Help please..

[JMC]

G'day, I am new here & would like some help please..
I enjoy turning spatulas, & up until now, I have always used plain pine.. But I had run out of it so used some Bunyan Nut, Cyprus, & also Bumpy Ash... They have turned out beautiful, but I am not sure if I can use these for food, or will I have to use them in some sort of decorative way.
Can anyone please help me?
JMC

[BernieP]

G'Day JMC

And welcome, if you do a search up the top of this page and enter food safe fo the subject it will give you all the posts made on your question

Cheers
Bernie

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Bunya (Araucaria bidwillii) and Cyprus are considered non-toxic timbers, if that's what you mean. Their resins, etc. are no worse for the health than Radiata Pine's, anyway.

Bumpy Ash I'm not sure of, but I think it's OK. I wouldn't place too much trust in the words of an unseen stranger without some corroborating support though. Especially when it comes to being told "I reckon she'll be right, mate."

Personally I wouldn't use them, but I wouldn't use Radiata either. It's good ol' fruit trees all the way for this li'l black duck's cooking utensils; apple, pear, plum, cherry, citrus, etc. No matter what timber is used, someone, somewhere will be allergic to it. I believe fruit trees are the safest choice of the lot... but, of course, I could be misled by some old turner's wives' tale.

[TTIT]

Dunno about the types you've used but there's a guy over Gladstone way that makes those wares from Ironbark. Sell's them all over the place so I assume it's 'safe'. Either way they look great!

[JMC]

Hope this gets to the right place, haven't been here before yesterday....
It too me a while to work out how the search thingy worked, then time to eat...
I thank you all for your response regarding food safe woods....
Think I won't take the chance with them & now my thoughts have gone to seeing them in the kitchen on the wall somehow, so they will be used decoratively, & won't be a wasted effort...
Blessings
Joy

[Tony Morton]

Hi Joy
How much of these spatulars are you going to eat, however there are some timbers I wouldnt use.

Cheers Tony

[JMC]

Using these timbers for tables might be ok, but if I am stirring them in hot food!!! Not sure about that... Thing is that the different wood turned so much nicer than pine..
JMC

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The one's you've made should be alright for personal use at home, I'll go so far as to say that I'd use them. (I wouldn't make them out of those woods, but I wouldn't be worried about using 'em. ) On the other hand, I wouldn't sell 'em or give 'em away as gifts. Not unless you're confident the timber's are non-toxic. They'd probably be OK but "probably" doesn't count for much in a court case.

This is true of any wooden items that may be used with food: chopping boards, bowls, etc. but more true of utensils that may be used to stir food while it's cooking. It's possible to seal the wood with a suitable finish, of course, but finishes wear off with time and use. They just move any potential problems to a later date.

'Tis one of the bug-bears of modern woodworking... [shrug]

[rsser]

Not sure about Cypress either.

Aside from the wood, maybe not bother with a finish - just let use and age give the pieces a patina. Or else just soak them overnight in a cheap nut-based oil and then let harden for a month. I've done this with two salad bowls and haven't noticed any problems yet (apart from a big growth on the side of my head).

[MAPLEMAN]

Cypress pine (callitris glaucophylla) is highly toxic eg. It causes dermatitis, swollen eyelids, asthma, nasal cancer and irritation of mucous membranes. The other 8 species of callitris may also be toxic!

[tashammer]

that big growth is called a "nose". You don't have to worry everyone has one. So go back to sleep now little one and try not to dream about the nose-eating monster that lives just over there in the cupboard.

[scooter]

... (apart from a big growth on the side of my head).

[OGYT]

JMC... been a while since I read this whole website, but I wouldn't sweat it, here in Texas, that is. Check out the Website:
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF11/1121B.html (This explains that Wood is better than any plastic for food items) Quote: Research Scientists smeared wooden boards with about 10,000 cells of Salmonella, Listeria, and Escherichia coli, cultured bacteria. That's about 10 times the number of organisms that typically wash off a contaminated chicken carcass. Within three minutes, 99.9 percent of the bacteria were unrecoverable and presumed dead. By the next morning, the researchers couldn't recover any live bacteria from the wood. Next, the scientists upped the germ count, inoculating the boards with a million or more bacteria apiece. Then they had enough survivors to work with, but not for long. Within two hours, again 99.9 percent of the bacteria had vanished. The only thing they've found that does enhance bacteria growth is treating the wood with mineral oil.
That said, I will say that we have some bowls made out of Black Walnut, (which is supposed to be toxic), and we ain't dead yet. We also have cutting boards that we've been using from white oak for years. But then, we're a couple o' healthy old folks, too.

[rsser]

tas: eeeek! That's it, no more clean clothes for '07.

Al: double eeeek! (You sure about this finding? (The board btw, not your health or age)).

[JMC]

Thanks OGYT, I have read that Alaska site, very interesting.... We had cafe's for a while just about the time that 'they' insisted we all use those awful plastic things!!! We just continued to use the wooden ones, & the ones I use in our kitchen now are of English Oak, Ironbark, & Pine. Interesting that no mineral oil is to be used!

I have got rid of plastic utensils because of them melting into the food, & that I have just the minor worry about these different woods for spatulas because of them being in hot foods...
Thanks again....
Joy