resins, oils, etc. can be used. Charcoal works well too but you'll have a bigger mess and less control over the temperature.


Quote:
Originally Posted by PhinClio View Post

As mentioned upthread, the two simplest way to burn these resins are on charcoal or in an electric incense warmer. Two sites that sell both are Mermade Magickal Arts (don't be put off by the extreme New Aginess) and Essence of the Ages. Both are, incidentally, excellent incense e-tailers. The latter has a wide variety of incenses from around the world. The former sells its own incenses and also has excellent hougary frankincense from Oman.
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post #19 of 35
1/6/10 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
I've tried a couple of other things, semi-successfully.

I dropped two tears each of Myrrh and Frankincense directly onto a candle flame. They caught fire and burned. I got a mixed scent along with some fairly black smoke. No problems because the ceiling is high. But the extra heat from the burning incense melted candle wax until it was deep enough for the tears to sink. Then they didn't burn anymore.

I put two tears each in the base of my Coke can and put that in a small pan on the stove. I set the electric burner to High. Pretty soon the incense was smoking strongly. In about 5 minutes the kitchen was smelling strongly of incense. Then I noticed that the bottom of the pan was turning a rainbow of colors. I didn't burn through the bottom of the pan but I might have if I hadn't stopped. This sounds like 30 Roses' experience sacrificing a spoon.

I've discovered that I'm not so crazy about actual smokey burning incense. I think I prefer the extracted molecules in colognes and perfumes. Has anyone else had this experience?
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post #20 of 35
1/25/10 at 4:44pm
you can find diffusers on ebay sometimes that have a copper plate for the resin and you put a votive candle beneath. it's supposed to be best to not attempt to really really clean the plate, that a separate one should be used for each different kind of incense. add benzoin to the frankincense and myrrh and it becomes very sensual, by the way.
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post #21 of 35
1/26/10 at 6:44am
Years ago I used to burn frankincense on charcoal tablets. You can buy them in church supply stores, or spiritual/wiccan type shops. They make a LOT of smoke, though! The diffuser with the copper plate over a votive candle that asingleman mentions sounds like the way to go. I'd use that if I could find one.
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post #22 of 35
2/6/10 at 9:25am
The best way is using the electric incense burner. It doesn't smoke as much so you get the truest smell. Mermaid is a great source and she also sells a vaporizer which is wonderful.

http://www.mermadearts.com/index.php?cPath=43

I have known Katlyn for almost 20 years and she puts a lot of care into her products.
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post #23 of 35
2/6/10 at 5:07pm
  • Kav
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Pop in to any orthodox christian church. Most will sell small rolls of charcoal. The smoke IS part of the experience.
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post #24 of 35
2/7/10 at 9:32am
xxxx
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post #25 of 35
2/7/10 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kav View Post

Pop in to any orthodox christian church. Most will sell small rolls of charcoal. The smoke IS part of the experience.

I've used the charcoal for over 35 years. I prefer the electric burner to charcoal. It smells better and less charred. You still get smoke, but it is much nicer smelling smoke.
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post #26 of 35
2/7/10 at 6:29pm
  • Kav
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From a simple practical point an electric burner may be superior. But step into a tibetan temple and candles flicker off tankas and mandalas while sandalwood's sweet smell carrying prayers mixes with the earthy reminder of burning charcoal and the impermanence of the world. Then go to a church, in my case orthodox and you see beeswax candles flickering against icons and stained glass and the smell of frankinsence as a gift again mixing with charcoal reminding us of the good and the sorrowfull.
To each his own, but to me it's like buying cologne in a plastic bottle.
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post #27 of 35
2/8/10 at 9:07am
charcoal is easy to find here at Whole Foods and other such health food/vitamin stores. I always burn it straight on the charcoal, but maybe I'll try it with foil next time. I also picked up some copal tears at a gem & mineral show and they are quite green, very different than frankincense. I would love to find piñon resin tears, (maybe I should just take a walk and check the trees near where I live). I love burning piñon in the fireplace, espcially when it has quite a bit of resin, smells so good.
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post #28 of 35
2/9/10 at 3:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kav View Post

From a simple practical point an electric burner may be superior. But step into a tibetan temple and candles flicker off tankas and mandalas while sandalwood's sweet smell carrying prayers mixes with the earthy reminder of burning charcoal and the impermanence of the world. Then go to a church, in my case orthodox and you see beeswax candles flickering against icons and stained glass and the smell of frankinsence as a gift again mixing with charcoal reminding us of the good and the sorrowfull.
To each his own, but to me it's like buying cologne in a plastic bottle.

All I can say is don't knock it til you try it. It is actually the opposite of perfume in a plastic bottle. You get a longer burn, cleaner scent and can keep the smoke going for a long time without it getting too smokey in the room. If you are doing a ceremony it is awesome! I know many old time ceremonial magicians who, after trying the electric thurible will never go back to charcoal again...

The next best thing is using foil on top of the charcoal (if you are a purist you can heap ashes over the charcoal and place the resin on the ashes)... either way smells much better than putting the resin directly on bare charcoal.
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post #29 of 35
2/9/10 at 3:44pm
What about soot on the walls? I'd be worried about soot residue on paintings and fabrics.
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post #30 of 35
2/9/10 at 3:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Morticia View Post

What about soot on the walls? I'd be worried about soot residue on paintings and fabrics.

That's a good point too! Using lower smoke methods for burning incense is a good idea for many reasons. Most of the incense enthusiasts I know (and having compounded incense for many years, I know a lot of them) are constantly looking for ways to improve the experience. If you don't like "new-fangled" ideas like electric burners, atomizers or foil, try a layer of ash on your charcoal...it is a method that has been in use for longer than we know and it insulates the product from too much heat resulting in a much lower smoke output which will make for a better experience all around.
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post #31 of 35
2/9/10 at 10:34pm
Thread Starter 
I don't know how generally this works but I've found that I can burn my lumps of myrrh and frankincense directly. I put them in the empty aluminum cup left when a tea candle had all burned up. Then I just held a lighted match in direct contact with the resin until it caught. I only got the smell and the smoke of the incense, nothing extra from charcoal. For safety I worked on a hotpad, on a glass topped table, in the middle of the room, so I also didn't see smoke on any walls or fabrics. If the fire goes out while some material remains unburned, I just leave it until next time when I add some fresh resin to light. In a confined space the fire goes nicely from one lump to the next.
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post #32 of 35
2/15/10 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kav View Post

The smoke IS part of the experience.

I agree, but I also understand concerns about soot damage. In a church or old stone building, soot is part of the charm. But in your home smoke can damage furnishings.
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post #33 of 35
11/1/12 at 8:00pm

IMG_0629 by ConiferLover, on Flickr

IMG_0628 by ConiferLover, on Flickr
This came in the mail today. I have been influenced my Mumsy in the resins department. I think its a nice catch, what doo you guys think?
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post #34 of 35
11/3/12 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Digindirt View Post


IMG_0629 by ConiferLover, on Flickr

IMG_0628 by ConiferLover, on Flickr
This came in the mail today. I have been influenced my Mumsy in the resins department. I think its a nice catch, what doo you guys think?

You see, they do indeed look like gemstones!

Enjoy!!
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post #35 of 35
5/17/13 at 5:15am

Hello....have been on a search for a temperature controlled electric incense burner that with any luck has a shut off timer.  I see them online - but only to purchase from China in bulk.  You advised another to go to China or Indian store - well Ive been callling and no one seems to know what Im talking about    I live in Schaumburg Il - mintures from Chicago and I see you are in Chicago.  By chance can you give me a store or shop name in our area that sells these.

Thank you so much

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