Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

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kmmuellr
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Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by kmmuellr »

As I'm finishing my first spirit run on a molasses rum, deep into tails and about to shut down; I'm doing some reading and just read about Cherry wood. That got me thinking....

How do you properly prep wood to go into spirit?

I've got many board feet of rough sawn, cherry from an OLD tree that I took down at my FIL's clubhouse. This has been sitting in my in-laws barn rafters in northern Michigan for at least 5 years after he had it sawn from the logs. I just pulled some down to make a few things my wife wants, and I figure I'll have some scrap, so I may as well do something with it!' This is nice heartwood, 11 inch wide boards.

I've also got a stack of cut and split firewood from a Bradford Pear that I cut out of my back yard this past summer. Its probably 7 months old now, from a ~25 year old tree.

I've read varying things here re: toasting and charring, etc; and have done some of that with old barrel staves I have. However, I don't know if I should follow the same procedure with "new" wood.

1. is the cherry good to go and process, or should it have some outside aging?
2. is the pear good to go and process w/ ~7 months of weather exposure?

Any tips or tricks, or guidance?

Thanks!
K

Edited to add - I also have a bunch of REALLY old walnut in the rafters, rough sawn. Anyone age w/ walnut?
Last edited by kmmuellr on Wed Jan 19, 2022 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Ben
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear

Post by Ben »

It wouldnt hurt the cherry to have some outside exposure. The Pear is probably fine, pear is very perishable, it seasons quick. Your choice on toast or char. Try both, find your preferences. Might benefit you to break out a few pint jars and do some side by side experiments with the same liquor.
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OtisT
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear

Post by OtisT »

Hi km. I’ve only worked with seasoned fruitwood and only the heartwood, so I can’t say if it needs to be seasoned outside or not. I’ve never read anything definitive about the need to season fruitwood so my advice to you on that if you want to know the answer would be to keep some dry while you season the rest, then make some liquor and compare the two. The main reason I hear about for seasoning oak is to remove tannins. I don’t detect a lot of tannins in my fruitwood, so I question the need for seasoning.

Other than seasoning, my personal preference on fruitwood prep is to leave it raw or give it a lower temp (360+/-) and shallow (<1 hour) toast. I tried charred wood too but unless it’s going into a bourbon, I’m not a big fan.

My cherry wood was very strong (smell/flavor) compared to my Apple. I found that I got plenty of smell/taste from a small amount of wood. I settled on about 10g or less of cherry wood per liter of barrel strength spirit, or 15-20g of apple wood for a liter of barrel strength spirit.

Good luck
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kmmuellr
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear

Post by kmmuellr »

OtisT wrote: Wed Jan 19, 2022 12:15 pm Hi km. I’ve only worked with seasoned fruitwood and only the heartwood, so I can’t say if it needs to be seasoned outside or not. I’ve never read anything definitive about the need to season fruitwood so my advice to you on that if you want to know the answer would be to keep some dry while you season the rest, then make some liquor and compare the two. The main reason I hear about for seasoning oak is to remove tannins. I don’t detect a lot of tannins in my fruitwood, so I question the need for seasoning.

Other than seasoning, my personal preference on fruitwood prep is to leave it raw or give it a lower temp (360+/-) and shallow (<1 hour) toast. I tried charred wood too but unless it’s going into a bourbon, I’m not a big fan.

My cherry wood was very strong (smell/flavor) compared to my Apple. I found that I got plenty of smell/taste from a small amount of wood. I settled on about 10g or less of cherry wood per liter of barrel strength spirit, or 15-20g of apple wood for a liter of barrel strength spirit.

Good luck
Otis
Thanks, Otis! Awesome info on your thread. Lots more reading to do!

K
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Deplorable
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear

Post by Deplorable »

I dont have much experience with fruit wood yet, but I have to say lightly toasted cherry heart wood adds a great finish to an oaked whiskey, and the few jars of straight corn whiskey I have with cherry in them are smelling absolutely Devine.
Toasted at 380 for 40 minutes. Doesn't add much color, but that flavor :thumbup:
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kmmuellr
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by kmmuellr »

Edited original post to add - I also have a bunch of REALLY old walnut in the rafters, rough sawn. Anyone age w/ walnut?

K
The Baker
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by The Baker »

Well you can make a liqueur (nocino) from unripe walnuts so it shouldn't be harmful anyway.

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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by kmmuellr »

First few pages of the google search for "Walnut" says that walnut wood is toxic. No clue myself, so I guess I'll avoid a trial!

K
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Ben
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by Ben »

kmmuellr wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 5:48 am First few pages of the google search for "Walnut" says that walnut wood is toxic. No clue myself, so I guess I'll avoid a trial!

K
I talked about walnut toxicity here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=84649&p=7687313&hil ... t#p7687313 Final post of the page.

While it should be safe, it is an intense flavor, use sparingly or test often. If you have ever smoked meat with walnut you know what I am talking about. Read that thread.
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kmmuellr
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by kmmuellr »

Ben wrote: Thu Jan 20, 2022 9:29 am
I talked about walnut toxicity here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=84649&p=7687313&hil ... t#p7687313 Final post of the page.

While it should be safe, it is an intense flavor, use sparingly or test often. If you have ever smoked meat with walnut you know what I am talking about. Read that thread.
Thanks, Ben! I didn't see that thread in my searches. I read the first article linked, but not the second yet. I've got it open for later. I've also found a discussion "Aging with Walnut sans Oak?"

I've got ingredients laid out for a bourbon, and just bought 50lbs of sugar to do a sugarhead with that spent grain. I'll be doing some trials w/ Cherry, Pear, and Walnut w/ that sugarhead. Like Otis suggest for cherry, I'll keep the quantity of wood pretty low.

K
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Re: Wood prep - Cherry and pear - And Walnut

Post by OnceAlive »

I have a bad feeling about walnut. I do love the smell when I work with it in the shop but it always reminds me of horse stalls. Now... liking the smell of horse stall is one thing... getting the taste of it in my drink is another.

The toxic substance (or organic compound) found in walnut is called juglone and is mostly found in black walnut I believe and which is only one kind of walnut among others.

Ironically enough juglone is highly dangerous/poisonous for horses!
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