Copper Incense Burners

Copper incense burners

An incense burner carries the smoke of bakhoor or oud set on glowing charcoal, in Gulf and Anatolian custom it is part of welcoming a guest. The perforations in the lid regulate how the smoke escapes. Copper takes the heat well and spreads the charcoal's warmth through the body instead of letting it build in one spot.

The hole pattern is not only decoration. Too few openings and the charcoal smothers; too many and the bakhoor burns off in a few minutes instead of scenting a room for half an hour. The old shapes found that balance a long time ago, and we follow them rather than redrawing them.

Shapes and sizes

Small hand-carried burners run 10 to 15 cm tall; models meant to stand in the room are 20 to 30 cm. Chained versions are swung by hand. Footed models keep the heat off the surface below, choose a footed one for table use, or set a trivet underneath.

What you burn matters as much as what you burn it in. Bakhoor is a compressed blend of wood chips, resin and scented oil, and it is the everyday choice. Oud is the resinous heartwood itself, expensive and slow, and a chip the size of a lentil is enough for a room. Loose frankincense and myrrh behave differently again, burning hotter and finishing faster on the same charcoal.

Lighting bakhoor

• Light a charcoal disc at one edge and wait until it is grey all over, roughly five to ten minutes.
• Set the disc in the chamber, then place a small piece of bakhoor or a chip of oud on top of it, never underneath.
• One piece scents a room for twenty to thirty minutes. More smoke is not more fragrance.
• Carry the burner through the rooms instead of leaving it in one place, which is both the traditional way and the effective one.

Use and care

A thin layer of sand or a piece of foil in the inner chamber makes the ash easy to clear and protects the base. Do not move the burner before the charcoal is fully out; the body stays hot for a long time, often twenty minutes after the last glow has gone. Once cool, empty the ash and wipe the interior with a dry cloth. Soot build-up is normal, scrubbing hard will scratch the surface. Keep the burner away from smoke alarms and open a window while it works.