milk treating for wood question

[John Fenna]

I have heard of using milk - casein - to seal wood but cannot find a detailed description of how to go about it.
Does anyone out there have a link/tutorial for this.
I am thinking of trying this for my Kuksa and trencher.
Cheers in advance

 

[lou1661]

I was told that a boil/simmer in whole milk for an hour would do it, but have not tried it myself as yet.

Louis

 

[bilmo-p5]

Might be worth getting in touch with the OP here, John.

 

[Mesquite]

Here you go John

Casein

 

[John Fenna]

Here you go John

Casein

I then just paint the wood with the gloop?
How does the boiling in milk method work?

 

[lou1661]

Not sure John, it's just how it was explained to me, that was with a spoon though, anything larger may be different.

 

[Toddy]

I know of it as a way of waterproofing hearth fired clay vessels. Ones that aren't hard ceramicised.

Basically the pot is taken out of the fire, the ashes quickly brushed out of the inside and from the outside and then warmed milk is poured over and into it.
The lipids seal the porosity.

You can make a cracked china teacup sound enough to use by boiling it in milk for an hour too.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Two Socks]

I have been playing around with this and got surprisingly good results by leaving boiled milk in the kuksa for a few hours, then pouring this out, wiping off the excess and then rubbing it to a shine with a tea towel. I took some pictures of the process for my blog but they are hardly informative. Before the treatment the coffee would leak out of the end grain, but now it stays in so I assume that it worked. And the shine it leaves is a nice bonus

I have also heard of people putting the kuksa in cold milk and bringing this to a boil for five minutes, and repeat this a two times. I never tried this, since my simple method seems to work fine. I couln`t find any proper sources online either so I just started to play around with it.

 

[Two Socks]

Oh, and to add: i do not think the casein paint is a good option because it will form a layer on top of the wood rather than seal the grain.

 

[Mesquite]

Oh, and to add: i do not think the casein paint is a good option because it will form a layer on top of the wood rather than seal the grain.

It will seal it if it's made slightly thinner than normal so it's then absorbed into the grain

 

[John Fenna]

I have been playing around with this and got surprisingly good results by leaving boiled milk in the kuksa for a few hours, then pouring this out, wiping off the excess and then rubbing it to a shine with a tea towel. I took some pictures of the process for my blog but they are hardly informative. Before the treatment the coffee would leak out of the end grain, but now it stays in so I assume that it worked. And the shine it leaves is a nice bonus

I have also heard of people putting the kuksa in cold milk and bringing this to a boil for five minutes, and repeat this a two times. I never tried this, since my simple method seems to work fine. I couln`t find any proper sources online either so I just started to play around with it.

That sounds the simplest method
I will buy some full fat milk and give it a go!

 

[Two Socks]

@mesquite: Sounds logical. I'll have a go once.
@John: good luck and let us know how it went. I'd like to learn more about the process so seeing more results is helpful.

 

[Stew]

I have boiled in milk as per Wille Sundqvist's book. I've only done it a few times as it felt horribly wasteful of milk. If I had batches to do then I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad!

I like your idea Two Socks.

 

[Barn Owl]

Why does it not go rancid?

 

[Two Socks]

Because the casein layer cannot be broken down by bacteria. There is no substrate for them to grow on.

 

[John Fenna]

I have boiled my 2 kuksas in whole milk for 2 hours and am now leaving them full of milk to cool slowly.
I also made some casein as per Mesquites link and have painted my trencher with it....
I will leave this for a couple of hours then wipe off and polish up all 3 items

 

[John Fenna]

OK the milk was crusting on the wood so I thought it was time to have a look see.
Milk drained out, excess wiped off and the whole lot rubbed up with a dry cloth.
All the wood is a lot darker than it was, especially the Kuksas, in where the end grain has definitely soaked up the liquids.
Whether or not this will be a permanent feature or will fade as the whole lot dries out completely (it is dry to the touch now ) will be seen.
The wood has buffed to a delightful sheen.
I will report back after 12 or so hours when the wood should have fully dried.

 

[British Red]

Fascinating stuff John - thanks

 

[ammo]

Really enjoying this thread. BCUK, is like a tree of knowledge, every day here, there is another new tasty fruit for me.
John post some pics if you can please. I'd love to see the results.

 

[Two Socks]

Thanks for the report. I wonder what the result of the casein recipe treatment will be.