RE: Soot from oak . . . gotta ask

Under the For Sale/Wanted a new member is looking for soot from oak . . . I'm still scratching my head trying to figure this one out.

Any guesses as to what one would use soot from oak for . . . originally I was thinking maybe they meant ash from oak to make soap or something . . . but I cannot imagine anyone looking specifically for ash even.

I do know that some people have asked for my ash before to use for roosters...apparently they "dust" themselves by rolling in it



read this article http://omniskies.com/quail.shtml

i know when i was a kid growing up, my folks used to take the ash and put it in the garden. supposed to help put back some of the mineral or ph...think it might be a poor mans fertilizer not sure.

cass

It helps raise the PH when used in a garden, like lime. Also the Carbon in it will help bind up soil toxins and such, and also will help add something that will also it to get space in soil particles hold moisture better and some of the coal will further breakdown helping to release somestuff into the soil.

Didn't realize oak soot specifically was good . . .

never heard of that one before...

cass

Might they be talking about biochar?
http://www.woodstovewizard.com/biochar.html

Adding black carbon (charcoal, soot etc...) to soil has been shown to boost soil fertility over the long term in some soils. I'm not sure why they would want oak char specifically.

Ash on the other hand contains potassium and lots of other nice trace metals that plants need as part of their metabolic processes. Metals in ash tend to be fairly water soluble too, so can be easily absorbed by plant roots.

Oak... I wonder if it has anything to do with brewing? White Oak casks and chips are used to flavor alcohol. I know the oak casks are charred on the inside. I wonder if the OP asked for the wrong substance.

This came to my mind as well.
Charred oak flavor in moonshine is pretty common...not that i know anything about that though

I was thinking the same thing but didn't know who to go to. " Gut feeling ".

When I lived in a country which didn't permit the sale of alcohol, some resourceful folks made their own grain alcohol (stainless steel stills, copper condensers, etc.). A common flavoring was to take oak chips (sometimes sold for barbecue grills), toast them in the oven, let them soak in the grain alcohol for a few weeks, then filter them out. They imparted a golden brown color and a yummy taste...so I'm told ().

Still do.

Just to to any of the mods if questionable and let them do their thing.

Mix with used motor oil for fence or barn paint? I think that's usually creosote, but maybe that's what it's about.