OSR (again)

[Putnamsmif]

Does everyone go through the set/ warm/ cream etc. road with OSR honey, or do some of you bottle as is?

 

[Arfermo]

All and anyone of them.

 

[psafloyd]

Does everyone go through the set/ warm/ cream etc. road with OSR honey, or do some of you bottle as is?

Set is not that hard, and should stay managable for months afterwards.

 

[Putnamsmif]

This will - hopefully - be my first honey so please forgive my ignorance. So I can just extract, filter and then jar it? I've read so many things about OSR honey I almost believe it will set so hard once in the jar it will be irremovable and unusable.

 

[oliver90owner]

I, and probably most others with reasonably large amounts to deal with, extract, sieve and store in 10l food grade plastic buckets.

When required for use, I melt, filter, soft set and fill into jars. That way it is only warmed the once only, which is important to avoid high HMF levels.

Avoid the word 'cream'. It is not a legally permitted word where pure honey is concerned. PC gone mad? Yes, but that is the way of the world.

 

[Skyhook]

Could be. As with everything else in beekeeping there's no simple solution, but I've had jars that would bend the knife. I now make soft-set(or try to).

 

[itma]

This will - hopefully - be my first honey so please forgive my ignorance. So I can just extract, filter and then jar it? I've read so many things about OSR honey I almost believe it will set so hard once in the jar it will be irremovable and unusable.

The safe option is to put the honey into plastic buckets. (30kg buckets are only a couple of quid - are Paynes still the cheapest?)
By all means put some into a few jars for immediate family use. And a couple as storage tests - so you can see how it crystallises. How fast and how hard (it depends what they have been foraging as well as the OSR).
You should also check (or get checked) the water content.

There is a good reason that the Dyce process was evolved and is used.
And if you discover that you need to employ it, you'll find things much easier if you have your honey in buckets rather than in jars.
But if you should happen to have 'OSR' honey that doesn't set fast and hard, then you can still put it into jars … (just mind out for the flying pigs).

 

[Putnamsmif]

Many thanks. Good idea to put some into a couple of jars and see what happens while storing the rest.

 

[Luka22]

Hi, I have to hijack this post or another question. We have 3 buckets of Honey, 2 rock hard and one semi hard (not runny for sure). The bees obviously discovered the rapeseed field close to us. We never had this honey before, but as far as what I learnt so far, I will need to warm it up slightly and cream it. (Warming cabinet will be build in the next few days). My question:

1. 
   Will I need a seed honey or can it be creamed without that? I was advised to just buy some honey from the supermarket, but I don't like the thought to mix my honey with that.
2. How should I cream it? A propeller, a Paddle Creamer, a corkscrew, the Hand creamer one with a T-Handle or a Potato masher?
   The Potato masher is obviously the cheapest solution, but which one is the best to use, independent from the price?

I am sure some of you have tried out different ways and I hope you can share your experience. Thanks in advance.

 

[oliver90owner]

Adding supermarket honey is taboo if offering for sale. Trading standards could have a field day, if finding pollen from chinese flowers in honey purported to be from the UK!

If required to be filtered, then the honey will have to be completely melted. If your customers don't notice, or mind, the odd bee leg, the filtering is unnecessary, I suppose.

I doubt 30kg buckets are just a couple of quid. Probably not even 30 lb food-grade buckets, these days.

As an aside, you are not allowed to call it 'creamed'; only 'soft-set' or some other acceptable term is permitted for the purposes of advertising.

 

[Oscarmonster]

Hi, I have to hijack this post or another question. We have 3 buckets of Honey, 2 rock hard and one semi hard (not runny for sure). The bees obviously discovered the rapeseed field close to us. We never had this honey before, but as far as what I learnt so far, I will need to warm it up slightly and cream it. (Warming cabinet will be build in the next few days). My question:

1. 
   Will I need a seed honey or can it be creamed without that? I was advised to just buy some honey from the supermarket, but I don't like the thought to mix my honey with that.
2. How should I cream it? A propeller, a Paddle Creamer, a corkscrew, the Hand creamer one with a T-Handle or a Potato masher?
   The Potato masher is obviously the cheapest solution, but which one is the best to use, independent from the price?

I am sure some of you have tried out different ways and I hope you can share your experience. Thanks in advance.

I filter my OSR honey after extracting, so I warm a bucket for 3-4 hours at 40 degrees then agitate with the t handle creamer from Thornes. A pototo masher is adaquate if you are only doing a couple of buckets.

 

[Luka22]

Adding supermarket honey is taboo if offering for sale. Trading standards could have a field day, if finding pollen from chinese flowers in honey purported to be from the UK!

Thats exactly my concern. Most Honey jars in supermarket Honey even say that they are a mix of EU and none EU countries, I do not want that in our "real" Honey. We have filtered the honey straight after extracting, then in went into the storing bucket and after a short period of time (2-3days) it become rock hard.

A T-handle creamer from Txxx is about 10£ cheaper than a Paddle Creamer I found on the net, so its all in a price range of up to 40£ which makes me wonder which one is best to use. I have not found any side yet, which describes the Pro's and Con's of the different creamer or anyone got a page?

 

[VEG]

I use the corkscrew type and it works very well.

 

[YorkshireBees]

I use the corkscrew type and it works very well.

Corkscrew type in a clean battery powered drill.

Much easier and faster if you are repeating the process!

 

[RoyCropper]

why doesn't it set rock hard agian?

When you have warmed and stirred your set OSR honey why doesn't it set again in the jar? Why does it remain soft set? Is it the warming process or the creaming that changes it?

Roy

EDIT found the answer in another thread!

 

[itma]

…
I doubt 30kg buckets are just a couple of quid. Probably not even 30 lb food-grade buckets, these days.
…

Thanks for indicating my mental typo in your usual Delphic way RAB!

30 lb food grade bucket with lid from Paynes … just £1.86