Reusing an oak stave

[phermenter]

I pulled a medium French oak stave out of a chardonnay kit (WE Selection Dry Creek, if it matters) after only about six weeks and now I'm wondering if I can reuse it on another batch of wine. I just kind of rinsed it off and patted it dry, then wrapped it in paper towels.

Would you folks think that's good enough? I figure it's got roughly another month of oaking to do since it was supposedly good for two to three months to start with. It only cost me $5, but why waste, you know?

Jim

 

[surlees]

It certainly won't hurt to try it. Another possibility is to let it dry and then sand it down until you get to fresh wood although will remove any toast that it may have left. If you do sand it, you can re-toast it by putting it on a grill and carefully re-toasting.

Fred

 

[Wade E]

As long as it hasnt sat around long sure, if it has then throw it away as bacteria can get into wood and youll never get it out. Thats why I dont recommend buying a used barrel that when you dont kn ow if its sat around.

 

[Woodbee]

Wonder if you just couldn't put it in a 250 degree oven for a while and then seal it in a bag until next use?

 

[Wade E]

I would just toast it right before use as that would(wood) be the safer way!

 

[phermenter]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to take Wade's warning to heart, though. I't's probably not worth the risk of fouling a batch with bacteria just to use all the oaking potential in the stick. It's already done its initial job, so I'll figure I already got my five dollars' worth.

Jim

 

[surlees]

If you re-toast it, any bacteria will be killed.

Fred