by bt1 » Wed Dec 26, 2012 5:54 am
Howdy,
yep your on the right track. A few things here.
Alligator char(a complete char causing timber surface to craze in small squares /oblong shapes based around timber grain) is best done on thinner strips of timber and finished with on a LPG ring burner or Butane torch, I use the torch as get better coverage.
These are what I term colouring strips. They're there for colour and not longer term flavouring. They are added at the rate of 2-3 per 5lt of spirit for approx. 2+ weeks to 1 month for colouring. Then removed leaving thicker less charred strips in for ageing.
Trick with these colouring strips is they can be very smoky and really upset the flavour balance. Dip them in boiling water for a sec or two only so submerged with a pair of food tongs given them a shake about, remove quickly and allow to sun dry then add. it removes the over the top smokiness. If you boil for to long the boiling water discolours quickly and you loose part of the colouring impact they will have.
bt1