Cooking wood

[Crone Returns]

Hi everybody. Could you give me a ballpark estimate on how long and what degrees you bake the corkbark after you boil it. Thanks.

 

[TheInv4sion]

I don't even bother baking corkbark but when I bake wood gathered from outside I put it at 200-300 F for 30-60 minutes

 

[TomKemp]

And from personal experience never microwave it unless you want your house to reek like burnt wood. Seemed like a quick solution once..."Once" years ago. lol

 

[Crone Returns]

Thanks guys. I'll take your warnings, ahem to heart.

 

[14pokies]

Actually I love the microwave for quasi-sterilizing small to medium sized pieces of bark or branches.. I soak paper towels in hot water( just helps with the cooking time) then wrap it around the bark or branch several times and cook it for 5 to 10 mins rotating and turning it every 2-3 minutes.. Your basically just steaming out any tiny vermin or unwanted mold..
Its the same concept as baking but I think its more gentle on the wood and less likely to cause a fire..
If Im baking larger pieces I usually do it at 200 degrees for up to 2hrs( depends on the thickness) after soaking the wood/bark for 24-48 hrs check it often though some species of wood burn very easy..

 

[Poec54]

I've used cork for many years in my cages, and have never sterilized it in any manner, why are you? Unless you have reason to believe yours somehow requires that, it seems like you're going to extremes (Mrs Doubtfire?). I only use bagged top soil, and have never sterilized that either. As soon as you feed the spider, you're introducing mites, bacteria, etc into the cage. The air's full of microbes. That's part of nature and those things stay in balance in a cage with proper cross ventilation & reasonable substrate and moisture.

 

[Red Eunice]

Send your cork to me, pay shipping both ways, I'll put it in my salvaged autoclave. Guarantee it will be sterilized! !
Seriously, I just run mine under hot tap water and knock off dirt/debris with a stiff brush. Haven't had a problem with this method.

 

[Crone Returns]

Actually I love the microwave for quasi-sterilizing small to medium sized pieces of bark or branches.. I soak paper towels in hot water( just helps with the cooking time) then wrap it around the bark or branch several times and cook it for 5 to 10 mins rotating and turning it every 2-3 minutes.. Your basically just steaming out any tiny vermin or unwanted mold..
Its the same concept as baking but I think its more gentle on the wood and less likely to cause a fire..
If Im baking larger pieces I usually do it at 200 degrees for up to 2hrs( depends on the thickness) after soaking the wood/bark for 24-48 hrs check it often though some species of wood burn very easy..

Thanks. I'll try it!!

 

[EulersK]

I've used cork for many years in my cages, and have never sterilized it in any manner, why are you? Unless you have reason to believe yours somehow requires that, it seems like you're going to extremes (Mrs Doubtfire?). I only use bagged top soil, and have never sterilized that either. As soon as you feed the spider, you're introducing mites, bacteria, etc into the cage. The air's full of microbes. That's part of nature and those things stay in balance in a cage with proper cross ventilation & reasonable substrate and moisture.

Agreed. When I lived in Nebraska, I'd go walking through the forests to gather cork bark, sticks, and whatnot. Never once did I sterilize. The only time I ever worry about that is if I collected it from a populated area - at that point, you don't know if pesticides have been sprayed... but honestly, I'm not sure baking would resolve that in the first place.

It's not that baking will hurt, but it won't exactly help either.