Keeping honey runny

[wayseer]

Just wonder how others go about keeping their bulk honey from becoming candied.

[bassman1977]

I don't know any other way except to heat it.

[derrick1p1]

I think heating is the only way to liquify? crytalized honey.  There are large metal bands that you can purchase and can be wrapped around a 5 gallon bucket to heat it up.  But per M. Bush (in an earlier post), you can put it in your car on a warm sunny day.  Just monitor it so you don't get it too hot.

[Scadsobees]

To prevent crystallization freeze it, I find that this works best, it won't crystallize when frozen.  This is tricky when you have 50 gallons, but I usually will freeze all that I bottle in a batch.  The honey doesn't actually freeze due to the high specific gravity, and it doesn't change the honey at all to freeze it.

Or keep it warmer, but long term this isn't so practical either.

Rick

[wayseer]

OK - I'll try to be more specific.

I have honey in a 35 KG plastic container with homey gate from which I generally fill my smaller jars and pails.  The honey in this container is crystallised and makes pouring almost impossible.  In Queensland where the weather is generally warm to hot there is no problem except at this time of year - mid winter for us Aussies. 

I can heat smaller containers in a pan of water on the stove but the 35 kg bucket is a little big for that.

[eri]

thermostatically controlled heat tape?

[johnnybigfish]

 Hey Wayseer, That made me think for a minute :)..I was trying to figure out what a "Homey Gate" was :-D
I had "Visions" of Homeys 8-) :mrgreen:
At any rate, I was thinking about what Eri said about the heat tape...You might have to kinda rock the drum around every now and then.
good luck!
your friend,
john

[Robo]

I have a spare refrigerator that I have a 100watt light bulb on a thermostat.  I just turn it on the day before I want to bottle. 

I use the square 5 gallon jugs with honey gate.  I leave them standing up in the refrigerator,  and then just lay them down on the rack to bottle.  The shelves in the door come in handy for setting bottles and caps too :-D

[sc-bee]

You can also insulate the inside of a cardboard box the size you want and heat w/ a light bulb as Robo mentioned above. Of course my English measurements aren't good and not sure of 35 kg (size) unless I plugged and chugged @ the conversion :-D ;)!

[Robo]

Of course my English measurements aren't good and not sure of 35 kg (size) unless I plugged and chugged @ the conversion :-D ;)!

It about 77 lbs. 

In case you didn't know it, Google has a built in calculator/converter.  Simply type "35 kg in pounds" in the search bar.  I use it all the time, even works for the more obscure units of measurement.

[Michael Bush]

I put it in the jars I want it in and let it crystallize.  If it's already started I put it in the window to keep it cooler and speed it up.  The consumer can either use it as "candied" (which is what I recommend) or heat it to reliquify it.  Either way I don't mess up the flavor.

[wayseer]

Thanks everyone - I have gained some ideas.   I like the heat tape concept - now to find where I might buy some.

[utahbeekeeper]

ROBO    what happens if you Google a "skosh"   or a "smidgin"   or a   "pinch"    Are these a "tad"  too obscure??

[buzzbee]

Not to distract from topic.firefox has an add on called Converter 0.7.0 With this add on you can highlight a metric measurement,right click what you highlighted ,and it gives cm to inch,celsius to fahrenheit,cm to inches etc.

[budhanes]

Thanks everyone - I have gained some ideas.   I like the heat tape concept - now to find where I might buy some.

At the hardware store. They are used to wrap around water pipes in cold areas to keep them from freezing. Heres a link:

Heat tapes

You might need to "modify" the built in thermostat which should be set to come on at 30 degrees or lower...