Another Soft Set **** Question

[Millet]

The first batch i did was done the same as this one i have done... i heated it to 45C till it went back to runny honey.. i then used a paddle very slowly in a drill for 5mins very slowly every hour till it started to change colour again.. once the two colours where evenly mixed i left it to set again in the bucket through lack of time to jar it...two weeks ago i warmed it back up to 45C so i could jar it..i jarred it and it has set like concrete in the jars.. it is smooth to taste once it has meted in your mouth but it is far too solid to sell...
Is there anything i can do to save it or should i just bin it like the other batch i did that went to 23% moisture after using a food blender to make a seed..

 

[Anduril]

First of all apologies, I'm not trying to to teach you to suck eggs, but these videos may help with temperatures etc. If you have anymore soft set honey you could use or buy some local. Good luck!
https://youtu.be/hdENSwf5Joo
View from 14 minutes onwards.
https://youtu.be/j6YhIdhKMbM
Just a thought to stop you throwing it away

 

[WoodenBeam]

Millet, me thinks you're over complicating things.

With our OSR Honey all we do is put into the warming cabinet until it's melted enough to put a paddle/masher through it to break it all up - should be an pale almost off white opaque liquid at this stage with no lumps, transfer to your settling tank & put in a warm airing cupboard for a couple of days max just to let any bubbles rise & then jar. It will be more of a thin porridge consistency at this stage - leave for too long & it will need to be warmed again........this isn't what I would call a seeded set honey but a creamed honey, soft margarine consistency, perfect & delicious on toast.

 

[Madge]

Millet, me thinks you're over complicating things.



....this isn't what I would call a seeded set honey but a creamed honey, soft margarine consistency, perfect & delicious on toast.

Yes, I’ve told Millet before that he needn’t liquidise his OSR honey completely - just stir it, and use it as it is, or use it to seed other honeys.

The colour-change Millet mentioned is probably all the air he’s stirred into the honey - perhaps?

BTW, the correct term is ‘soft-set’ - not ‘creamed’.

 

[Madge]

Sorry - Tapatalk has again removed all my apostrophes! I’ll (and it will probably appear as ‘Ill’) have to stop using Tapatalk.

 

[steve1958]

All is not lost.

Place the hard set honey in your honey warmer.
Heat to 45c stirring every so often to get rid of any crystals.
When it is clear liquid poor into honey bucket.
Cool to 35c
Add seed honey (some soft creamed honey at a rate of 10%). Which has been warmed to 35c
If you haven't any creamed honey buy some from the shop.
Then carry on as before.

I have a machine that stirs the honey for 15 minutes every hour.
The lot I did this weekend was ready to jar up after 48 hours.

You may find that when you warm that hard set honey you will have a froth on the top. Skim this off.

 

[Etton]

Leave baking paper on top of the warmed honey, when you lift off it lifts the scum too.

 

[WoodenBeam]

BTW, the correct term is ‘soft-set’ - not ‘creamed’.

That'll be a regional thing - bit like gimmers & shearlings

 

[Madge]

All is not lost.

Place the hard set honey in your honey warmer.
Heat to 45c stirring every so often to get rid of any crystals.
...

No wonder Millet is getting confused with all this contradictory advice!

 

[Madge]

That'll be a regional thing - bit like gimmers & shearlings

I don't think it's a regional thing. The reasoning is that there's no cream in the honey, so 'creamed' is the wrong term. Ok - perhaps, legally, you can't use 'creamed' to describe soft-set - but we all understand what 'creamed' means!

 

[WoodenBeam]

Ask a group of beekeepers a relatively straight forward question.............

Good luck Millet

 

[Madge]

Sorry - Tapatalk has again removed all my apostrophes! I’ll (and it will probably appear as ‘Ill’) have to stop using Tapatalk.

PS:
I'm harping on about missing apostrophes again. I'm using my laptop now and noticed that the missing apostrophes are all there; they're just not displayed in Tapatalk on my phone. Now I know. Sorry if I've confused you.

 

[steve1958]

No wonder Millet is getting confused with all this contradictory advice!

Look at what the problem is
The gentleman has honey which is in jars and set like concrete.
He needs to get it out of the jars, so this requires heat.
And then do something to stop it setting hard again.
Melting the crystals and using a soft set honey to seed it is the obvious answer or am I missing something.

Ps. I don't profess to be an expert, I just learn from past experience... In other words it has happened to me in the past, and this is how I solved it.

 

[Jambo]

should i just bin it like the other batch i did that went to 23% moisture after using a food blender to make a seed..

Any idea why that resulted in the moisture content increasing??

 

[Millet]

Yes, I’ve told Millet before that he needn’t liquidise his OSR honey completely - just stir it, and use it as it is, or use it to seed other honeys.

The colour-change Millet mentioned is probably all the air he’s stirred into the honey - perhaps?

BTW, the correct term is ‘soft-set’ - not ‘creamed’.

The colour change was the honey cooling down.. i did not stir air bubbles into the honey as i used a paddle slowly in the drill that pulls the honey from the bottom of the bucket instead of from the surface.

 

[Murox]

Look at what the problem is
The gentleman has honey which is in jars and set like concrete.
He needs to get it out of the jars, so this requires heat.
And then do something to stop it setting hard again.
Melting the crystals and using a soft set honey to seed it is the obvious answer or am I missing something.

Ps. I don't profess to be an expert, I just learn from past experience... In other words it has happened to me in the past, and this is how I solved it.

A leading cause of problems is solutions. K.I.S.S.

 

[Millet]

All is not lost.

Place the hard set honey in your honey warmer.
Heat to 45c stirring every so often to get rid of any crystals.
When it is clear liquid poor into honey bucket.
Cool to 35c
Add seed honey (some soft creamed honey at a rate of 10%). Which has been warmed to 35c
If you haven't any creamed honey buy some from the shop.
Then carry on as before.

I have a machine that stirs the honey for 15 minutes every hour.
The lot I did this weekend was ready to jar up after 48 hours.

You may find that when you warm that hard set honey you will have a froth on the top. Skim this off.

Thank you Steve.. that sounds like a good solution.. however it is smooth to taste already and has fine crystals but set solid for some reason.. i will still try a seed though..

 

[Millet]

No wonder Millet is getting confused with all this contradictory advice!

I am not confused.. i now how to do soft set honey as i have been told in the past by a very knowledgeable beek how to do it... this is the third bucket i have done this year...with the first one i did as i was told and it was perfect.. the second one i made a seed in the food blender and the moisture level shot up to 23%.. this third batch was done exactly the same as the first batch that was perfect however this bucket has set solid again.

 

[Millet]

Any idea why that resulted in the moisture content increasing??

My bet is the seed i made in the food blender had far too many air bubble in it which can raise the moisture level in soft set honey.

 

[linoleum bonypart]

Honey is hygroscopic have you left the lid off for any length of time i cant see a small seed hugely changing a bucket full
45c is high i never go above 35