preparing sassafras root

[jake22si]

Anybody got any tips on drying sassafras root for later use?

[wildlifewarrior]

I have never dried it always used it fresh. You could dry it in the oven on the lowest setting like 170 or so, I have done that for jerky and tomatoes both worked. There is a chemical in it that isn't great for you but as long a you only drj k it once in a while and not every day for years you should be fine.

Mike

[Michael Greer]

If it was really bad for you, my entire family would be dead. We drink it every spring. Like so many things, it has supposedly been found to cause cancer in rats, but who knows how much they gave them, or what the parameters of the study were. More to the point, I've never seen the study, but have heard mention of it for years. It could very well be a myth...passed down as the truth, each passer believing the one before to be real

[jake22si]

Just looking for a way to keep it fresh for later use, maybe i'll try freezing some. Most cigarettes cause cancer but the fda has not banned their use. Im not really worried about that.

[wildlifewarrior]

Drying is one way, freezing should work well too.

@ Mr. Greer:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22024337
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0041008X65900694
http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/37/6/1883.full.pdf
This is one of them. I am not saying don't drink it, I am trying to make sure everyone knows the issues. If someone mentioned smoking I would have done the same thing making sure they were aware of the possible negative affects. If you drank it as much as people did in England two hundred years ago, I am sure that the chemical would build up. I also can see that there are probably benefits to drinking it add well. I have drank it many times, and love it, I love natural teas.
Mike

[Cabin]

Just looking for a way to keep it fresh for later use, maybe i'll try freezing some. Most cigarettes cause cancer but the fda has not banned their use. Im not really worried about that.

Potatoes, Rhubarb, fiddleheads and apple seeds all are toxic if you eat enough of it. The average person can not eat enough of any of them to see any effect. Unless you intend to eat a whole tree I would not worry about sassafras toxins(if any). I always heard it was good for you, enjoy. Stripping the bark then drying it(the bark) may work best for you.

[Michael Greer]

So I'm looking for someone in central New York that would gather some Sassafras seeds next fall. The climate has warmed so much in the past 40 years that I'm sure I could grow them here in Potsdam. Any tree enthusiasts out there?

[buckeye gold]

Spring is the best time to strip bark from roots. It peels the best. I wash the roots before I peel them. I dry them lust laid out on trays or in the oven on low heat. It keeps for years dried in a mason jar kept dry. You can also grind it to a powder after dry. Remind me next fall and I would be willing to look for you some seed. I could try and send you a small sapling or two. I have a lot of them in my woods. I have a jar in my cabinet all the time. Some of it is 3 yrs old and still good.

Here is a good article on the benefits and concerns: https://www.drweil.com/diet-nutrition/food-safety/sassafras-tea-safety/

Heck you can eat too much of anything. My wife had a reaction to Maple syrup. she put it in everything she ate until she reacted and had to back off.