Question regarding diy spalted wood.

E

Eriksen

Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
180
If I want to try to spalt wood in plastic bags, are there any limits for how low the temperature can be? I thought to place it outside now in winter when the temperature could be between 10 to -5 degr celsius (50 - 23 degr fahrenheit). Will that work?
 
Last edited:
Yes, the temp should be fine, but depending on how long the cold snaps are, you might get some added splitting if it gets cold long enough for the wood to freeze all the way through. When I had my own place in the foothills of Mt Rainier, to encourage spalting I'd leave rounds outside on the ground with something covering them to protect them from rain. A typical winter there would have temps fluctuate from the 30s to low 50s with a couple of few days or week of below freezing weather and snow.

I'm not sure how much spalting you'll get with the wood in plastic bags, though. It was my understanding that they needed some ground contact for the fungal spores.
 
I placed persimmon and maple slabs on the ground and covered with a storage bin. Check regularly for insect problems as well as the degree of mold/fungus. Once they get started you could put them in trash bags with some soil and store in a garage. Some folks have used dirt and yogurt as a primer.
 
They already have spores on the surface as you can see on the picture, but I want spalted wood with many lines also inside. Do you think I need to add something else than just water? I read in another site that beer was a good choice to add in order to get a better result.
QVizJgs.jpg

SJWZCMr.jpg
 
Last edited:
Beer, yogurt, dirt, etc ... or a cocktail of all of them. Anything that will promote growth of mold and fungus.
 
just to throw out .... but there are a number of state extension services that have directions and discussion for spalting wood. Most of them talk about burying the wood under leaves (I guess to both preserve a little heat, and supply the spores. it might be worth reading some of what they have to say before you start. I never would have thought of beer and yogurt though (yogurt culture is a bacteria, and beer is a fungus (yeast) - so beer might give you the best results???

HOWEVER, beer like the standard Bud, Miller, etc. is highly filtered and sterilized - and so will not supply the needed culture. many of the domestic craft beers are not so highly filtered, and will supply some yeast. You would likely have the best luck with a "wit" style beer (EDIT - this should read “Hefe” - really “with” yeast - NOT “Wit”). They are not filtered at all, and should be hazy with yeast.

If you really want to go for broke, use any good imported Belgian beer. They are not filtered, and are just chock full of goodies from the local environment there. I personally am really partial to Belgian Kriek. You should be able to pick it up at any good liquor store......
 
Last edited:
Cushing H. said:
just to throw out .... but there are a number of state extension services that have directions and discussion for spalting wood. Most of them talk about burying the wood under leaves (I guess to both preserve a little heat, and supply the spores. it might be worth reading some of what they have to say before you start. I never would have thought of beer and yogurt though (yogurt culture is a bacteria, and beer is a fungus (yeast) - so beer might give you the best results???

HOWEVER, beer like the standard Bud, Miller, etc. is highly filtered and sterilized - and so will not supply the needed culture. many of the domestic craft beers are not so highly filtered, and will supply some yeast. You would likely have the best luck with a "wit" style beer (the "wit" meaning "with" - really with yeast. They are not filtered at all, and should be hazy with yeast.

If you really want to go for broke, use any good imported Belgian beer. They are not filtered, and are just chock full of goodies from the local environment there. I personally am really partial to Belgian Kriek. You should be able to pick it up at any good liquor store......
Click to expand...
What about the dry brewers yeast powder which can be bought in health stores? Do you think that can work? Or maybe fermented cheese like the white one with blue spots?
 
Last edited:
Cushing H. said:
You would likely have the best luck with a "wit" style beer (the "wit" meaning "with" - really with yeast. They are not filtered at all, and should be hazy with yeast.
Click to expand...
I believe "wit" comes from the Flemish/Dutch word for "white" and refers to beers that are brewed with wheat due to the pale color, similar to the German word Weißbier. In Germany, we distinguish yeast containing wheat beers (Hefeweizen) and filtered versions (Kristallweizen), so not every wheat or white beer contains yeast.
 
I'm interested in the results you get in the winter, I was under the impression that spalting loves heat/moisture/darkness.
I tried doing this about 10 years ago, made a mess of more wood than I did good.
Look up dead mans fingers for getting the black lines.
 
Spalted said:
I'm interested in the results you get in the winter, I was under the impression that spalting loves heat/moisture/darkness.
I tried doing this about 10 years ago, made a mess of more wood than I did good.
Look up dead mans fingers for getting the black lines.
Click to expand...
I have now put some planks in a plastic container inside in my bathroom where the temperature is over 20 degr C (68 Fahrenheit) and some other outside in plastic bags on my terrace and will see after 6 weeks how it turns out.

What did you mean with the last sentence: Look up dead mans fingers for getting the black lines ?
 
Eriksen said:
I have now put some planks in a plastic container inside in my bathroom where the temperature is over 20 degr C (68 Fahrenheit) and some other outside in plastic bags on my terrace and will see after 6 weeks how it turns out.

What did you mean with the last sentence: Look up dead mans fingers for getting the black lines ?
Click to expand...
He meant google the term dead mans fingers, it is a common name for the fungus xylaria polymorpha.
 
Hubert S. said:
He meant google the term dead mans fingers, it is a common name for the fungus xylaria polymorpha.
Click to expand...
Ok I understand, but should I pick some of these and place them inside the plastic bags together with the planks? If so, will it be best to place them there whole as they are or mix them with water in a blender and add it that way?

When I tried to google it I found that that fungus is extremely rare here i Norway, but we have a lot of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleurocybella_porrigens. Can that kind of fungus give the same result?
 
Last edited:
Hubert S. said:
I believe "wit" comes from the Flemish/Dutch word for "white" and refers to beers that are brewed with wheat due to the pale color, similar to the German word Weißbier. In Germany, we distinguish yeast containing wheat beers (Hefeweizen) and filtered versions (Kristallweizen), so not every wheat or white beer contains yeast.
Click to expand...
Hubert and Jesse, you are right. I should have said Hefeweizen. My apologies - it’s been too long since I seriously thought about different beer types ... well, aside from Altbier... but that is a different story (aside, I actually do not like either Wit, Hefe, or most Belgian Abby ales ... too funky ... though I did once have a really cool conversation with a brewer at an Abby...)
 
Last edited:
Eriksen said:
What about the dry brewers yeast powder which can be bought in health stores? Do you think that can work? Or maybe fermented cheese like the white one with blue spots?
Click to expand...
I think (but might be wrong) that the yeast sold in health food stores is inactivated. However, any home brew supply store will sell packets of dry yeast, which is DEFINITELY active and alive.

the cheese might work, but my oh my, that would be an expensive starter culture!
 
Cushing H. said:
I think (but might be wrong) that the yeast sold in health food stores is inactivated. However, any home brew supply store will sell packets of dry yeast, which is DEFINITELY active and alive.

the cheese might work, but my oh my, that would be an expensive starter culture!
Click to expand...
Nutritional yeast is not active. Other powdered yeast used for baking is alive (active dry yeast or instant dry yeast) and available at every grocery store (well, before the home baking craze, it was...). That still leaves the question whether yeast will help with spalting at all.

It would be interesting to see a Gorgonzola or Roquefort spalted wood, but what about the smell?
 
Hubert S. said:
Nutritional yeast is not active. Other powdered yeast used for baking is alive (active dry yeast or instant dry yeast) and available at every grocery store (well, before the home baking craze, it was...). That still leaves the question whether yeast will help with spalting at all.

It would be interesting to see a Gorgonzola or Roquefort spalted wood, but what about the smell?
Click to expand...
Oh my ... I can already see the marketing to be done around that handle when it is put on a knife!

hopefully when dry it will not smell?
 
weo said:
Unfortunately, I don't think it's got the same overall market appeal to knife users as meteorites, fossilized bone, titanium etc... maybe a higher end restaurant would be interested...
Click to expand...
As long as you charge enough, people will think it's cool!
 
Since there is a discussion of which beer that will work and which that would not work, what about making a starter culture with just yeast, water and sugar, or does it need to be real beer with malt included?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top