In Li Chunfeng's impression, saltpeter reacts violently with water to absorb the heat in the wooden basin, and the temperature in the wooden basin drops rapidly, so the water in the small vessel in the middle should condense into ice at low temperatures.

But now, the plot doesn't seem to be developing as he thought.

Looking at the wooden basin, Li Chunfeng couldn't help but fall into deep thought, he was thinking about what went wrong.

The big cow on the side came over, sniffled, looked at the wooden basin and said, "Li Lang, why is it so cold?" ”

After speaking, Li Daniu stretched out his hand and touched the thin layer of ice in the center: "Ice!" It turned out to be ice, Li Lang, what spell did you use? Turned water into ice? Tell me, how did you do that? ”

Li Daniu was surprised and delighted, he didn't expect that he would see ice in autumn.

Li Chunfeng waved his hand and said, "It's not a big deal, the experiment hasn't been completely successful." ”

As he spoke, Li Chunfeng reached out and used two chopsticks to clamp the thin layer of ice: "Only this thin layer is condensed?" What's the problem? ”

There was very little water in the small vessel, and it stands to reason that there should be more than this thin layer of condensed ice.

In Li Chunfeng's contemplation, the big cow on the side was not idle, he took advantage of Li Chunfeng's inattention, and secretly picked up the small vessel from the wooden basin, because he had just seen Li Chunfeng pour stream water into it, so he wanted to drink a sip of this cold stream water to have a good time.

"Wow! ——”

"Phew! Bah! Bah! After taking a sip of cold water, Li Daniu actually spat out.

Li Chunfeng turned his head and saw that Da Niu was holding the small vessel in his hand, and frowned and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Da Niu looked apologetic: "I...... I just want to take a sip of this ice water......"

"Why are you throwing up again?" Li Chunfeng asked, "This ice water doesn't taste good?" ”

Da Niu nodded: "How did this stream water change its taste, the sweetness is gone, and it has become a little salty." ”

"Salty?" Li Chunfeng was stunned, "I'll try." ”

Li Chunfeng took the small vessel from Da Niu's hand, and then took a small sip, and as Li Da Niu said, the water of the stream changed its taste.

Putting down the utensils in his hand and watching the thin ice turn into water in his hand, Li Chunfeng patted his thigh and said, "I know." ”

"Huh?" Li Daniu on the side was startled, "Li Lang, what do you know." ”

Li Chunfeng said: "The stream water, because it is mineral water, is not easy to freeze!" ”

Minerals are released as part of the water condenses into ice, causing a higher concentration of minerals in the remaining stream water, so the taste of the water changes.

"Mineral water?"

Li Chunfeng didn't explain the doubts in Da Niu's heart, and his eyes searched the room.

The stove, the pottery bowl, and finally Li Chunfeng's gaze stopped on a vessel that resembled a copper kettle.

"What is this?" Li Chunfeng asked.

Li Daniu said: "I don't know what it's called, but I remember that Master used it to make soju." ”

"Sake making?" Hearing this, Li Chunfeng's eyes lit up, and in order to confirm his conjecture, Li Chunfeng dismantled the copper dish.

I saw that the structure of the copper dish is also composed of upper and lower parts, the bottom of the upper body is with a ring, there is a groove near the ring, and the bottom of the tank is cast with a drainage pipe, which communicates with the outside world.

Seeing this, Li Chunfeng was overjoyed, isn't this just a simple distiller?

Li Chunfeng couldn't have imagined that in the Tang Dynasty, there was already a distiller that had begun to take shape!

According to the copper stills that have been unearthed as a reference, the origin of copper stills can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. In ancient times, it was generally used for alchemy, making shochu, steaming flower water, etc.

When using a copper still, with a cover, the steam condenses on the wall of the vessel, flows down the wall, converges in the tank and flows down the drainage pipe to the outside of the vessel, so it can play a distillation role.

The stream water that Li Daniu just took was not easy to condense because it contained many minerals, so Li Chunfeng had the idea of making distilled water first and then freezing it into ice.

Armed with the tools, Li Chunfeng poured the water from the stream into the rectifier, placed it on the stove, and began to heat and distill.

The flame burned so vigorously that the water in the copper vessel soon boiled, and the steam condensed on the wall, flowed down the wall, and gathered in the trough to form a small stream of water.

Li Chunfeng washed the small utensils just now and used them to catch the distilled water.

After about a quarter of an hour, most of the water in the still evaporated, and the small vessel in Li Chunfeng's hand also received enough distilled water.

"Enough." Li Chunfeng said to the big bull who was burning the fire, "Stop." ”

"Oh, good."

Holding the distilled water that still had residual heat, Li Chunfeng put it in the wooden basin and cooled it down with the coolness of the water in the wooden basin.

After another quarter of an hour, the temperature of the distilled water had completely cooled.

This time, Li Chunfeng was full of confidence, took a new wooden basin, sprinkled the remaining half of the saltpeter evenly in the wooden basin, and then placed the small vessel containing distilled water in the center.

"Whew!" Li Chunfeng looked at the wooden basin and said, "Big Niu, do you know how to do it in a while?" ”

"Li Lang rest assured."

"Okay."

I saw Li Chunfeng pour stream water into the wooden basin again, and in an instant, a violent reaction occurred again.

"Cover!"

Li Chunfeng gave an order, and Da Niu quickly covered the wooden basin with a large pottery dish.

Time passed minute by minute, and Li Chunfeng stayed for an extra quarter of an hour this time in order to ensure that the distilled water could fully condense.

A quarter of an hour passed, Li Chunfeng was full of confidence, he had a smile on his face, looked at Li Daniu and said, "Below, is the time to witness the miracle." ”

"Open it, open it." Li Daniu was also a little impatient.

Li Chunfeng held his hands on the pottery, then took a deep breath and opened it violently.

A cold air rushed towards him, and when the mist dissipated, a condensed solid ice cube appeared in front of Li Chunfeng.

"Hahaha, it worked! It worked! Ice! We made ice! Li Daniu cheered.

Li Chunfeng smiled and took the small utensils in his hand, looked at the delicate ice cubes inside, and said, "It's really not easy for us to be for you." ”

After cheering, Li Daniu swallowed his saliva and said, "Li Lang, can I taste it." ”

Looking at Li Daniu's eager appearance, Li Chunfeng smiled: "Of course you can, you can wait a minute." ”

Saying that, Li Chunfeng turned around, took a knife from the side, then took the ice out of the vessel, and finally cut a small piece for Li Daniu.

"Come and have a taste."

Li Daniu opened his mouth, swallowed all the ice like a hungry tiger pounced, and then rattled with his teeth: "Delicious, delicious!" ”

Li Chunfeng smiled: "Just a piece of ice, what is delicious." ”

"Huh?"

"Another day, I'll bring some cheese, fruit puree, and honey and make you shaved ice to taste!"

"Just hearing you say that, my saliva will not stop," Li Daniu was full of anticipation, "The shaved ice you said must be delicious!" ”

"Of course."