In article ,
Ecnerwal wrote:

In article ,
"Rick Spivey" wrote:

I did a search and didn't find anything about this. Maybe I don't know
what
I'm doing with the "Find" button, but here goes. I have some poplar, red
oak, pecan, and cherry. I want to make a stirring paddle for big pots of
food. Which one or more will make a good paddle that won't ruin the food?
Thanks in advance for your help.

No direct experience with pecan - suspect it might be fine considering
woods it's similar to. Poplar - cottonwood/popple or yellow/tulip?
Popple at least should be fine, albeit weak and prone to rotting. Cherry
should be fine, might leach a tiny bit, but not be obnoxious.

I would avoid the red oak - it stinks, I suspect that would get into the
food. White oak should be fine - closed pores, and barrels are made from
it.

Traditional spoon wood in these parts is maple and birch - nice bland
tasteless woods. Also fine-grained, not prone to splintering and
splitting, good if you eat from the spoon, or lick the paddle.

Beech is a classic.

Butternut will work well -- the sap is edible.


Most wood toxicity lists are concerned with reactions to the dust, etc
when turning, but that may be at least a pointer to woods to avoid for
food. Here's a couple of links on that front.

http://old.mendelu.cz/~horacek/toxic.htm

http://www.awwg.org/awg_woodtoxicity.htm