Heat Mats for warming honey

[nonstandard]

I warmed my paltry 15lb of honey using a boots home brew heat mat which I bought about 25 years ago. It cleared the crystalisation in about 24 hrs with a little bit of a stir after about 12 hrs; if I remember correctly I draped a couple of towels over the top and checked the temperature a couple if times and it had just reached 35C when it cleared.

 

[casualman]

I have used a reptile heat mat coupled with a thermostat, again designed for a avarium when making a home made warming cabinet. It worked well and at a fraction of the price of buying a warming cabinet. Got it all from Ebay.

 

[Chris Luck]

I guess this is a bit like showing vegetables, all in the appearance...anyway at temperatures over 40°C there is an increasing danger that enzymes start breaking down as well as there being damage to pollen granules, but if you aren't bothered about content and are fine filtering as well I guess it doesn't matter...

....just tell your customers if you are selling to enable them to choose what they are buying Let's face it we all deserve full and open information as consumers.

My honey looks well rough and my regulars love it.

Chris

 

[BBG]

Chrisluck

"My honey looks well rough and my regulars love it"

That's because you're in France. It wasn't that long ago they were milking cattle on dirt floors while Brussels was forcing raised platforms and computerised milking parlours with floor to roof tiles in the UK.

Have to say the milk and cream tasted better out of the old churns though.

BTW I gathered you probably were but being in touch with your feminine side too closely can produce peculiar results.

40C - no, I'm certain he said 35C

 

[Chris Luck]

That's because you're in France. It wasn't that long ago they were milking cattle on dirt floors while Brussels was forcing raised platforms and computerised milking parlours with floor to roof tiles in the UK

Hmmm, sells well in the UK, Holland and Germany as well.

and yes, I suppose I am well well-balanced.

Chris

 

[BBG]

Hmmm, sells well in the UK, Holland and Germany as well.

and yes, I suppose I am well well-balanced. <<<<<<-----

Chris

Certain signs indicate otherwise !

 

[cjhart2]

My honey looks well rough and my regulars love it.

Chris

Got an excellent taste to it as well Chris , the last lot was excellent . You can tell the difference from the ' bulk French co-op ' stuff .


When it comes to labelling and production , Christine has to record everything on production sheets for the jams and chutneys she makes to satisfy the food agency requirements . This includes the batch numbers of sugar and place it was bought . This is in case of recall of a sugar batch due to contamination .

What would bee keepers do if there was a recall on sugar or fondant ? Would they know which honey not to sell ?

So that pot of jam we gave you has 4 pages of documentation in the back ground .
But if anything is recalled we know when it was made what batch and where it was sold .

Good labelling and productions are a pain and time consuming , but oddly it is also comforting to know , we are are in control if anything bad happens .


As a side issue does anybody know what the latest is on the GM pollen in honey rulling from the European court last year -

European court rules beekeepers must prove GM pollen is not an ingredient of honey -

Case C‑442/09 Bablok et al v. Freistaat Bayern, Monsanto intervening

 

[peteinwilts]

my customers are family, friends and the guys at work.

They don't give a hoot about what it looks like and buy it by the 30lb bucket. By Christmas some of them get competative as they know it sells fast, and one or two 'stock up' to avoid disapointment.

 

[Arfermo]

I warmed my paltry 15lb of honey using a boots home brew heat mat which I bought about 25 years ago. It cleared the crystalisation in about 24 hrs with a little bit of a stir after about 12 hrs; if I remember correctly I draped a couple of towels over the top and checked the temperature a couple if times and it had just reached 35C when it cleared.

Precisely what I do too.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Anyone tried using a vivarium/reptile heat matt to warm up honey buckets?

I am doing this this year, putting this 20W one [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002UEB0RQ"]Habistat Heat Mat, 20 Watt, 17 x 11-inch: Amazon.co.uk: Pet Supplies[/ame], cost 3 jars of honey, towards the base of my inverted solar melter (which looks like a @derekm bonnet cased in ply). It's working brilliantly, hitting 40C without the thermostat, which is a bit warm but useful (waiting for the ST-1000 from Hong Kong). Would need more power to melt wax.

 

[masterBK]

There are laws that cover excessive heating or prolonged storage of the honey prior to sale namely the honey regs 2015 which lay down maximum HMF levels and minimum diastase levels both of which can be tested by the authorities if thiis is suspected (although diffiult for the beekeeper to do themselves without the knowledge and specialised equipment)

 

[Hivemaker.]

There are laws that cover excessive heating or prolonged storage of the honey prior to sale

How long are you allowed to store honey for by law before sale.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

How long are you allowed to store honey for by law before sale.

There's no specific time, but the limits on composition determine it. Where relevant these are (from www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/1348/pdfs/uksi_20151348_en.pdf). How the heck you can tell is a separate question.

"Diastase activity and hydroxymethylfurfural content
6. Diastase activity and hydroxymethylfurfural content (HMF)
determined after processing and blending—
(a) diastase activity (Schade scale) —
(i) all honey except baker’s honey and honey specified in
sub-paragraph (ii)
not less than 8
(ii) honey with a low natural enzyme content (e.g. citrus
honey) and an HMF content of not more than
15mg/kg
not less than 3
(b) HMF—
(i) all honey except baker’s honey and honey specified in
sub-paragraph (ii)
not more than 40mg/kg
(ii) honey of a declared origin from a region with a
tropical climate and blends of these honeys
not more than 80mg/kg"

 

[Hivemaker.]

There's no specific time,

Thought that was the case.

I often wonder about the quality of jars honey kept back by some that keeps on winning prizes at honey shows, same old jars of honey, warmed up year after year and keep winning first prize...is it really fit for human consumption after being warmed up to re liquefy every year.

 

[Thymallus]

How long are you allowed to store honey for by law before sale.

Last year I came across a bucket of 8 year old Heather Honey (forgotten in attic). It had matured into a much darker and stronger tasting heather honey than "fresh". Sold out within a month, with requests for more.....wish I had some more.
Let the customer decide.

I think the main reason these HMF values in legislation exist is because they have something they can test for that indicates age/bad heat treatment of honey. How bad high levels of HMF are for you was described in an article by White (non peer reviewed) in the American Bee Journal in 1992- where they say it is toxic if you consume 2.4 mg of HMF per kg of body weight. Normal honey should not exceed 80 or 40 mg/kg. I'd have to eat approx 10 jars of very very old stuff before seeing an adverse affect.

 

[Finman]

.
That out of day thing...
.

 

[Finman]

.
That out of day thing...
.

That out of date thing.

When honey is 3 months in room temperature 25C, I can taste a change in aroma.
Honey is living material and it changes chemically by itself.

4 year in room temperature develops a bitter after taste like pepper.

IT is not good if you heat so much honey that melting wax aroma appeares in it.

When a bee flies, its muscles have 39C temp. Even 42C temp can be measured in disturbed cluster.

Dead pollen in honey? It has no meaning.
.