My wife has begun recently making a bunch of kitchen utensils in various woods, domestic and exotic.
Anyone have any ideas on the toxicities related to using various woods in their finished form in contact with foods? Lets start with a basic like walnut.
Replies
walnut is cool.
oak is not.
maple is way cool.
redwood is not.
ash is okay.
mango is bad.
Eucalyptus is alright.
teak is a bad choice.
what else? aloha, mike
western sycamore?
canary wood?
Thanks Mike
Mike,
It used to be thought that oak is not good for kitchen supplies, but new studies show that this is not true. Although oak has an open grain that can catch food particles (the reason it was out of favor) it has been shown than oak also has better bacteria-fighting agents. So oak is a good wood for cutting boards. You can have the hardness of oak and not worry about it.That being said, maple is still a better choice for a variety of other reasons.
Edited 9/24/2005 8:44 am ET by MatthewSchenker
<So oak is a good wood for cutting boards. You can have the hardness of oak and not worry about it.>White oak, I presume. Red oak is high in tannins and although not poisonous will discolor and decay rapidly. Here is that oak thing again-I just wont use it-I have to get over it I know.
Canary wood I dont know about as I havent used but a little of it. Is it a daubergia? Western sycamore ought to have plenty of info posted in the wood info sites. Most woods have elements of dispropriety in certain uses. A few are great for any use and thanks to our forebears who "discovered" these properties by direct "experimentation" on themselves or clients.
Every couple of years in Hawaii, someone dies from cooking hot dogs on an oleander stick. Oleander being a highky toxic plant with beautiful flowers that grows all over the islands with the common name "be still" plant. aloha, mike
Crushed oleander leaves - a quick and dirty poison used in many a Southern California mystery novel. Sorry to hear about accidents in HI.
A surprise for some, cherry can be very toxic.
DonI'm not the man I used to be, but then I never was!
Guys: We have an Apple tree that the kids use twigs from for marshmellow roasting, that's ok right? Also these get used sometimes for smoking food in the BBQ so hope it is safe. I wonder what other woods that when used with heat become toxic. DukeKenneth Duke Masters
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