Cleaning wood question?????

[sight]

Hi guys,

I have cleaned wood for Tika before, but i had an idea. Instead of baking the wood why not microwave it? When i clean wood for out chameleon we always microwave it to kill the bugs and what not. And my understanding is that is why you bake the woods...

Just wanted to see what you guys think about this idea?

 

[3CsMommy]

Does it get crunchy when it's microwaved? Baking, when I've done it at least, tends to harden the wood somewhat, but I've never tried nuking it.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I boil the wood to kill bugs and bacteria and I bake the wood to dry it out completely so that when I store the wood it doesn't mold. Would a microwave dry it out? I would think it would kill the bugs and bacteria, not sure about the drying though, but you would be able to dry it in the sun or wherever if needed...

 

[sight]

just thought it might save time and energy, but was just an idea. I am not sure about how well it will dry it out. i might try it and let everyone how it works; i do think it will kill everything just as good as baking.

 

[soqrbrad]

I'd just make sure to use a $20 microwave rather than your $200 one. Just in case .

 

[sight]

lol... the bonuses of a college student renting... if anything goes poorly... :ring ring: "hi im in room 222 and the microwave broke. We where just nuking some mac and cheese and it cut out." <as i pull out the 5lbs of apple branches out of the microwave> "Think you could come take a look at it?"

couple days later... new microwave :dance3:

 

[andymilo]

lol... the bonuses of a college student renting... if anything goes poorly... :ring ring: "hi im in room 222 and the microwave broke. We where just nuking some mac and cheese and it cut out." <as i pull out the 5lbs of apple branches out of the microwave> "Think you could come take a look at it?"

couple days later... new microwave :dance3:

hahahahahaha!!!!!

i know that microwaves work by using microwaves to rapidly move the water particles in food, this rapid movement causes friction which results in thermal energy (heat), and this heat heats up or cooks food...but from experience things like pizza, bread, etc always come out soggy when i put them in the microwave (because it uses water molecules)...so you might end up having to bake the wood in the end anyways...i can't say im speaking from experience as i have never microwaved wood lol....but i think the best way is what another person suggested which was to boil it to kill bacteria parasites etc. then bake it to prevent mold when stored....hope this helps

 

[eroomlorac]

Not only would the wood not come out crunchy, but you wouldn't be able to regulate the heat and I'm afraid it would get too hot and possibly be dangerous.

 

[Chinniechantel]

Only chin people would be debating on whether or not it is ok to put wood in the microwave! Lol. It sounds dangerous to me as well- please be careful!

 

[sight]

lol, ya... i just thought it might save some time and effort. But i guess i will still to the tried and trusted way (might nuke a couple of pieces just to see... have to fill my curiosity)

thanks for the input

 

[sight]

so, today i played with my microwave with great success. I did a little research on my chameleon forum where microwaving wood is the norm. I had washed all the wood and then microwaved a pyrex pan at a time. I ended up microwaving the wood for 4 mins, basically till the juices inside the wood started to boil and bubble out the end make sure any little bugs were dead. Now i have the wood sitting next to our wood stove drying out so that they can be stored. I am not sure how "crunchy" the wood will be in the end but i am thinking it will be very similar to cooking and was pretty low labor intensive.