Sassafrass

[tryinhard]

I had a large sassafrass tree limb fall in the back yard. What should I make out of it?

 

[George]

Tea. :grin:

Spence

 

[Ole Frog]

sawdust :grin:

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Sassafras tea contains safriole, a mild narcotic. It also contains a federally restricted chemical precursor used to make other recreational drugs, such a ecstacy

 

[Billnpatti]

While sassifrass wood is nice to work with and fills your shop with a rootbeer fragrance, the main problem with limbs of trees as opposed to the trunks of trees is that most all limb wood is filled with internal stress and lumber made from limbs will almost always warp and twist badly. :cursing: It may possibly be used in turning projects :hmm: but even then, the resultant project could warp and twist. If you are ready to accept the probability that you could spend money to have your limb sawn up only to have all the lumber from it warp as it drys, give it a try. There is always the slight possibility that you could end up with some nice lumber :idunno: ......but I doubt it. :shake:

 

[tenngun]

Or you can try small stuff,like chargers,pill/cap boxes,spice or salt holders,since a big slap will warp and crack.I do like the tea but I make it from the root.If its a mild narcotic and the spice for file'gumbo I think that explains the "let the good times roll"(roulet bolonge?)

 

[mudd turtle]

In order to make tea you need to dig the roots and wash them very good . then you break up the roots and boil them in water untill the tea is the right color. For gumbo select good tender leafs and wash them ,pat them dry and allow to dry for a while . Then you crush the dried leafs and grind it into a powder to use in stews or gumbo. My granny used to make a spring tonic for my brother and me every spring. was pretty good . Then I heard that sassafrace could cause cancer and have not had any of it in years. Mudd Turtle.

 

[razorbritches]

In the FDA experiments conducted on lab rats said rats had to be fed very large amounts before it caused problems, very large amounts of mashed potatoes will cause medical problems.

 

[Billnpatti]

Tengun, you are almost right about the use of sassifrass. You are spot on about using the roots for tea. The smaller roots, no bigger than your finger. are best and it is the bark of the root that one should use. Peel it, wash it and steep it in hot pure water such as well water. Treated city water will result in a very bitter brew. I think it has to do with the chlorine in the water reacting with something in the sassifrass that gives such a bitter taste.

Now, as for the file' for gumbo, it is not made from the root, it is made from the dried leaves. My wife's family comes from Louisiana and her uncle used to make his own file' by harvesting the leaves from the sassifrass trees, drying them and then grinding them into a powder in a device that looked like a big morter and pestle. His home made file' was better than any file' that you could get from a store. :hatsoff:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Make spoons, hawk handles, knife handles, bullet boards, ooooh, how about fishing line winders as I have been told that using anise oil helps hide human scent on fishing tackle, so why not sassafras thread winders used for fishing line?

LD

 

[omarick1948]

I had a large sassafrass tree limb fall in the back yard. What should I make out of it?

Not much! __ I have had tree limbs fall in my yard with no problems unless you would be standing under it!... :rotf:

Sorry!............................. :redface:

 

[tenngun]

Thanks about the tip on file. The stuff goes wild here and I make tea a lot and have been known to bake beer a time or two. Never made file. I spect it will kill you if you use it. But I'm 56 hand two grandparents die of cancer, two die of M I, an aunt and uncle gone from stoke folks lived to 86 and 93. I think I'll take my chances. The Japanese eat blow fish, and lots die every year from it. They say to eat the blowfish is to die, to not eat it is to have never lived. I like that sort of thinking

 

[Billnpatti]

Since marrying into my wife's family, I have eaten a ton of file' in gumbo and I am standing ready to tackle the next batch of gumbo. While gumbo can be made of nearly anything, we most frequently use chicken or seafood. They say that the quickest way to get rid of any animal that is a pest is to tell a bunch of Cajuns that the animal in question is either endangered or out of season and makes great gumbo. Boom! Gone! :haha: If there is anything toxic in file', when I get to the Pearly Gates, I may have to explain why I committed suicide. :hatsoff:

Oh, BTW, the phrase that you are looking for is "Laissez Le Bon Temps Roulet". Let the good times roll. :thumbsup:

 

[Bon Sauvage]

What should I make out of it?

That Newton's law of gravity is alive and well.

 

[mudd turtle]

:surrender: :cursing: :youcrazy: :blah: wHAT DID I SAY. In the thread just above. Mudd Turtle.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Sassafrass wood has a very high strength to weight ratio and is naturally rot resistant. If the limb is straight it would make excellent poles if cut appropriately. The Amish use it green for barn raising poles and dried for wagon tongues. It is a very "soft" wood even though it is classified as a hardwood. I have used it to make wagons and even tea carts. I myself have not turned any but some people I know have. It tends to chip out easily when turned. When harvesting the roots for making tea I prefer the "connecting root" that goes from the "parent tree" to the smaller outlying trees. Wash thoroughly and then remove the inner bark from the root. This will be white when first peeled but rapidly will darken when exposed to the air. By cutting the connecting root you won't damage either the parent tree or the outlying smaller ones. Therefore you can harvest your roots from the same area for several years. Any one wishing to try some sassafrass tea I will have my usual pot at this years Eastern. I always have a pot at rendezvous as well as a pot on my shop stove all winter. As for it's supposed cancer causing properties. My great aunt and grandmother aalways drank it and lived into their mid nineties. My oldest sister and one brother in law did not drink it and both died of prancreatic and liver cancer. So you can just add "he drank sassafrass tea" to my epitaph rite beside " He always had bacon and eggs for breakfast" :idunno: :idunno: I might add that sassafrass root was the first thing sent back to England from Jamestown. The tea was supposed to cure the "French pox" while it did not! It tasted better than other treatments! The tea is a mild diuretic, concentrated it is a laxative! :hmm:

 

[Billnpatti]

What???? Did you forget already??? :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

 

[mudd turtle]

Naw I didn't forget already!Everybody is acting like a polly parrot with repeating what I already said! :td: :yakyak: :stir:

 

[necchi]

That seems to happen a lot with some folks, they don't read the topic, just the original post then they give their own answer, and many times it's just repeating what's already been said, :idunno:
I know how it makes you feel :shake:

 

[Pete G]

They're not repeating what was already said.....they are reinforcing your answer.