[MR] Food safe firewood and dishes

[Jennifer Dobyns]

You may also use oak for baskets.  Wisteria and honeysuckle also work.

I wouldn't use pine for fires, it burns too fast.  If you're planning  
to cook on a fire, oak, locust (may be specific to North America) and  
other hardwoods are good.  They give you good coals to cook on and  
don't go up in a puff of pretty light and smoke.  Their ashes are  
also good for making soap the old fashioned way *g*

Somewhere there is a later period woodwoker's manual which discusses  
what wood works for what purpose.  I'll see if I can dig it up, it's  
been about 20 years since I saw it.   It's based on traditional  
woodworking of the time, so even if it's a couple hundred years out  
of date, it's probably applicable.   Trades didn't change that much.

Fruit woods also work for turning and bowls.  Cherry is pretty, apple  
smells very nice.  Not sure about pear.

I don't recommend black walnut for food purposes.  Don't remember  
exactly why, but we couldn't use sawdust with black walnut in it for  
bedding horses.

Mineral oil is a modern oil, iirc petrochemical based.   You want an  
edible oil like olive (maybe lemon oil) if you're using it for direct  
food contact.  It may seem like you'd expect it to go rancid and  
sticky, but consider in period you'd probably be using these items on  
a daily basis.  They wouldn't have a chance.

Oak may also be used for buckets and cutting boards.

There is also yew, but I'm not sure if it has an application in the  
kitchen.  Dogwood also has a purpose, but it's another new world wood  
iirc.

When my woodworker husband returns, I'll see if he knows where that  
reference has got to.  I think it might have been Moxon, which was 17C.

Genevieve

On Apr 6, 2006, at 10:51 AM, Sharon Gordon wrote:

> Some friends and I were trying to figure out which woods are safe  
> to use
> around food and in general safe to burn.  And also which woods were  
> safe to
> make wooden dishes out of.
>
> Toxic woods and plants: Do not use:
> Cascara--imparts bad taste to food, bark is harsh purgative
> Datura plants
> Fake wood logs--due to unknown content
> Hemlock
> Jimson weed
> Oleander
> Poison ivy
>
> We had some questions over:
> Elderberry--one person had been told the wood was toxic
> Pine--food safe ???but better not to use due to its resinous  
> properties  and
> the flavor it would add???
>
> Woods that may impart a funny taste/unsure of safety:
> Willow-medicinal taste
>
> Woods that may impart a funny taste, but safe to use:
>
> Woods that are good to use due to adding flavor to food:
> Apple
> Cedar
>
> Woods that are good to use for food but probably shouldn't be used  
> in the
> SCA as we thought they were of North American origin:
> Hickory
> Mesquite
> Pecan
>
> Woods that are good to use for cooking wood with a fairly neutral  
> flavor:
> Oak
> Maple
>
> Good for wooden dishes:
> Maple
>
> Good for wine barrels:
> Oak
>
> Good for cutting boards:
> Maple
>
> Good for buckets or crates that vegetables and fruit might be  
> transported in
> from the garden or stored in:
>
> Good for baskets that vegetables and fruit might be transported in
> from the garden or served whole in:
> Corn husks (but of North American origin)
> Willow
>
> Treat wood surfaces with this for food safety:
> (How was this done pre 1600?)
> Mineral oil--won't go rancid
>
> What can be added to this?  Anyone know of a site that has a chart  
> of food
> safe and unsafe wood?  Please let us know if you feel we have erred in
> putting something in a particular category.
>
> Sharon
> gordonse at one.net
>
>
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