Hey Paul,
You said that Osage Orange will put toxins in your food. WRONGGGGG. I don't know where you did your research but that is definitely not true.
I've been making wooden utensils for 20 years and used Osage for bow making for 20 years before that.
I did a lot of research in the beginning about the different types of wood that spoon makers used. I didn't want to use a wood that was toxic. What I found out was, this, osage was the best wood for making wooden ware.
Two of the most used woods was cherry and hard rock maple. As was previous stated, cherry is toxic. BUT, to be fair, the toxins that leak out are so small there is little effect they have on using them to cook with.
I did my own test on those three woods (osage, cherry and maple) I put each utensil in its own glass jar filled with water. I would leave them in the water for a month and then taking them out and see what effect the water had on the wood. Before taking them out I could see there was mold growing on the cherry and maple spoon but not the osage. (if you think I'm lying, do the test for yourself and you'll see the truth)I had to clean the jars that the cherry and maple spoons were in, but not the osage. I did this for a year, and the results were still the same. I did several other test and osage came out on top every time.
what I found out over the years is that, osage is not affected by water.
So, now, you know, the, rest, of the story...
