Home Distiller

So, in my search for exotic woods all im finding is kiln dried woods. It seems all the places I talk to claim that to import these woods they are required to be kiln dried as to eliminate infestations -

I've read on here that kiln dried oak is a no-no...has anybody had any experience with finding more exotic woods that have not been kiln dried? It seems like "pen blanks" would be perfect as they usually measure 3/4" X3/4" by 5" and come in all sorts of wood types. A source that air dries would be awesome or am I over exaggerating the badness of kiln dried.

Thanks!

I can't imagine why kiln dried would be a no no, but there's a lot I don't know. I also find white oak to be a wonderful wood for this hobby. Let me know where you are and I'll send you some for the price of shipping and maybe you make a small donation to the sight. What kind of exotics are you looking for, I may have access but most are kinda nasty.

I'm not sure either but depending on the temp the kiln was during the drying process it make already have a flavor profile cooked into it. Basically pretoasted to a flavor you may not like. Just a thought.

I was under the impression that Kiln dried wood locks in things that would evaporate out naturally under normal air drying/aging processes (thus barrel companies toting 36 month air dried products). Lets hope someone with more experience chimes in on the subject though...

Nutmegmooner - thanks for the offer on the white oak...I live in Quercus garryana and wine country (Oregon) so I have all the White Oak i need. I would be stoked to find a mix of naturally dried fruit woods though (Cherry, apricot, apple). There is a company in Colorado I think but they deal in 15lb boxes - unmixed. I was also just reading about about Palisander wood (also known as cocobolo i think) - seems pretty interesting.

I cannot imagine cocobolo as tasting good but if you want to try I think I can help. Apple should be available from local orchards during their pruning season but you might need to have access to tools to process it. Rots really fast making it difficult to air dry. I only use it for smoking food.

imported would require kiln drying as critters need to die. They require it for export (and import into the buying country). This is why they ask when you cross the border if you have wood products.

Kind of funny story - went to Africa - forgot to say "I have wood stuff" - went to the second inspection - thankfully not the third latex finger inspection - but they looked at our carvings and said "as long as it is painted it is fine - we are looking for raw wood - took them home, and about a year later I had to kill about 8 long beetles that were inside the wood ...

air drying in the open allows rain to leach out tannins, lowering the tannin levels.

ahhm, so it is a tannin thing.

Yeah, Not sure on the cocobolo - wikipedia claims it is another term for Palisander (which no body has heard of). Supposedly, according to Tony Ackland, the BOSS of this place, it gives a very strong vanilla flavor. Sounded like it would be interesting to mess around with.

From http://homedistiller.org/legacy/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
"Palisander extract: (deep brown, almost black precious wood, quite similar to ebony -but more expensive- used in making violin "souls", sometimes in guitar's... (How do you call where you mark the chords with your fingers?) The dark wood strips they sometimes use to decorate this and sometimes other parts as well are mad from this wood) cover with 60-70% alcohol from beer, more than a month is better. I think this is the wood that smells more like vanilla I have ever smelled."

So, back to the air drying and tannins - I know oak had tannins, is this such an issue with fruit wood such as cherry and apple?

I was only stating 1 reason that I have read about. But I'm the guy that uses red oak that's full of tannins and says its great.

Most woods do have some tannins in it, I can tell you for certain that cherry does

Most kiln dried wood is dried at a maximum of 60C/140F, which should not significantly alter the profile of the wood from a flavor standpoint... That's only marginally warmer than leaving wood exposed to direct sunlight over summer months... It would be interesting to know actual results from real world comparisons, however...

Be careful with non-food grade wood, spraying wood with bug and fungus poison is pretty common.

Jeezeebus Rad - ya live in Death Valley? Haha! you are right though....point taken.

Heartcut - there you go....had to scare us again! What is 'food grade wood" anyhow? I've never seen this marked or distinguished but it makes complete since. Yikes!

The wood chips and chunks that are for sale in the bar-b-que section of stores is an example, or a booze or wine barrel. Wood that you or someone you trust cut from a tree might fit the bill too, depending on where the tree was growing. Doing chemical analysis for a living will scare you a bit.