To toast or not to toast?

[alohashine]

My oak supply comes from an old barrel planter picked up at a hardware store. It was an old whiskey barrel. I broke down the staves, planed them and sanded down. Then cut them into small 1" cubes on a table saw.
In the past I've toasted them in the oven using the T-pee method. 400 degrees for 2 hours, wrapped in foil. I was just wondering- since this is an old oak barrel, hasn't it already been toasted? Am I doing any harm by re-toasting in the oven? Or can I just use the oak as is, without toasting.

[Still Life]

Give it another cooking go. Used isn't fresh, and you've planed them down further.
Give 'em a new toast in my cheap opinion.

[Steep-n-Rocky]

Have you considered charring the staves instead of toasting? I like a combo of charred and toasted oak myself.h

[alohashine]

Have you considered charring the staves instead of toasting? I like a combo of charred and toasted oak myself.h

Yes I've charred them in the past with my whiskey and rum. Problem is I didn't use a butane torch. I used my gas bbq grill. I felt I got a pretty good alligator skin, but my whiskey and rum came out with too much of a campfire taste.
Gonna try another round of rum with toasted oak to see if it tastes better.
How do u char your oak?

[alohashine]

Give it another cooking go. Used isn't fresh, and you've planed them down further.
Give 'em a new toast in my cheap opinion.

Good call still life.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

The first thing I see is why cut them down to cubes when you can make them sticks?.allot better.

Also, if you soak that alligator char stick in water overnight before putting them in the liquor, it will remove A LOT of that campfire taste.

Disclosure, in laws in town and I'm a couple in to the sheets...

[Shine0n]

I use med toast for my rums after a good soak in some bourbon.
I haven't had good luck with the char as I either over do it or something goes wrong. Even when I used less it seems to have a taste I can't get used to.

I'm going to make some domino's this year with last year's white oak I cut and I have a 4"×10" heart of a wild cherry from 2 years ago I'll try.
Ima toast at 380f for 2 hours and hope for the best.

Shine0n

[alohashine]

The first thing I see is why cut them down to cubes when you can make them sticks?.allot better.

Also, if you soak that alligator char stick in water overnight before putting them in the liquor, it will remove A LOT of that campfire taste.

Disclosure, in laws in town and I'm a couple in to the sheets...

If in-laws are present, hope u are drinking enough for both of us.

I tried charred sticks on some previous batches, but sadly I got overzealous and used too many. All my rum and whiskey is over-oaked as hell.
Next batch of whiskey I'll use a butane torch on sticks (and soak em overnight). And I'll try to use less oak....

[alohashine]

I use med toast for my rums after a good soak in some bourbon.
I haven't had good luck with the char as I either over do it or something goes wrong. Even when I used less it seems to have a taste I can't get used to.

I'm going to make some domino's this year with last year's white oak I cut and I have a 4"×10" heart of a wild cherry from 2 years ago I'll try.
Ima toast at 380f for 2 hours and hope for the best.

Shine0n

Thanks shineon good advice bro.

[Shine0n]

at least you can still rerun the rum with another batch to recover it for the most part.

I going to start another batch of HBB this am and chop my sticks down (bandsaw) to 1"×1"×5"lg
also some domino's at 3"× 1" × 5" lg for the gallon wide mouths

I use only 1 stick for the quart jugs as I'd rather sit for longer to get what it has to offer. Or nuke 3 cycles for a quickie then 2 months on the wood.

[Steep-n-Rocky]

Once you start toasting and charring your own wood, the world is your oyster. I like staves but now I season my own wood (cherry, mulberry, red oak, s amp white oak, etc.). One more way to make it your own!

[OtisT]

I'm going to make some domino's this year with last year's white oak I cut and I have a 4"×10" heart of a wild cherry from 2 years ago...
Ima toast at 380f for 2 hours and hope for the best.

Shine0n

Hi ShineOn. Are you using a conventional oven or convection oven for that 380/2 hour toast? What color do they turn out with that toast? I've been toasting cherry recently and would love to compare results. Thanks.