Making Natron the Quick and Lazy Way

Okay, it’s official. I’ve flunked Natron cooking class. My first attempts at making natron were an utter failure three times. Just so you can see what I did wrong, this was my process:

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Place in a custard cup

Add barely enough water to dissolve

Let it dry for 3-4 days.

So by the fourth day I’d take it to the kitchen and sure enough there was still enough moisture that the water redissolved the crystals and ruined the batch. Probably my impatience was what got to me and that’s the reason I created this impromptu and lazy way of creating natron within 2 minutes.

Mix everything like above:

• (1 part salt, 1 part baking soda, just enough water to dissolve in a bowl)
• Place a microwave safe lid over the mixture in case it splatters.
• Microwave the mixture on high for 1 minute.
• If the natron still has some water, microwave for 30 seconds more.
• When you take it out you’ll have a perfectly dried batch of natron.

Because the bowl will be hot, let it cool for 5 minutes, then break apart the natron chunks with a butter knife and then grind it with the blunt end the knife or with a spoon. The natron in the jar is the batch I made using a microwave.

How to Create a Smoke Ring with Incense

I learned how to create a smoke ring with incense quite by accident when I started wafting the incense toward my statues. Here’s an easy way you can recreate it yourself.