using a posh oven as a honey warmer

[citrus]

we have a new big posh electric oven that can 'keep warm' at say 40 degrees

could i use that to warm up 10litre plastic buckets of honey ?

(instead of old fridge/tube/st1000 thingy)

 

[Murox]

Your choice.

 

[Beverlyp24]

I do this.. We have a Neff oven which I set at 40 degrees, remove all the shelves and stick the bucket in. I add a digital thermometer as a double check to make sure the temperature stays at around 40. I find it works well.

 

[citrus]

thanks and how long do you leave it in ?

(was just a bit worried about these food safe plastics - but I guess 40 degrees is fine)

 

[Ian123]

You could if it’s that accurate, I would suggest putting in a water bath though to avoid any direct contact with metal. Better still avoid contact with expensive household equipment and subsequent clean ups!!

 

[citrus]

You could if it’s that accurate, I would suggest putting in a water bath though to avoid any direct contact with metal. Better still avoid contact with expensive household equipment and subsequent clean ups!!

cheers Ian and everyone ... will give it a go

https://photos.app.goo.gl/82pThWMQ3EofnZoJ7


so the tub is in a water bath and its will keep an eye on it

 

[Ian123]

Lol you are quick for a Sunday morning. Am sure what you’ve done will be fine but slide a couple of bottom bars under the bucket to lift off metal tray....and give a stir to break up the lumps faster and distribute heat evenly

 

[citrus]

Lol you are quick for a Sunday morning. Am sure what you’ve done will be fine but slide a couple of bottom bars under the bucket to lift off metal tray....and give a stir to break up the lumps faster and distribute heat evenly

early bird ... eh

ah so some wooden slat's then under the bucket ... good idea

 

[citrus]

next question ...

lid on or lid off ?

(worried now about water vapour getting in the honey ?)

guess 40 degree heat will mean more water vapour no ?

 

[Beverlyp24]

I have left them in for various times, from about two hours to a couple of days if necessary, but I always turn it off at night. Otherwise I leave the lid on, but check it and give it a quick stir as it starts to soften at the edges first.

 

[citrus]

clogged double filter

actually the honey warms nicely in the oven at 40 degrees but the bottleneck seems to be the filter which is also getting clogged.

so now got that in the 2nd posh oven to keep it warm and decanting to a smaller pan and a using a spoon to scrap the filters to let them flow again

just wish I'd done the filtering straight after extraction .... lesson for next year i guess

 

[drex]

Yep I filter as it comes out of the extractor into the buckets and use two sets of sieves so that I can change them over as they clog. That way I get no bottlenecks.

 

[citrus]

Yep I filter as it comes out of the extractor into the buckets and use two sets of sieves so that I can change them over as they clog. That way I get no bottlenecks.

that is such a good idea - guess I am using a mates extractor at his place so generally in a bit of a rush but be worth the small extra time cost

will get another set of sieves for sure !

 

[user 6228]

Egg incubators will work as they have the temperatures and temperature control required. Other things are around
I acquired one of these thermo scientific heratherm imc 18 off flea bay. Its also has a use for proving bread

 

[ics19]

actually the honey warms nicely in the oven at 40 degrees but the bottleneck seems to be the filter which is also getting clogged.

Just wondering, was the honey set in the bucket to start with (i.e. likely OSR), and you're wanting to warm it to make soft-set? Or was it runny already in the bucket and you're just wanting to make it flow better for jarring?

If it was set OSR, then 40 isn't enough to decrystalise it fully and the filter clogging is going to be due in part to residual crystals - you need to be warming upwards to 48 throughout to make sure it's crystal free before letting it cool back to 30-35 and adding the fine seed honey. On the other hand, 40 is perhaps on the high side for jarring - if you were doing the final warm of a soft-set mix prior to jarring, then there's a risk of starting to decrystalise your seeded honey and undoing all that mix & cool phaff you've just enjoyed.

Our oven is meant to do a 40 prove setting, but it barely manages 35. Have you confirmed what temperature your honey is getting too? A food grade long spike thermometer works well.

 

[citrus]

well will definately get a food grade thermometer to confirm but happy to keep on the low side of things

its not osr as its a suburban garden and so it is thick viscous honey that needed filtering - so the warming is just to get it thru a filter and to jar.

I think what happens is the sieve gets blocked by a layer of denser yellower honey which if I spoon out the way releases the darker runny honey to flow down... guess in a 10 litre bucket you are going to have different fractions ... its just a bit time consuming really but its winter and warm inside and it is working and I am making progress bottling the honey for friends for xmas.

 

[Ian123]

Only guessing but from experience I bet you find that dense yellow honey is crystals give the buckets a bit more of a stir to evenly distribute heat whilst trying not to get to much air in.

 

[ics19]

Only guessing but from experience I bet you find that dense yellow honey is crystals give the buckets a bit more of a stir to evenly distribute heat whilst trying not to get to much air in.

 

[drex]

If the density changes so will the water content. Stirring not only helps heat distribution but also evens out water content. Have been caught out on a jarring run, when the water content at the end of the run was higher than at the start