yew

[wukkie1]

hi would anyone say if yew is suitable for a meat chopping board or recommend a type thanks wukkie1

 

[RogerP]

As the toxin taxine is known to be present in the wood I don't think it wise to use it for food preparation.

 

[woodbloke]

hi would anyone say if yew is suitable for a meat chopping board or recommend a type thanks wukkie1

All parts of the tree are poisonous...not a clever idea for a food prep board - Rob

 

[wukkie1]

thats that sorted then thanks

 

[duncanh]

All parts of the tree are poisonous...not a clever idea for a food prep board - Rob

Not entirely true. The flesh of the fruit is edible and incredibly tasty - one of the tastiest berries I've eaten. The problem is that the pips in the fruit are (I think) the most toxic part of the tree so you need to be very careful when eating. Just squeeze out the pip before eating the flesh. I only do it a couple of times a year though.

I've been told that the toxins in the wood become inert once the wood is dry. However, I've been trying through various turning forums to verify this but have had no success.
As others have said, best to err on the side of caution and not use.

Duncan

 

[RogerP]

....
I've been told that the toxins in the wood become inert once the wood is dry. .....
Duncan

What happens after they are rehydrated with meat juices? Not worth the risk.

 

[yetloh]

I've been told that the toxins in the wood become inert once the wood is dry. However, I've been trying through various turning forums to verify this but have had no success.
As others have said, best to err on the side of caution and not use.

Given that quite severe reactions to the dust are reported, I wouldn't want to rely on that.

Jim

 

[Scouse]

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is the traditional wood for butchers blocks and chopping boards, with the end grain forming the surface of the board, in order to preserve the cutting edge of the knife.

 

[Tom K]

Isn't Yew traditionally grown in church yards to keep it away from grazing livestock because of its toxicity?

No idea what he's on about tho' looks like Russian to me (homer) Mod Edit: ref. post removed spam membership

 

[duncanh]

Isn't Yew traditionally grown in church yards to keep it away from grazing livestock because of its toxicity?

That's one reason that's often given but I've read in several locations that it's for more complex reasons. Apparently it started because the Celts, druids, pagans and possibly others worshipped yews (or held them in high regard) because of their longevity and had connected symbolism. When Christianity arrived it was easier to convert people by absorbing some of their existing beliefs and one of those was the yew. Churches were often placed at locations where yews already existed.
Once yews were in churchyards it was to continue as tradition and they may well have been used to keep livestock away, although it's a bit extreme - cattle and horses are known to eat yew and it doesn't take much to kill them so there's no way for them to learn to avoid it (although I guess if one of the heard dies the others might notice).

Interestingly enough, the toxic component found in yew is the basis of several drugs for cancer treatment.

 

[Tom K]

Duncanh wrote
Once yews were in churchyards it was to continue as tradition and they may well have been used to keep livestock away, although it's a bit extreme.

I meant to keep the livestock safe from the Yew from which the English longbow was traditionally made.

 

[wukkie1]

hi, a differnt track, i can get hold of a larger piece of eucalyptus would that be suitable, thanks

 

[Jonzjob]

Still on the subject of yew and churches. A lot of the churches were built on the sites where yew was growing and as said before it was in the BC daze when the yew was worshiped for its longivity. So the yew in a hell of a lot of church yards predates the church.

Painswick church yard Golucestershire is supposed to have 99 trees and if the 100th were ever to grow it would be a sign of impending disaster, but according to the tree surgeon wot keeps the trees looking smart there are about 115 or so!! That's wot he told me anyway.

Don't know about eucalyptus though?

 

[Tom K]

hi, a differnt track, i can get hold of a larger piece of eucalyptus would that be suitable, thanks

Well the leaves are edible / chewable (the Aussie stuff) and an oil is distilled from them that is antiseptic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucalyptus

 

[wukkie1]

hi thanks all for your comments, ill start a new thread regads to eucalyptus and still look forward to reading yew etc.