DIY wood chips

[SpiffyStump]

I just started to get into using wood chips and barrles for aging spirits, I have been reading and watching youtubers on what flavors different species and roasting tempatures give the spirts, also have researched that each tree even if the same species will have different characters and flavors depinding on age of tree, season of the year, soil, things like that, but what has been hard for me to find is, do I want limbs of the tree or base/trunk of the tree? would it make a difference if the wood is the inner or outer core of the trunk? or would limbs work just fine and have no difference?

Another curiosty of mine is if any one here has noticed a differnce in harvisting wood for aging in the winter time? I harvest my own maple sap in the winter to make maple syrup and for those that do not know, the only time to harvest maple sap for maple syrup is in late winter when the tree contains high amounts of sugar and after the buds of the trees start to open the high sugar content completley goes away and if you try to cook the sap into sugar it smells like rotten fish and tastes like grass and dirt. Thinking about it know I am guessing there is different flavors if I was to harvest wood from a maple in winter or other seasons, I am guessing they would all just have different flavors depending on the time of the year that it is harvested.

I mainly made this post for wanting to know what is the best part of the tree and if anyone notices a difference in certain times of the year the tree is harvested for wood, now with me saying that I dont plan to cut a whole tree down, would it be okay to just break a limb off that is an inch in diameter? or do I want somthing thicker and has more of a core? Do you like wood chips that is harvested in the winter time when trees have more sugar in them or not? Also have read and heard about speeding the aging process by frezzing the jar and thawing and ultrasonic aging. I am very intrested in ultrasonic aging and am curious to here opinions about it. I most likley will not be doing hte nuclear method as I do not like microwaves and feel that ultrasonic would taste much better and safer. One last thing, I also read about fumes coming from the container that cause mold problems if not sealed correctly and that certain filter caps that I forgot the name of really help, but also read that a tightly sealed mason jar should be fine, looking to have that answered as well.

Looking forward to responses!
Thanks everyone! Feel free to tell me what your favorite wood and roasting temp is.

[Demy]

I prepare my wood toasted alone (there should be a my post on the forum) and generally I only use the heartheart because I started sniffing every part of the wood and discovered that it is the most aromatic part. I got great results with oak and chestnut, I toasted weathered wood and wood recently cut, they both have good results but slightly different.

[SpiffyStump]

the heart? meaning the core or center of the trunk of the tree? could I just cut a large branch and use the center/heart of that? Also is weathered wood wood that has died or fallen off from wind or storm?

[Chucker]

I’ve always thought that recommendations to use heartwood made sense so that kind of negates small limbs. I’ve been using some white oak (q.Alba?, not exactly sure and no way to verify, so I’m just gonna go with it) sourced from Amazon as smoker chunks. They are cut to 3-4” length and split large.
I split them further into finger size pieces. Some bigger, some smaller; as long as they will fit through the neck my gallon jugs. I don’t bother with any sort of specially tempered toasting routine as I figure that barrel prep probably isn’t that precise either. I put a small qty of these splits into a short piece of 8” ss pipe that I happen to have lying about. It has a heavy screen in the bottom. This goes over a Turkey fryer with the flame pretty low and with a metal cover on it. I roast it like this until I start to hear some crackling and then shake it up and keep on heating. It goes for quite a while and sometimes gets a bit of a stir as well. Probably takes 30-45 min but I’ve never really timed it. It’s done when I have to shake it too much to keep it under control.
Then I take the lid off and let it catch fire, perhaps stirring to get it somewhat uniform. When it’s blazing and I say so I grab the thing and quench it in a bucket of water standing by. I’ve got some toast, some char, and the loose dust rinsed off. These go into the jugs at whatever ratio I like. Caps all sit loose to provide some measure of breathing while they rest in the corner.
They need at least 4 months to settle in. I may start taking from some of the older ones at that point but I leave them alone unless I need to liberate some jugs, or need the odd fill.

[Hambone]

I’ve bought white oak scrap boards and cut them down to sticks, toasted, and charred. They are already kiln dried.

I prefer white oak, but I suppose many different types may work well. If you live where they grow, you can get your own. If you live within driving range of a cooperage buying one barrel would likely give you a lifetime supply for about $200…

[8Ball]

You can find good, seasoned hardwood with hearts for sale as firewood. Be careful if you buy the pre-packaged bundles in front of stores because the wood may be chemically treated for pests.

[jonnys_spirit]

I bought a half whiskey barrel planter and a few barrel heads. I literally have a lifetime supply of white oak and broke it all up into staves and it’s been out in the yard in the rain/snow/sun for a few years now. Very easy to wire brush and toast or char a stave or two as needed.

I’d like to add some fruit wood hearts to the stack and have a line on some apple and cherry sitting in my buddies yard now.

[Tummydoc]

I’ve bought white oak scrap boards and cut them down to sticks, toasted, and charred. They are already kiln dried.

I prefer white oak, but I suppose many different types may work well. If you live where they grow, you can get your own. If you live within driving range of a cooperage buying one barrel would likely give you a lifetime supply for about $200…

Or in wine country, a used oak barrel is 50-75$. And thats a 55 gallon barrel. 2 have provided me with a lifetime supply.

[Demy]

the heart? meaning the core or center of the trunk of the tree? could I just cut a large branch and use the center/heart of that? Also is weathered wood wood that has died or fallen off from wind or storm?

Exactly, the hearthame, the central part. Generally I noticed that pretty big wood lighting is more aromatic while that of twigs less. I live in Italy so I used a piece of oak fall for the wind, not exactly the American oak.

[Demy]

I found the post on my toast maybe you're interested.
https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... =4&t=81243

[Bushman]

As mentioned the heart of the tree is what you are looking for, also along with oak fruit trees are great for wood chips. I am currently using the heartwood from a plum tree that was taken out and my son found it for me. I also toast it as Demy mentioned using a torch.

[Hambone]

If you’re recycling used barrels, the wood is already cut from heartwood, seasoned, and toasted. Just needs scraped, cut to size, and charred.

[jonnys_spirit]

If you’re recycling used barrels, the wood is already cut from heartwood, seasoned, and toasted. Just needs scraped, cut to size, and charred.

The inside part of the stave was probably charred and toasted to a certain depth. The sides and outside section probably not toasted or charred. I cut a cross section to see what's what and toast them in the oven in batches with different temps/times so I can use an array of profiles in a jug or whatever... Char as needed and recycle used fingers too.. Lots of options once you dig in a little.

Cheers!
-j

[Hambone]

True on toast, Jonny

[SpiffyStump]

I bought a half whiskey barrel planter and a few barrel heads. I literally have a lifetime supply of white oak and broke it all up into staves and it’s been out in the yard in the rain/snow/sun for a few years now. Very easy to wire brush and toast or char a stave or two as needed.

I’d like to add some fruit wood hearts to the stack and have a line on some apple and cherry sitting in my buddies yard now.F6C7A9A1-87FE-4119-B417-9B7A72A629DE.jpeg

you just leave that wood sitting out? does the weather an mold not affect the flavor? I know you say you brush it but I feel like it being in the wet heat alot would change the flavor, but I do not knwo thats why I am asking. I feel for best results you would want fresh wood but maybe not.

[SpiffyStump]

I’ve bought white oak scrap boards and cut them down to sticks, toasted, and charred. They are already kiln dried.

so do I want to kiln dry the wood before baking in oven or charing? or is baking it in an oven the same thing as kiln drying? I want to oven toast some with out the char but wil deffinetly be charing some to.

how accurate is this graph? its says to toast for 3 hours correct? I notice alot of people only toast for 1 or 2 hours but I want to know what I got to do to reach these flavors as I would like to try them all.

[jonnys_spirit]

I bought a half whiskey barrel planter and a few barrel heads. I literally have a lifetime supply of white oak and broke it all up into staves and it’s been out in the yard in the rain/snow/sun for a few years now. Very easy to wire brush and toast or char a stave or two as needed.

I’d like to add some fruit wood hearts to the stack and have a line on some apple and cherry sitting in my buddies yard now.F6C7A9A1-87FE-4119-B417-9B7A72A629DE.jpeg

you just leave that wood sitting out? does the weather an mold not affect the flavor? I know you say you brush it but I feel like it being in the wet heat alot would change the flavor, but I do not knwo thats why I am asking. I feel for best results you would want fresh wood but maybe not.

Typically you want it seasoned. The cycling of heat/cold wet/dry over many seasons seasons it well - i guess that’s why the call it seasoning?. Can I mentioning again that seasoning well for many seasons will season your likker seasonally? In my ideal world I’d like a range of toast and seasoning for better depth and complexity - compared to fresh tannic wood with more sap toasted at a single level of toast - mono ain’t a bad thing either tho! Jave you tried Atmos yet?

The mould breaks down the fibers and more complex structures of the cells in the wood which high proof solvent (barrel likker) then dissolves and sterilizes into even better likker.

I’m not sayin throw a bunch of moldy wood into a jug of 120ph whiskey but I’m definitely not sayin to throw it away either lol.

Cheers,
-j

Posted same time - that chart is accurate enough to emphasize that ranges differ along those lines but instill doubt it’s paint by numbers. Toast some fingers at different temps and char and char some without toasting. Make oak tea and taste it.

[8Ball]

I’ve got some season white oak heart that I hand cut with a hatchet. It is stacked on a shelf exposed to the elements. It gets wet and then it dries fast in the wind & sun. Works well.

[Demy]

Generally the weathered wood is fine, the only thing (in my opinion) to pay attention are the Xylofagi insects (I only use healthy wood). I also tried cherry wood and it's not bad but it's quite intrusive if you use it too much. For roasting, personally I find that it is better a long slightly lower temperature toasting, to understand when you have centered the aroma you would like to open the oven, take a piece and sniff, then wet with water and sniffs again ... this It will give you a good indication about what happens to the wood. Even the room where cook will be full of fantastic aromas, if you go to the open air and then come back inside you will realize how it changes the aroma ... if you always stay inside the room your nose will be saturated and you can't distinguish well . If you need to carbon you go outdoors.

[SpiffyStump]

I bought a half whiskey barrel planter and a few barrel heads. I literally have a lifetime supply of white oak and broke it all up into staves and it’s been out in the yard in the rain/snow/sun for a few years now. Very easy to wire brush and toast or char a stave or two as needed.

I’d like to add some fruit wood hearts to the stack and have a line on some apple and cherry sitting in my buddies yard now.F6C7A9A1-87FE-4119-B417-9B7A72A629DE.jpeg

you just leave that wood sitting out? does the weather an mold not affect the flavor? I know you say you brush it but I feel like it being in the wet heat alot would change the flavor, but I do not knwo thats why I am asking. I feel for best results you would want fresh wood but maybe not.

Typically you want it seasoned. The cycling of heat/cold wet/dry over many seasons seasons it well - i guess that’s why the call it seasoning?. Can I mentioning again that seasoning well for many seasons will season your likker seasonally? In my ideal world I’d like a range of toast and seasoning for better depth and complexity - compared to fresh tannic wood with more sap toasted at a single level of toast - mono ain’t a bad thing either tho! Jave you tried Atmos yet?

The mould breaks down the fibers and more complex structures of the cells in the wood which high proof solvent (barrel likker) then dissolves and sterilizes into even better likker.

I’m not sayin throw a bunch of moldy wood into a jug of 120ph whiskey but I’m definitely not sayin to throw it away either lol.

Cheers,
-j

Posted same time - that chart is accurate enough to emphasize that ranges differ along those lines but instill doubt it’s paint by numbers. Toast some fingers at different temps and char and char some without toasting. Make oak tea and taste it.

So the wood gets better flavors when it sits outdoors in the elements? Do you sand off the mold and outer layer of the wood before putting it into your spirits? You prefer slow cooking the wood? The graph I posted says to bake for 3 hours to acheive thoses flavors but I dig the idea of slow cooking and giving it a sniff every now and then. Also I have never heard of Atmos, please explain. Thanks!

[SaltyStaves]

So the wood gets better flavors when it sits outdoors in the elements?

Some of the fungi break cellulose into hemicellulose which are wood sugars that create desirable flavours when the wood is toasted.

Do you sand off the mold and outer layer of the wood before putting it into your spirits?

The mold is useful during the seasoning process. It doesn't have any beneficial properties beyond that. I use a hand planer. A few short sweeps across the surface and I'm down to bare oak.

[SpiffyStump]

So the wood gets better flavors when it sits outdoors in the elements?

Some of the fungi break cellulose into hemicellulose which are wood sugars that create desirable flavours when the wood is toasted.

Do you sand off the mold and outer layer of the wood before putting it into your spirits?

The mold is useful during the seasoning process. It doesn't have any beneficial properties beyond that. I use a hand planer. A few short sweeps across the surface and I'm down to bare oak.

so for best results I would want to let my wood sit out in the sun and rain?

[S-Cackalacky]

Or, you could do an artificial version of seasoning that doesn't take a couple of years. I do this for raw wood chips and raw, pre-cut sticks.

I put the chips or sticks in a 1 gallon container of water and let it soak for about a week. I then remove them to a drying screen and allow them to dry for a few days. I do about 3 cycles of this. I add about 3 tblsp of H2O2 to the soaking water to prevent it from going funky.

Takes a few weeks instead of 1 to 2 years. After this process, you're ready to do the usual toasting and charing.

[Squirrel_Ess_Gen]

Or, you could do an artificial version of seasoning that doesn't take a couple of years. I do this for raw wood chips and raw, pre-cut sticks.

I put the chips or sticks in a 1 gallon container of water and let it soak for about a week. I then remove them to a drying screen and allow them to dry for a few days. I do about 3 cycles of this. I add about 3 tblsp of H2O2 to the soaking water to prevent it from going funky.

Takes a few weeks instead of 1 to 2 years. After this process, you're ready to do the usual toasting and charing.

Today I leanred something. Thank you.

[Ben]

The branch wood is fine, maybe even desirable as it isn't used in construction or woodworking (it has odd stresses and will bow, twist, sag, turn itself into pretzel). Avoid pith, avoid sapwood you are golden. Couldn't make a barrel from it, but for aging chunks it is just right. I would bet a liter of my best that 90%+ of "smoking chips" come from branch wood.

Kiln dry vs air dry I am still not sure. All kiln dried wood is air dried for a while, usually guarded form the elements until it hits about 20% water content, then thrown in the kilns to get down to 8% or so, which makes it stable for indoor use. I played with both a bit, I prefer air dried, seasoned in the elements. I think the molds add flavors.