re: Homebrewing: In-Process Thread

For wood, I soak them in wine or whiskey. I suppose you could dunk them in boiling water if you don't want wine or liquor flavors

For fruit, you can dunk it in starsan if it's whole or frozen chunks.
For a purée, I hear it up to 165 or so for a few minutes. You can have issues with pectin making your beer cloudy by beating the fruit though.
Or, you can dump it in there and just see what happens. There is a decent chance your beer will have enough alcohol, high enough IBUs and a low enough ph after primary fermentation that it will prevent infection.