Wood chip sanitation?

[RynoSmail]

I had a wood-aged apple cider experiment go WAY wrong and I think the culprit is bacteria still in the wood. I've been told to bake wood chips, or to steam them. What are your most tried and true solutions for making sure my problem doesn't happen again? (This being "unflavored" wood).

Also, does soaking the chips in liquor sanitize them? Does leaving the chips in Maker's Mark or JD sanitize them or do they still need to be clean before being placed into the liquor.

All answers are always appreciated. Thanks HBT cumminty.

 

[Calichusetts]

It depends, you could use a no-rinse sanitizer, but my first thought is baking them, quick and easy.

 

[unionrdr]

Liquor will kill the nasties due to alcohol poisoning. Just pour the chips,liquor & all,through a hop sack into secondary. Tie it off,& drop it in. Then rack onto it. If you don't want liquor flavor,use some good vodka like smurfinoff or Stolie. You'll get the same effect with no liquor flavor,all oak.

 

[uncommonsense]

I boil the for 10 minutes. Or soak the in irish whiskey and make "johnny jump up"

 

[unionrdr]

Well,what bugs me is whether boiling or soaking,& they dump the liquid. Some of the flavors/aromas get dumped with the liquid. The wood isn't just soaking up flavor/water,but leaching it out as well. That's why I use the liquid as well.

 

[RynoSmail]

Thanks for the advice. Sorry I didnt search for similar threads before posting this. There's already 5 others I've found. Much appreciated though; thanks for the help