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care of food grade wood stuff | (Read 1120 times) |
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1343
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May 21, 2007, 06:33:43 AM |
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So I live in a house full of people. And I have supplied some nice wooden ware. A couple of cutting boards, a "pizza peel" and a really nice wooden spoon (made from a serviceberry bush/tree - a really good permaculture plant).
I have never put anything on any of these. And some of the boards are showing signs that they might crack a little.
And, I have to admit, that if I find one piece sitting in the bottom of the sink, my imagination runs wild with the idea that it is soaking up something funky from the bottom of the sink.
A housemate was kind enough to pick up some mineral oil for care of these things.
What the hell is mineral oil? This was the beginning of an information quest to find out what is the best thing to use (by my standards) to take care of food grade wood stuff.
First, mineral oil is a petroleum product. It is considered to be food safe. For most of the folks that work with food safe wood, it is what you use. Food oils (at first glance) all turn rancid.
Some folks use linseed oil (flax seed oil). Some versions of it are laced with nasty chemicals. Other versions go rancid. My research shows one or the other and nothing in between.
I cute suggestion I saw was to use nothing! It's free. It's easy to apply. It works pretty good. I have to admit, I am powerfully tempted by this idea.
Until this investigation, I had never heard of tung oil. Wow! What a an amazing finish! It apparently comes from a "tung tree nut". While the finish is amazing looking, it apparently takes a lot of work - including getting the first few applications to penetrate the wood - which could involve stuff like turpentine! (ick!) .... and I'm not too sure about how edible/food safe this stuff is.
While I find a lot of people using all sorts of edible oils and saying "works for me" I have to wonder about if this stuff turns rancid and they don't seem to notice - or maybe it doesn't bother them. I wonder if they get colds easily - and if they were to switch out their woodenware and not treat it if they would not get colds as often. Just a thought.
Walnut oil. Now we're talking!!! Walnut oil polymerizes when it comes into contact with the air. "Polymerize" is a word I've been studying a lot lately with my reasearch on seasoning cast iron. This is where a liquid oil gets its molecules re-arranged into something hard and inert - rock-like. Paint-like. It is still the same edible molecule. If you bust off pieces, you can eat it. Most oils will polymerize with heat and time (the seasoning process of cast iron). Some oils make a stronger surface than others. Walnut oil may not be the best choice for cast iron, but according to my research, it is the best choice for woodenware. Once polymerized, it cannot turn rancid. All you need to do is buy a little walnut oil and rub it on. Warming it slightly first will help it to penetrate the wood.
Slight improvement: Add a little beeswax. It makes your woodenware a little more water resistant, last a little longer and .... well ... smell nice.
The recipe I'm going to try: a thin layer of warmed walnut oil. Wait a day (not a problem to use it between layers). Another thin layer of warmed walnut oil. Wait a day. Warm a cup of walnut oil with two tablespoons of beeswax shavings. When the beeswax is melted, add a layer of this mix. Use the leftovers to make some cornbread (or a stir fry, or whatever!).
While I have now read dozens of web pages on this, the best were:
http://www.dld123.com/q&a/qandatemp.php?id=Q33
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=26893
http://whatscookingamerica.net/CuttingBoards/AllAbout.htm
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Marilyn Queiroz
Administrator
Posts: 59
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June 07, 2007, 12:01:37 AM |
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I read a study one time on wood cutting board vs other types (plastic, for example). People thought the plastic would be easier to keep clean, and thus, safer. But it turned out that the wood cutting board actually tested out to have less bacteria. It appeared as though the wood had some sort of "antibiotic" properties.
I wonder if coating the wood with oil, wax, etc. might diminish that property.
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pennielinkpc
Posts: 21
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June 11, 2007, 12:05:10 AM |
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Hadn't thought much about rancidifying oils on woodenware, quite frankly, though I did opt out of mineral oil years ago upon realizing what it is. Now that I'm reading this, food oil certainly seems worth considering. Just for the record, I have used olive oil all along, though a thin coat as infrequently as possible (once a year or so?), We are 2 adults and 2 kids (now 15 and 13) and we get light colds about twice a year.
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ktobscure
Posts: 1
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August 08, 2007, 04:37:02 PM |
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I've talked to someone who recommended dipping food grade wood in molten beeswax as a solution. From personal experience any time you're dipping anything into molten wax of any kind you should: a; use a double boiler, b; have a fire extinguisher on hand, c; not walk away from any part of the process. Newsprint works to lay the dipped product down on, and you can then use it as a fire starter as most wax is flammable. Stearic acid can be used to raise the melting point of many waxes, but it can also raise the melting point to too near the flash point for comfort (said college age friend luckily had time to clean the most visible surfaces in the kitchen before his folks got home).
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