Thread: Huon- To oil or not to oil.

I will oil it. A bit of oil does make it look better when you give it to you friend that is about it.

Food safe oil

An oven-baked food safe finish, like good olive oil, will not go rancid and cannot be washed out of the wood.
Three minutes and 30 seconds and the pot stirrer will need no upkeep.
I did 70 birch spoons and 30 birch forks and the ones I kept I use in boiling water on the stove for pasta every week.
They look as though they are fresh out of the oven. Maybe 3-4 years now?

Here is a photo in the unoiled state. Bought the Huon at Maleny Wood Expo. Unfortunately, it has a small knot in the paddle section. I ran a bit of CA glue around its perimeter; just hope it does not fall out into one of his stews or curries.

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

An oven-baked food safe finish, like good olive oil, will not go rancid and cannot be washed out of the wood.
Three minutes and 30 seconds and the pot stirrer will need no upkeep.
I did 70 birch spoons and 30 birch forks and the ones I kept I use in boiling water on the stove for pasta every week.
They look as though they are fresh out of the oven. Maybe 3-4 years now?

At what temperature? It's okay to quote Fahrenheit as I can convert to Celcius.

Personally, I would not use Huon for food contact because the natural oil can taint food, especialy fatty foods like cheese, in the early stages of its use. Yes, we know its sold and used for cutting boards, cheese platters etc. In time the natural aroma & wood oil is lost, leaches out or evaporates with heat, steam etc. This natural oil is not very toxic (ie very sl toxic), except to bugs and fungus as it confers durability to Huon. Its similar to clove oil in chemical composition. Its not the toxicity its the ability to taint that may worry a chef.

Woods like birch, poplar, willow etc are more suitable when treated with food grade oil as suggested but have less appeal.

My personal views but I have written on such matters.

Euge

Originally Posted by Euge

Personally, I would not use Huon for food contact because the natural oil can taint food, especialy fatty foods like cheese, in the early stages of its use. Yes, we know its sold and used for cutting boards, cheese platters etc. In time the natural aroma & wood oil is lost, leaches out or evaporates with heat, steam etc. This natural oil is not very toxic (ie very sl toxic), except to bugs and fungus as it confers durability to Huon. Its similar to clove oil in chemical composition. Its not the toxicity its the ability to taint that may worry a chef.

Woods like birch, poplar, willow etc are more suitable when treated with food grade oil as suggested but have less appeal.

My personal views but I have written on such matters.

Euge

Ooh! That has thrown a spanner in the works. I had read about its suitability for wood utensils; they did not mention tainting.

Well I have been using my home made huon pine spatulas for years without any sort of sealing/coating and it hasn't killed me yet

I like Huon Pine, and personally would not oil it but use it au natural.

For the brief moments of contact, I can't imagine Huon tainting foods like a strong pasta sauce.

Oven-Baked Finish:
This is a factual application of Charles' Law in elementary gas physics. I invented nothing, neither did Dr. Google.
1. Preheat your kitchen oven to no more than 325F
2. On a wire cake rack over a sheet pan,slather the wooden utensil with the oil of your choice.
I use cold press extra virgin Greek Kalamata olive oil because I have lots of it.
3. Into the oven for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Four minutes will start to brown the wood = do not need that.
4. Out of the oven let every thing cool. You should notice a little foam of air bubbles coming out of the exposed end grain.

Here's what happened:
In the oven, the wood air heats up and expands according to Charles' Law.
Out of the oven, the remaining wood air cools and contracts, according to Charles' Law.
As that happens, the contracting air will suck the oil further into the wood than any simple soak can accomplish.
Furthermore, you need to reheat the wood to more than 325F in future to get the oil to move.

As tempting as it may seem, do yourself a favor and don't pickup the oily 325F spoon, OK?

Wow, I'll have to try the oven baked finish! Thanks for the recipe

I have done similar treatment to a few bamboo Shakuhachi flutes (Phyllostachys aurea root-end basted in olive oil in the oven at around 220*C for 5 or 6 minutes) which turned out great. I'm tempted now to try in on other wood types.

V

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

For the brief moments of contact, I can't imagine Huon tainting foods like a strong pasta sauce.

I agree, but in the early days of spoon use when the chef is tasting more delicate hot sauces (and they do) he may well taste "extract of Huon" and wonder "what is that?"
It may become a new culinary exotic flavour. The oil replacement treatement as mentioned would reduce evidence of the natural oil

I don't need the chef's spittle in my sauce. It just isn't done.
Is that why old spoons turn black? Chef-saliva? Ugh.

The process is based in the gas laws of physics. Quick enough to be quite useful.
I was trying to carve spoons and forks fast enough to have something to sell.
$0.15 birch wood, carving by the dozen, 90 minutes each, selling for $12.00 each.
I quit after 70 spoons and 30 forks. Don't plan to ever do another.

I have a few Huon stovetop utensils. They are quite soft and wear on he edges fast. Taste isn’t a problem but after a year or so of use in the real world they don’t look very flash. They make nice gifts but I now use casuarina or banksia and callistamon for my spoons. Dense and pretty grain that holds the finish better. Most come from garden offcuts.

My last batch were finished with Robson’s oven oil method. It survives the dishwasher ! Awesome method.