Oak chips

[Wade E]

Do oak chips have to be toasted. I'm making a small trial batch of red
wine from grape juice and do woodworking. I use a lot of white oak and
wonder if you have to prep the wood before using it. If so what do you
do to prep it?

 

[Dean]

Plain oak adds tannin, but not too much flavour. The toast level on the oak adds more flavor to the wine. The heavier the toast the more vanilla, tobacco, and caramel flavors come out.

Typical "wine" oak is air dried for 3 years (I dunno why, maybe kiln drying does something to the wood). Experiment with little amounts in 2-3 gallon batches. It if works out, sell us some!

 

[grapeman]

I have made my own chips from native white oak. I've done chips, sawdust, cubes and strips. WARNING- Do NOT put it in the microwave. I did that with a strip of oak 1/2 x 1/2 x 12" and 30 seconds of microwaving filled the house with smoke- another few seconds and the fire would have erupted. I put the wood of choice on a cookie sheet in the regular oven at 400 for about 60 minutes. It doesn't come out as dark as some I've bought, but I get chicken since the microwave episode(the house smelled great for about a week after that episode).


Best results so far have been the strips- roast for an hour and then placing on the electric stovetop burner (set on medium high) for a few seconds and then turn a quater turn. Go around a few times until it gets a charred color. Cool and it's ready. I've used the oak in quite a few batches and they seem to give the desired results.

 

[Wade E]

Excellent guys, thanks, I'll give that a try.