Oak chips Vs. Oak Essence

Hello folks!
I actually wrote an article on how to use the FastFerment for wine making, but I have run into issues regarding the adding of the oak that comes with kits such as WineExpert. When I add the oak directly to the FastFerment, I run into problems with the chips clogging the valve at the bottom, and when I am ready to bottle, there are always some chips stuck in the bottle filler hose causing me grief. OK, This latest wine that I have not yet started is a Cabernet from WinExpert. I also ordered a mesh bag and a bottle of oak essence. I really want to use the oak that came with the kit, but there is no way to secure the mesh bag anyplace. If I just throw the bag into the wine, it will sink to the bottom and stop the lees from falling into the collection ball. If I tie a string around the mesh bag and wrap the string around the top of the vessel, when I put the lid on, there is an area there that is not completely air tight because of the string. So, after all that you have read, my question is, can I forego the oak chips completely, maybe add some tannin, then add the entire 4 oz. bottle of oak essence when it is time to bottle. I am not looking for an award winner here, just a good drinkable Cab. Oak cubes and spirals also have their own problems with the FastFerment. Sorry I bought it!
Advice???

Can you put long oak staves in there?

DoctorCAD said:

Can you put long oak staves in there?

Click to expand...

You can - but I have now switched back to bucket carboy method....

I love the FastFerment 7.9g units. To date, I have made 40 batches of wine in my units from wine kits. Yes, I've learned a lot on how to efficiently use them and have it down now. Some of the biggest learnings: 1) Never put saw dust in the unit. Never. Not sprinkled in. Not even in a bag. Saw dust is guaranteed to clog the union valve that connects the collection ball. 2) Wood chips or cubes are fine as long as they are put in the a bag. Left free to roam they too will clog the system. 3) You can use staves or spirals during fermentation(s) without incident. If I'm adding skins in a bag I put the spirals in the bag with the skins. I have found that the spirals need to be removed during degassing and cleaning phase. I store spirals removed from fermentation in a gallon sized ziplock bag and put them back with the wine in the carboy during aging. ONE TIME I put them in the FF unit again during the clearing phase and the sediment had a hard time getting to the collection ball because the spirals sank to the bottom of the tank and blocked the 1" opening to the valve. 4) The only time I remove and empty the collection ball is right before transferring the wine to carboy for aging. I have found there enough room in the collection ball for ALL the sediment during all phases. 5) The FF unit is not for long-term aging. After you've cleared and everything has settled out (14 days for me) transfer to a carboy, top it off and let time do it's thing. 6) I pre-fill the collection ball during primary fermentation. I try to use a like concentrate, but honestly I mostly use organic, preservative free grape juice from R.W. Kundsen. I age in 6 gallon carboys and find there's 2+ bottles of wine headspace I need to fill up. In other words, the carboys are more like 6.5 gallons to the neck of the carboy and I fill that space with like wine from previous batches. Feel free to reach out to me if you have other questions or need more info...