I've tried sanitising oak chips and also adding them straight, including the dusty bits, and prefer the latter method. I find it easier to avoid over-oaking that way and have never had any problems of must infection.
Yes, you can make and toast your own oak chips but for the work vs cost of just buying its easiest to just buy. There's a few good articles if you just google, and I think there's a writeup for making them on jack kellers site. Good luck!!!
I suppose if you have the time to air season white oak heartwood for 3+ years before chipping/cubing/whatever and toasting, go for it.
Didn't mean to malign your ideas, I said go for it. Anyways, make sure that the oak you're sourcing is the heartwood of the tree, just white oak planks from a carpenter won't suffice. I'm sure being a woodworker they'll know the difference. As for the rest, there's some good info about the various aspects of barrels here, albeit a bit hokey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LBGPKgQ2ac
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