05/31/2022
Hi. The following is my attempt to address an issue that has come up regularly. There is a lot of misunderstanding. Hopefully this clears things a bit.
What’s the Big Difference between White and Red anyway?
Until recently I would have considered those ‘fighting words’. I’m a guy who likes his meat rare, his bourbon straight up and his wine red and chewy. m
Now that I spend my days turning quality lumber into bags filled with sawdust, I’m ready to chime in on another red versus white controversy. I believe so much in correcting a common misnomer affecting the use of these woods in certain areas of woodworking, I am posting this as my very first social media post (or is it posting?).
In recent years I have turned to woodworking to aid in maintaining my mental and emotional well-being. When I am able, I relish spending time in what we used to call a garage; now a workshop.
Like many modern day woodworkers, I have gleaned much of my knowledge online. The most popular of sources has undoubtedly been youtube. Who would have thought 20 years ago that anybody with an intense drive and some better than average woodworking skills could host their own video network accessible by millions of Internet fans.
Amongst my personal favorite professional “Youtubers” are: James King of King’s Fine Woodworking in Aurora, CO, Mike Farrington also from Colorado (from his Boardroom), host of the longest-running online educational series for woodworkers, “The Wood Whisperer”, Mr. Marc Spagnuolo, then there is, Jay Bates, the first online woodworker that follow, and the entrepreneur that never sleeps, Jonathan Katz-Moses, the ever impressive Tamar Hannah (3x3 Custom Woodworking) and finally the man that I would enjoying sharing a bottle of bourbon with, Mr. Jason Hibbs (Bourbon Moth).
I honestly don’t know what I would be doing with my life if these online talents didn’t give me the bug for woodworking. I have nothing but respect for anyone who puts themselves out there and allows themselves to be judged and critiqued by anyone with a youtube account and a keyboard. Like many others, I have these and countless other online talents to thank. There was a time, not so long ago, where my physical limitations had brought me to a precipice where all I could see was the deep, dark chasm of depression. Now, I look forward most days to my next project in my workshop. You know, I think I need a CNC…
Anyway, back to that pesky misnomer. Like any form of information exchange, we have to approach that found on youtube with a degree of skepticism and doubt. Not every pearl of wisdom that bounces around the Internet is well researched and verified. One such nugget is the belief that oak should never be used in the manufacturing of anything related to the processing of food. Yikes!
As this pertains directly to products that I have made and now sell online, I cannot stand on the sidelines of this issue. There are far too many sources online (and print media) that espouse the wickedness of the over-sized pores found in oak. They paint a picture of these pores becoming virtual petri dishes for every foodborne bacteria and the like.
It was from several patrons on my website that I first learned of this misconception. They directly questioned the safety of the boards on my website made from oak. Heck, they almost had me ready to yank all oak products from the site. No wonder sales got off to a rocky start. It was my deep affection for both red wine and good old Kentucky Bourbon that forced me to further research this topic.
If we are to uncover the truth we first need to recognize that there are hundreds of varieties of oak and north of 60 just here in the states. For now, let’s focus on the two main varieties that we encounter in our daily woodworking, red oak and white oak.
The essence of the argument against using oak in the making of items used in the preparation and/or serving of food comes down to the open-grain structure (or XL pore size). It is here that we uncover the likely source of the misbelief. It is true that both red and white oak have larger than average pores. However, there is a microscopic substance, or tissue, called tyloses that is much more prevalent in white oak than it is in their red counterparts. Tyloses, in the quantities found in white oak, act like a barrier in the vascular cells of the wood. This effectively seals the pores much as if we used a “grain filler”.
Tyloses in white oak xylem. Photo by Dr. Michael Rosenthal, Technische Universität Dresden via Rosenthal, M.; Bäucker, E. (2013): Zur Anatomie des Holzes der Weiß-Eichen. Rasterelektronenmikroskopische Bildtafeln zu den drei holzanatomischen Schnittrichtungen. licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Why do artisans store unaged red wine and whiskey in American White Oak: . If it wasn’t for the abundance of Tyloses in each of the slats on the barrel, their precious nectars would most certainly run all over the floor. It is this very substance that contributes greatly to giving white oak its famous rot resistance by forming a physical barrier to bacteria and fungi moving up through the heartwood.
While I make a large variety of food preparation boards, my personal favorites and now my best sellers consist of at least 50% White Oak. I find a beauty in the end-grain that I do not often find in the more popular maple. see End Grain
I hope that more woodworkers take the plunge and give white oak the billing it deserves. I’m not saying that it is easy to work with, because it is far from that, but the results are terrific.
