cooking cork bark

[chuck]

if i wanted to heat treat my cork bark, will i set it ablaze if put in the oven for too long or at too high a temp? i usually put substrate in the oven for 30min at 400 degrees. is that good for the cork?

 

[jwb121377]

Why would you want to heat it? I've used cork bark for a very long time with my inverts/ herps and have never had a problem with any kind of mold or anything else for that matter. I think you would be just waisting you time.

 

[jesses]

Originally posted by chuck
if i wanted to heat treat my cork bark, will i set it ablaze if put in the oven for too long or at too high a temp? i usually put substrate in the oven for 30min at 400 degrees. is that good for the cork?

Wood burns at 451 degrees right? Wasn't that the name of a book I was supposed to read in highschool?

Anyway whats the point of this, tarantulas living in the wild don't have someone going around steralizing the trees right?

 

[chuck]

i thought i read on these forums that someone had an prob with cork bark. maybe im just paranoid. i was watching CSI Miami last night and they said wood burns at 1000 degrees

 

[Psycho]

1000 degrees celcius maybe lol

and it's paper that burns at 451 degrees...... ferenhiet


thus the book name ferenheit 451 lol


~~~psycho~~~

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by chuck
if i wanted to heat treat my cork bark, will i set it ablaze if put in the oven for too long or at too high a temp? i usually put substrate in the oven for 30min at 400 degrees. is that good for the cork?

That sounds delicious. What kind if gravy do you serve your cork bark in?

 

[8leggedfreak]

wouldn't it be easier to microwave it?

Or is there a certain flavour that you get when you cook it in the oven?

 

[defour]

Originally posted by chuck
i thought i read on these forums that someone had an prob with cork bark. maybe im just paranoid. i was watching CSI Miami last night and they said wood burns at 1000 degrees

Cork bark shouldn't pose a problem.

As for the flashpoints, if CSI said it, it MUST BE TRUE! Write down those last three words, for they might be right. Here's more wisdom: IF IT'S ON TELEVISION, IT'S DISSEMINATED BY THE ALMIGHTY!

Whew.... channeling really wipes me out.

Back to the topic. If you bought the cork bark at a pet store, then I wouldn't worry much about killing parasites. If you want to nuke it though, I would put it in the microwave with a bowl of water for twenty minutes or so. The oven will probably work just as good.

Steve

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by 8leggedfreak
wouldn't it be easier to microwave it?

Or is there a certain flavour that you get when you cook it in the oven?

I'm kind of partial to honey roasted Cork Bark myself.

 

[defour]

Originally posted by Godzilla2000
I'm kind of partial to honey roasted Cork Bark myself.

MMMMMMMM! Especially on the beach!

Come to think of it, peat smells like carrots when microwaved. I know this for a fact.

Steve

 

[Ultimate Instar]

I'd be a little careful putting wood in a microwave oven. I tried sterilizing some cloth that way and ended up lighting it on fire. I thought that a wet cloth wouldn't get too hot but...:8o

I'm not altogether sure that cleaning is a bad idea even if you've bought it at a pet store. If you're really paranoid, boiling it in a pot of hot water on your stove would probably do the trick. However, that only gets you up to 212 F. That doesn't kill everything. To sterilize surgical instruments, you need to bring it up to 270 F for twenty minutes. Even that isn't going to kill absolutely everything. There's a few things (microscopic parasites for example) that tend to resemble the Andromeda Strain.

Of course, the instant you take the wood out of the water (or whatever), it isn't sterile anymore. Personally, I just throw the wood in the kitchen sink, add a little dish soap and hot water, let it soak for a few minutes, and then rinse it off.

Karen N.

 

[WYSIWYG]

Re: Re: cooking cork bark

Originally posted by jesses
Wood burns at 451 degrees right? Wasn't that the name of a book I was supposed to read in highschool?

Anyway whats the point of this, tarantulas living in the wild don't have someone going around steralizing the trees right?

Well "Mr. Smith" (I LOVE your avatar, BTW!),

Tarantulas in the wild also don't have people buying them food, paying for their shelters, and especially, not paying anywhere from a few dollars to THOUSANDS of dollars for them. I see no
harm in someone wanting to be extra careful, because not only are Ts wonderful to enjoy as pets, but they are also investments, even if someone isn't looking to breed them for profit. You invest money not only in caring for them (substrate, housing, feeding),
but also in the time you put into properly caring for them.

How many times have we read stories about people accidentally
killing their Ts by doing stuff like feeding them wildcaught prey?
They end up feeling REALLY terrible, especially when those mistakes cost them the life of a valuable specimen that is already rare.

Wysi

 

[Valael]

I don't think he was really bashing him or whatever for wanting to steralize it, but I'm going to have to agree with him -- It doesn't hurt to do it, but I think it's a bit much at the same time.



Tarantulas encounter some nasty things in the wild and can take it just fine as long as there aren't any chemicals in it, which as far as I know, isn't fixed by the burning or microwaving of it.

I think you'd just be wasting your time. But it's your choice.

 

[atavuss]

what happened to good old bleach? if all you want to do is clean and or sterilize the cork bark wash it with a mild bleach solution and rinse with plenty of water. it has always worked for me and I don't have my wife on my case about using her microwave or oven.
Ed