Wood Experience

[Luciana]

Thisdinner event is for everyone, newly engaged, past couples, current couples and their families so experience what an event hosted here at Birch Wood Vineyards is like along with sampling food items from our wedding menu.

Doors will open at 6:30pm and will begin with a cocktail hour followed by a four course holiday-themed dinner created by our talented chefs. This will lead into a night of dancing with music provided by DJ Nick Mascioli from Get Down Tonight Entertainment, Inc.!

Some woods will start to scorch at temperatures as low as 235C, but they require much more heat exposure time than the short period it takes filament to pass through a nozzle. The plastic is more sensitive to heat than the wood fibers, so it dictates the acceptable upper temperature limit. Burnt plastic is seldom attractive.

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At WOOD Consulting Services, we have a unique company culture, known for its down-to-earth and genuine atmosphere. This culture, established from the top down by our CEO Dr. Margaret Wood, who began her career as a Systems Engineer herself, values the team as the most valuable asset.

Many of our team have been with us for over a decade and continue to be loyal to the company because of our CEO Dr. Margaret Wood's leadership and her dedication to growth. We asked a few of our veterans to comment about their experience at WOOD, one colleague wrote:

Just like I did with The Truth About White Slipcovers post or How I Keep my Stainless Steel Appliances Clean, or Do I Have a Maid (and other questions about open shelving), I like to tell you about my own experiences so you can decide for yourself if you think something is too difficult, or worth having in your own home.

We were trying to get away with only doing what was necessary or gave us the most bang for our buck in our kitchen remodel. We had to do so much out of necessity, we were as mindful as we could be about how to save money by making one choice over another. Our counters HAD to be replaced, that part we knew for certain. We were originally going to use soapstone on our counters and wood for our floors. We really wanted the floors to be wood to balance out the hardness of stone counters.

They were not stained at all, they were sealed with a few coats of Aqua Spar (a type of marine sealer) and that is it. What you see is its natural color after the sealer is applied. Before the sealer, they looked lighter and less rich.

But, before you think we were crazy to have wood counters, we felt it was worth the extra TLC because those counters made us happy every single day. Yes, counters made us happy. They did! They were gorgeous.

We had preschool aged boys AND teenagers living or hanging out regularly in our home. Lots of kids at once. Yes, it was a bit risky to have beautiful wood counters like that in a busy family kitchen. Someone could have put a water ring on our counter or scratched them! Oh no! But I knew they were just counters. Had we needed to, we could have sanded and resealed. But, we taught our kids about setting dirty or wet dishes in the sink, dishwasher, or on a place mat rather than directly on the wood. They learned to put dishes away instead piling them up on a counter.

I might also note here that this was the second kitchen where we had wood counters (and kids). Our first kitchen when our girls were little also had wood counters. We had no problems with those wood counters either (I believe they had been made out of wood flooring and sealed.)

One time a couple of years after our kitchen was finished we did reapply the Aqua Spar (after a quick once over with some steel wool) to give it a fresh protective coat of sealer. It was quick and easy and the counter looked just as beautiful after the second treatment as the first. Very simple care. The Aqua Spar is amazing and will protect your counters like they would protect a boat in the water, it is good stuff!

The counters are beautiful,thanks for sharing! And I use white slipcovers and have stainless steel appliancs, and they take a little maintanence, but you are so smart to just give your opinion on the level of care and then let people decide for themselves. = )Thanks for sharing

It makes sense and I know we were probably more cautious than necessary but we just loved keeping them pretty. They were also used a lot so I believe it works even if you are less inclined to give TLC!!

I can not find the Aqua Spar on the internet, Can you send me a picture or a web link to the exact product you used. I want to make sure I get a great sealer for my wooden countertops when we put them in. This marine sealer sounds like its exactly what we need. Also another question, Ive read about avoiding heat and coldness on the countertops. Can you use a slow cooker on the countertop? Is that going to discolor the wood?

Decided that for my 1923 California Bungalow counter tops I will do these wood kitchen counters! Love the look! About 1/5 the cost of stone, too! I just had my ancient cabinets repainted and opaque glass inserted and molding elements added. We will use the panels that were removed for cutting boards on this kitchen counter tops. These old cabinets were very thick, made with Douglas Fir. The cutting boards should be fine. Will label them as to where they came from.

Heh heh, yeah it took a little adjusting for us to learn those habits. Also I should point out that we might have been a little obsessive about them and had we not been as careful our counters might have just had more character which may have been just fine too!

Thank you Melissa, I have always admired wood counter tops, and have thought about them for my home, but I would want to break up the wood with another surface and my kitchen is not conducive for that. Your kitchen was so pretty I can see why you took extra care. You always are so helpful with information that is practical and honest, thank you for that, Have a great week.

Kathysue

We have Ikea Butcher Block wood countertops. We had them installed when we redid our kitchen in 2008. After almost 4 years I still LOVE them. It brings such a warmth and coziness to our kitchen. We are planning to move this summer. My wooden countertops will be the one thing I miss the most.

You are probably very right. Especially when you consider that the character of wood being used over time is sometimes part of its charm. While we took care of our counters maybe more than was really necessary, we also had so many kids and people in our kitchen all the time who were using those counters, and that I think that fact alone shows how durable my counter was!

BEAUTIFUL! Thank you for the wonderful post. My husband and I are looking at countertops as we speak (we are currently-temporarily using plywood covered with oil cloth as countertops). Rennovations make us do the wildest things.

I know that you posted this a few years ago, but if you do happen to read this, would you mind sharing what place in Portland you bought the wood from and what the approx. cost per square foot was (if you remember!)? I live in Portland, OR and am in the market!

Are you ready to roll up your sleeves, distress some wood and create a DIY masterpiece that you can be proud of for years to come? Come alone or bring your friends and family to share in our wood project workshops!

Wood-fired ovens are comprised of both thermal mass and insulation. Thermal mass is all the bricks and/or clay that make up the firebox and absorb heat during firing. In many applications, a fire is maintained while the cooking happens (pizza, for instance). However, the fire might also be removed, like it is for hearth breads, which bake with heat retained and released by the thermal mass.

Think of thermal mass as a battery you charge with energy while firing; that stored energy can then be used to make many different foods. The insulation acts as, well, insulation, to keep heat in the thermal mass so you have more extended opportunities to roast, bake, braise, render, infuse, dehydrate, and more. Insulation could be a very efficient kiln blanket that wraps around the oven and is hidden by the oven's facade; for the Norwich oven, we used a traditional mixture of clay, sand, and straw that help slow the loss of heat energy.

Other vegetables work for this method, too, like peppers, eggplant, and endive. This summer at King Arthur I removed the outer husks from ears of corn, then soaked the ears for an hour before placing them among the embers and flames. The excess water in the husks helped steam many of the kernels, while others were intensely darkened by exposure to flame and hot hearth. Smokiness abounded.

Eventually, the oven will cool to 100F (38C). This low-temperature window is ideal for infusing oils and dehydrating herbs. Chop herbs, add to a jar, cover with oil, and let the herb impart its flavor, aided by the gentle heat of warm masonry. Dehydrating herbs on a cooling rack in a low oven (with the door open so moisture can escape) is a good way to preserve the bounty of summer; the low but rapid drying environment preserves flavor and color.

The ways to use the full spectrum of heat in a wood-fired oven are boundless and cyclical. Once you "finish" the cycle with some infused oils and dried herbs, you're ready to go back to the top and use them to make the wide range of foods a wood-fired oven can provide.

Hi Zoe, most people use an Infrared Thermometer to check the temperature in their wood fired oven, but wood fired ovens have been around for a long time, so there are also more basic methods like the "Mississippi Method," which involves hovering your hand in the oven just above where you plan to bake and counting how many Mississippis you can get through before you need to take your hand out. There are even charts online to translate how many Mississippis equate to what temperature!

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