Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hey all, was thinking bout soaking some chips in sugar water, drying them out then charing them. What sort of oven temps and time would suit a minor char?. I'm guessing a slight chat would be better because of the sugar content. I'm thinking along these line to achieve color and flavor quick. Thanks for and advice.

googe wrote:was thinking bout soaking some chips in sugar water, drying them out then charing them.

Ok so Ive had a fair few rums, Ive read the question, Ive thought long and hard..........Im just gunna ask why is this going to color or flavor faster

Burnt sugar is fucked. I'd suggest you place chips in a caramel while still hot and do it that way, oven too unpredictable imo.

Use more.

why not chop the chunks into smaller bits and then charr them......

I'm interested in the theory behind how it would work with the flavour and colour.

Something along the lines of getting the wood to soak the sugar water in, increasing the content, and then toasting/charring in hopes that it will give more flavour to the sticks?

Comparing it to the idea of soaking in sherry, it sounds like something beneficial in that you could get more out of less sticks, but not sure how well it would work. As stated you would have to worry about not burning the sugar but that's where the minor char would come in. You would need to watch it for any smells while it is being charred.

Obviously this all depends on whether we're on the right track or not.

Howdy,

House mate has been using a semi burnt brown sugar caramel pieces as well as timber for about 5 months now for rums. Gotta say tastes better to me than std. toast or heavy char timber.

bt1

Color faster but not sure on the flavor sbb, good points urrz thanks. Thanks empty, why smaller chunks.Wolbi?. That sounds about right with the soaking distill nation, sounds.like a.stupid idea of mine now I've read what you said, doesn't really make sense as to what the soaking in sugar syrup would prove :wtf: I guess with all experiments ya have to.start somewhere. Thanks bt, good to.hear sometimes trying similar. I just done seem to have enough time.in life to get any decent amounts.of rum.made.to age for a.long time, kind of looking for a cheats way, I know anything cheated is never as good.

googe wrote:why smaller chunks.Wolbi?.

I think the reason for using smaller chunks is that you can get more surface area out of a long stick cut into 5-6 pieces vs just the 1 stick.

googe wrote:That sounds about right with the soaking distill nation, sounds.like a.stupid idea of mine now I've read what you said, doesn't really make sense as to what the soaking in sugar syrup would prove :wtf: I guess with all experiments ya have to.start somewhere.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss it, chances are you will just end up with the same end result as just soaking the chips, so you wouldn't be at a loss (except for a bit of your time).

If you still go ahead with trying this (on a smaller scale if you're unsure), I'd be interested in hearing how it turns out.

I haven't used chips/staves/dominoes/etc, but from what I've read, you lose a bit of your final product to the wood absorbing it (as well as evaporation). So if you were to soak them in a small amount of water that was supersaturated with sugar, you may be able to get the wood to soak all the water, and with any luck, when they are dried out and charred they will contain a higher sugar content, adding to a faster flavour like you want.

Although whether or not it would actually bring out any natural flavour from the wood is another question. It may just be the same as adding oak and a sugar syrup type mix to the spirit for aging.

You may not get the "longer aged" taste that you would get from aging it naturally for months/years, but you may stumble on to a more unique flavour.

*Note* This is just me thinking out loud here. I don't have any experience with aging/oaking yet, so I don't really know how it works.

The best way by far is an oak barrel.
If you want to use chips, don't, use sticks. Cubes and chips dont work as well. I've never used dominos.

More wood in there will give good colour, old or used wood wont give much colour.

You can make your own from oak barrel staves. Cheaper than chips. Or cubes. And you end up with heaps of the stuff from one stave. I cut them down to 6" long, axe split them (it opens the grain) about 10mm square, charr them using old foreshots, then toast them. 1 per 700ml bottle for longer term, 2 or 3 if in a hurry.

Bundy add caramel to their "drink". Burnt sugar would work, but depends on if you like the flavor I guess.

WineGlass wrote:If you want to use chips, don't

Why ?

:think:

WineGlass wrote:If you want to use chips, don't, use sticks. Cubes and chips dont work as well.

They dont work as well.

Each to their own, just sharing what I have found. And I've spent too much on jim beam and JD chips from brew shops, only to find staves worked just as good for a fraction of the cost.

MacStill wrote:Why ?

:think:

Here is something that might expand a bit on what empty has already said.

I will only use chips ;-)

Best rum out of the many batches I have ever made was with chips.

I'll only use dominoes, but that's because I've got 5kg coming and I really shouldn't let them go to waste :laughing-rolling:

But it would be good to test out the differences.

Distillnation wrote:I'll only use dominoes, but that's because I've got 5kg coming and I really shouldn't let them go to waste :laughing-rolling:

But it would be good to test out the differences.

You could always put them through a chipper to make them better :teasing-tease:

Lol. I'll give it a shot. Don't have a chipper unfortunately but I'll find a way. Chisel and hammer maybe :-D

Might need to get some small bottles together so I can gift some out. Otherwise I'll end up with a 21yo batch on my hands :shock: