food grade sealer

[yukon cornelius]

what would make a good food grade sealer for a coffee mug?

[beenthere]

I assume you are talking a "wood" coffee mug? or some other material?

[yukon cornelius]

yep! I want to make my own coffee mug. maybe walnut or cedar.

[beenthere]

Why use anything? It's just coffee, and only your cup for drinking.

Use it, rinse it out good, store in the refrig so it doesn't dry out a lot and crack.

Don't see any finish as being good for a wood cup. The wood species just might add some additional flavor to improve the taste of the coffee.  ;D

[Sprucegum]

Soak it in mineral oil, same as what you would use on a cutting board. You may want to toss the first cup of coffee but the flavor should improve with time. That's my guess  ;)

[yukon cornelius]

I was thinking the coffee would taste like cedar or walnut if not sealed. I see an experiment coming on!

[JByrd]

I used Behlen's salad bowl finish on walnut wine cups used at church.  It takes 5 or so coats to get a totally smooth sealed surface so the wood is not affected by the moisture.  It applies and looks about like polyurethane varnish.  I don't know how it would stand up to the heat of coffee, but I had to refinish these cups after about 5 years of being used 2 or 3 times with wine every Sunday.  You should let it sit on a sunny windowsill for a couple of weeks after finishing to bake out the varnish smell, after that there does not seem to be any smell or taste.

[Jason_AliceMae Farms]

Yukon, it is ironic for me that you ask since the other day I was looking up food grade sealers/epoxy finishes.  There are a few FDA approved out there that I found when I was looking, I have them written in a notebook so I will post them when I get home.  I did an internet search of FDA approved epoxies and a few came up (I am not sure of price)

Over the few days off I tried my hand at a few wooden cups/tankards for practice out of scraps I had.  I wanted to try and make a few to use and to sell just like you.  I will post the simple pencil holder cup I made out of scrap.  I liked making it, they were pretty quick and easy and fun to do so I plan on getting some better wood and making some more. 

I'll post the picture of my first attempt if you post yours......

Edited Post to add the pictures: The next few I try are going to have more sides and the wood will be thinner so I can sand it round and then round over the top and bottom

  

 

[yukon cornelius]

that looks great Jason!  I am going to try one this week and post results.

[LaneC]

You may also consider olive oil. I do not know if it will leech out or not, but on spoons it barely changes the color(with pine anyway) and of course it is all natural. You can heat the cup in the oven and then apply it. (several times) You may want to experiment on a mess up first. I would hate to see you do all of that work and then have coffee that tastes like an olive :D

[Jason_AliceMae Farms]

Yukon - the product name that I had written down for a FDA approved food safe epoxy was "Plasite"  When I searched for it what came up was the company that sells it along with a lot of their products.  I am not sure which type exactly is used since I have not called around yet but that is where I was going to start looking to get an idea.  Since you want to use it for hot beverages what about finding a metal liner that would work?  I want to try to find away without using a metal liner but that is always an option too.