Boiling Water for Sterilization

[All About Arthropods]

Hello,

Do you guys think that pouring boiling water over a piece of bark would sufficiently sterilize it? I'm looking to sterilize a couple large pieces of bark, so they wouldn't fit into my microwave, and I've had a lot of trouble with heat treating bark anyway, so I would rather not use that method. <_<

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[Matttoadman]

Have you tried the oven?

 

[Sleepy Lemur]

I use the oven, heated to 350F for a half hour.

 

[Matttoadman]

I also like to wrap it in tinfoil. This keeps the debris out of the oven. Probably heats it up more too.

 

[All About Arthropods]

Have you tried the oven?

I haven't, but I think I'll try it out.

I also like to wrap it in tinfoil. This keeps the debris out of the oven. Probably heats it up more too.

Good idea, that was one of the main problems with me sterilizing anything, my parents didn't want anything touching either the oven or the microwave.  Looks like I've got a solution to that problem now.

I use the oven, heated to 350F for a half hour.

You don't notice any char after the fact? One time I tried to sterilize a piece of bark in my microwave, and after about 2 minutes, it had a ton of char and started smoking! :wacko:  Do you moisten it a lot?

 

[Matttoadman]

I think I did 250 degrees.

 

[pannaking22]

I do mine anywhere from 250-350F. 

 

[Betta132]

If the pieces fit in a pot that you own, you can submerge them in water and boil them for awhile. It makes your kitchen smell like someone made tea out of a forest, but that's not a bad smell, just a bit weird. You can also fit half a chunk of wood into a pot, boil it for a few minutes, and then flip it over to put the other half in.

 

[All About Arthropods]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys.  I ended up just baking my pieces in the oven at 350 for about an hour and a half(I also wrapped them in tin foil). I tried first for half an hour, but I wasn't sure that all the pests had been killed(I saw a worm on the bark), so I put it in again, and then when I took it out again, it seemed fine. I also tried baking a couple thick pieces of wood for half an hour, but as soon as I took them out, I noticed that the heat had just drove all the inverts out of the log, so I put in again for about two hours and after that it was good.