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Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
1,073
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352
Location
Haddenham Buckinghamshire
Hive Type
14x12
Number of Hives
20
Can anyone tell me the temperature/time that I have to heat jars of honey to in order for them to stay runny longer?
I have searched my books but cannot find a difinitive reference. I am told that it can stay runny for up to a year. Mine starts to solidify after about 3 weeks. Some customers ask for runny honey.bee-smillie
 
A pal of mine puts a 30lb bucket in his gas oven overnight at just under 50C. I've not seen the results but he has 20 plus hives and has kept bees for 20 or so years so I assume he knows what he is doing. I have found my wine heating mat does the trick if I leave it there long enough but suspect it might recrystallise as it is a fairly low temp thing. However, I still have 3 jars from last year that are as clear today as when I bottled it at around 40C. Something you need to experiment on perhaps?
 
We held our osr honey in a water bath at 140c for 1hr after putting into jars, very fiddly (spelling ?) but we haven't got too much to mess around with so not a problem. End result was very good :sifone:
 
We held our osr honey in a water bath at 140c for 1hr after putting into jars, /QUOTE]

A water bath at 140˚C, you must have been at the bottom of the ocean. I hope you meant 140˚F = 60˚C

Nice looking honey
 
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We held our osr honey in a water bath at 140c for 1hr after putting into jars, very fiddly (spelling ?) but we haven't got too much to mess around with so not a problem. End result was very good :sifone:
You don't really mean 140c do you?
 
140C fahrenheit or 60C Centigrade still seems unneccessarily hot and will surely destroy valuable enzymes in the honey. 40 - 45C centigrade still clears honey enough to keep it from year to year - and I can prove it as I have some.
 
Unless you ruin your honey, and 140 degrees Celsius for one hour would certainly do that!

But there again, a water bath will never go over 100 C!

There is no temperature one should heat to to prevent it crystallising. All honey will granulate, sooner or later.

Well filtered (the finer the retained particles) will slow the granulation (fewer and finer particles to start the crystal growth process).

Some honey may well granulate very quickly - OSR is one - and might be done as soft set. Some, borage for eg, seems to stay liquid for a long time, but will granulate eventually.

Granulation rate may also be a function of water content.

Some customers ask for runny honey.

If it is going to be used right away, warming to liquify just before use, might be the answer. If it is a retail outlet, you may be in trouble!

There are granulation labels available as instruction for end-users who require runny hunny.

Repeated or prolonged over-heating of honey is not recommended as good practice and may cause legal bother if found to be outside the limits for Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). But if liquifying honey it must be completely liquified or it will re-granulate quickly, dependent on storage conditions, of course.

Not a lot of help, methinks. But may be of some use!

Regards, RAB
 

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