Long Term Storage of Oud Wood

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floraopia

Guest
#1
How would one storage Oud wood long term? It must be possible as the famous piece of Oud called Ranjatai was presented by Komyo Emperor for Todaiji Temple in Nara, Japan, 1244 years ago! Just wondering how they store it and does the resin improve with age or only up to a certain point?

Any ideas?
 
#2
I keep mine in a glass jar with a loose lid. I live in a rather humid and warm region so I keep my Oud wood pieces at room temperature. Most unique way of storing them that I've heard is in the Freezer, that if you live in an arid zone country. Presumably if you keep them in the freezer all the resin and the scent containing material is preserved from evaporating and could be thawed for later use. I have not tried that myself so I can not vouch for it but I know certain people who do. There was another member who was recounting a visit to one of the famous Japanese Incense houses where he saw in one of the rooms an entire wall of glass drawers containing various Oud chips, all at room temperature.
 
#3
I keep my Oud wood covered in small round containers, and will likely transfer it all into glass jars, as masstika is describing. I live in a humid climate as well. It seems best to me, just on an intuitive level, to keep the wood covered and in a container of some sort, rather than exposed to the elements.
 
#4
This was a pressing issue for me until recently when I transferred all of my frankincense into there own glass jars and my Oud wood into a humidor type wooden box! Maybe a humidor would work for those who live in arid lands with relatively dry air. I have a humidor but it is at my parents home in Miami and I'm north of the border in Canada so I made due with a wooden jewelry box from the dollar store!
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#5
Thanks for all the replies. I currently work in Saudi Arabia, so am keeping all my wood in a freezer. However, my wood back home in the UK is simply kept it a plastic food bag, which is then placed in the Oriscent cardboard box they were originally supplied in. This is then kept in a dark storage area.
 
#6
A quick question about Oud and fungus. I had this piece of koh kong (see front) http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m622/masstika1/P1050780.jpg which looked nice and was part f a lot that smells fantastic. However, I have noticed a white color powder fungus like starts to spread on the back of the chip. http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m622/masstika1/P1050781.jpg it has also jumped from this chip to couple of others. I separated them from others and cleaned up the glass Jar where I had kept them. Does anyone know of known cases of Carassana fungus of Oud chips? The glass Jar is not air tight and it's kept away from the sun.
 
#8
From every batch that I buy I always save the last chip. Date it and ID it and put it away. so yes, I do have few pieces that are few years old but actually, I am not wealthy because of them :) yet no regrets. Seriously, if someone has encountered a similar situation I would love to hear about it and how they dealt with it.
 
F

floraopia

Guest
#9
I have only ever burned ONE piece of Oud wood - a single chip the size of my large thumbnail from the Chanthaburi Wild Oud - I burned it yesterday and the day before for about 30 minutes each time and it still isn't finished...
 
#10
masstika i know of a way to get rid of the fungus, you have to heat it up without burning the wood.
It may not the right thing to do, its just a suggestion.
Heat it up for a 3 seconds to high temperature and fungus on surface should be gone.
Everything you do, is on your own risk :)
And it may not help you because i know that, for example if you have bread and you can macroscopically see fungus, it means the rest of the bread has microscopic fungus too, but you cant see it. If this is the same case with Oud, i dont know.

Other ways to get rid of it would be alcohol or chlor....
 
#11
Thanks rising. I ended up taking your first advice all the way...I burned them on charcoal last night and they smelled the same as the other non affected wood. I am keeping a close eye on the rest of the Oud to see if there is any further development. I wouldn't use Alcohol or chlorine though...I imagine that would be worst than the fungus itself, but thanks for the advice all the same :)
 
#12
Maybe this is a sign that its not genuine Oud Wood. Because the resin of Oud, is anti fungus. So fungus should not grow on it. But i dont know for sure. Interesting to know what Ensar says about this. What would you say Ensar?
 

Ensar Oud

Well-Known Member
#13
When we harvested the 20-year-old tree which was used for the Crassna Cha Experiment, I picked up a fresh piece of heartwood that smelled like the fanciest feta cheese I've ever had the pleasure of smelling (click to see). The scent was extremely fecal, yet incredibly satisfying. One day later, our hotel room began to reek of fecalicious funk to such a degree that it was too much to handle. So I put the chunk of wood into a ziplock bag. Within two days, the entire bag was filled with fungus. White hairy mush grew out of the still moist agarwood which eventually started to turn green like proper mold. At that point, I had to discard it.

Long story short, it is very possible for fungus to appear on a piece of oud wood which is not 100% dry, if it is sealed in an airtight container, like a ziplock bag.

FYI, I store all oud wood in the freezer. In arid climates (like Jordan) the oleoresins can escape from the wood very easily, and you can lose considerable weight as well as aromatic oleoresins. My practice has been to always seal the wood in saran wrap, then freeze it until it's time to fumigate. :)
 
#14
Question about freezing of the wood to Ensar, do you have to thaw the wood after you have taken it out of the Freezer or can you put it straight on the burner?
 

Ensar Oud

Well-Known Member
#15
I usually thaw it first, which doesn't take more than a few minutes if the wood has been properly dried prior to storing in the freezer.
 
#16
I know there are people on here more experienced with the process of aging wood and oils, but I always keep my oils in the dark out of direct light and at room temperature to let them age naturally. If I get them in the sample bottles and plan to store them for a while and they are over .5 ml I transfer them to a small amber bottle with a screw on lid. I just keep them in a box in a dark closet. As for wood, I was thinking about using a vaccuum food sealer to save store the majority of chips. I am unsure if this is the correct thing to do as I was reading somewhere how the some of the incense companies actually store and age there wood like you do oils up to 3 years. When I run across the article again I will try and post it.
 
#17
I have a piece of furniture that I know that it has some termite in it but I can't bring my self to throw it away for sentimental reasons. Is my stored Agarwood in danger of being eaten by termite?
 

Ana

New Member
#19
Hi all

I kep my wood in glass jars so far. In Switzerland the weather is not humid, so I can keep it also in plastic bags.
But of course it looks better in a glass jar ;)

If I encounter something similar with my wood, I will post it here.
So far any solutions found for the fungus?


bye,
Ana