European Beech has always been a popular species.  Similar in appearance to our domestic Beech, as a veneer – it’s much better suited because of the dimension and quality of the logs.  France, Germany and the former Eastern European countries are the main growing region for this species.

What does steamed mean?  Typically, in veneer production once the logs are flitched in the sawmill, they are loaded into a stainless steel vat and cooked for a particular time and temperature depending on the species.  Cooking the logs softens the fibers for slicing and also affects the color.  That’s where the “steamed” comes from.  Sometimes, Beech is not cooked very long at all and we call that “white” Beech or un-steamed.

Veneers can be flat sliced, quarter sliced or rift sliced, depending on the market request.  If you look at the photo, you’ll see these little flecks.  As with all species, Beech has medullary rays like the spokes on a bicycle wheel.  RIFT production minimizes what we call the “flake effect” of those rays.