Homemade toasted oak results

[wood1954]

Having plenty of 3 year old air dried white oak boards I decided to try toasting my own sticks. I made several 1/2”x1/2”x15” sticks and toasted them at 330 degrees for two hours. Made the house smell like baking vanilla cookies. Looks like a medium toast level. I’m hoping for some vanilla in my wine and some tannin as well. I’ll find out in 6 weeks.

 

[ChuckD]

I am very interested in the outcomes here… I’ve added the post to my watch list.

As a fellow woodworker I have to a ask. Have you ever considered building a barrel? I have looked into coopering in the past and I would love to take a coopering class if I could find one.

 

[mainshipfred]

I am very interested in the outcomes here… I’ve added the post to my watch list.

As a fellow woodworker I have to a ask. Have you ever considered building a barrel? I have looked into coopering in the past and I would love to take a coopering class if I could find one.

I consider myself a bit of a woodworker as well and looked into coopering a barrel. I can't imagine how long it would take without the specialty tools and equipment so I swallowed my pride and bagged the idea.

 

[wood1954]

I consider myself a bit of a woodworker as well and looked into coopering a barrel. I can't imagine how long it would take without the specialty tools and equipment so I swallowed my pride and bagged the idea.

Coopering would be hard, not something I would try. I think next time I’ll make 1/2” cubes, more surface area that way and I have a lot of aged white oak.

 

[mainshipfred]

I tried to re-coop a small 23 liter barrel @Boatboy24 gave me. When I was done sanding the diameter of the heads somehow got reduced. In trying to tighten the hoops one broke. I still have all the parts and when I have some extra time or energy I may try routing the heads and making a new hoop. Or I may just toast the staves which would be a lot easier.

 

[ChuckD]

Coopering would be hard, not something I would try. I think next time I’ll make 1/2” cubes, more surface area that way and I have a lot of aged white oak.

I understand the basics from some reading I have done but I’m sure there is a LOT that comes from experience. I would love to take a multi-day class to see if it’s something I could do. The tooling doesn’t look like too big of a lift… except perhaps the crose plane

I’m pretty sure I could make one… not so sure I could make it liquid tight.

 

[bstnh1]

Having plenty of 3 year old air dried white oak boards I decided to try toasting my own sticks. I made several 1/2”x1/2”x15” sticks and toasted them at 330 degrees for two hours. Made the house smell like baking vanilla cookies. Looks like a medium toast level. I’m hoping for some vanilla in my wine and some tannin as well. I’ll find out in 6 weeks.

You must be rich! A 1x8x8 white oak board at the local Lowes is $86.

 

[sour_grapes]

You must be rich! A 1x8x8 white oak board at the local Lowes is $86.

Yeah, it's not like white oak just grows on trees!

 

[Rice_Guy]

Back to the OP, if I was toasting to produce roasted flavors as in making coffee, or gen mai chi (roasted rice drink), or even a nice golden color on puffed rice, I would operate a rotary pan or rotating drum at about 500F/ two to four minutes, or a fluid bed at about 700F/ ten to fifteen Seconds. ,,, A 330F oven for two hours is more of a dehydration reaction intended to push volatile materials out of a solid with minimal browning flavors chemistry.

 

[ChuckD]

Back to the OP, if I was toasting to produce roasted flavors as in making coffee, or gen mai chi (roasted rice drink), or even a nice golden color on puffed rice, I would operate a rotary pan or rotating drum at about 500F/ two to four minutes, or a fluid bed at about 700F/ ten to fifteen Seconds. ,,, A 330F oven for two hours is more of a dehydration reaction intended to push volatile materials out of a solid with minimal browning flavors chemistry.

Interesting. So if I were to put a cast iron kettle on a fire and heat it to 500-600F (laser thermometer) I could dump
In oak cubes and toast for two to four minutes with continuous stirring? Or do the cubes have to reach that temperature?

Do you typically start with green, air dried, or kiln dried wood?

 

[wood1954]

You must be rich! A 1x8x8 white oak board at the local Lowes is $86.

i logged several white oaks three years ago for about 10 cents a board foot. also several red oaks, all quarter sawn as well.

 

[wood1954]

actually after i toasted the wood i had to rip it in half because it wouldn't fit in the carboy. the wood inside was just as toasted as on the outside. I think because wood is an insulator you need to toast low and slow. think of carmelized onions you don't cook them hot and fast. anyway they smell great.

 

[winemaker81]

Do you typically start with green, air dried, or kiln dried wood?

Oak for barrels is typically 18 to 36 months old. You don't want green.

i logged several white oaks three years ago for about 10 cents a board foot. also several red oaks, all quarter sawn as well.

Red oak is not normally used for winemaking, due to imparting off odors and flavors. Try searching the forum for "red oak".

 

[Rice_Guy]

Interesting. So if I were to put a cast iron kettle on a fire and heat it to 500-600F (laser thermometer) I could dump
In oak cubes and toast for two to four minutes with continuous stirring? Or do the cubes have to reach that temperature?

Do you typically start with green, air dried, or kiln dried wood?

Chuck do you like light or dark toast? Is your target smoky notes or more green vanilla note? ,,,, I haven’t done oak cubes so I also will have learning curve.

Coffee is sold with a range of flavors. Some notes can be a fresh green bean, the starting material air dried to about 11% moisture. I can put a lot of heat on a green bean safely pushing a surface charring reaction/ smoke flavor. This would be similar to the traditional direct flame making smoky flavor in producing a barrel. >> If I start with a 100% dry bean I have to be extremely careful, the risk of starting a fire is significant. This processing range will generate caramelization reactions. (the lab moisture oven was set at 150C/ three hours) On beans this is where I generate chocolate notes and eventually transition to stronger bitter/ acidic flavor notes. ,,, on a coffee roaster I will see some smoke meaning that it is close to spontaneous ignition. Then for safety I need to then dump into a cooling pan.

Back to oak cubes. The iron skillet on a stove or grill will let you safely get just below spontaneous ignition. Kettle? If you can pick it up and quickly dump it this sounds OK. If it is a fifty pound witches he’s cauldron you need some way to safely dump it, otherwise don’t try it. You need to keep the cubes moving so superheated spots/ and fire don’t occur. (rice in a fluid bed will transition to a sticky gum shortly before it forms a black ash).
,,, A propane torch on a stave or plank would let you safely build in Smokey notes ,,, and then quickly stop heating. If your flavor goal has chocolate notes you could then give hours in a lower temperature oven. >>> Safety

 

[wood1954]

Oak for barrels is typically 18 to 36 months old. You don't want green.


Red oak is not normally used for winemaking, due to imparting off odors and flavors. Try searching the forum for "red oak".

Right , red oak kinda smells like cat piss