I have more honey than I can sell before spring (100+ pounds). When I extracted during the season I put the honey in 2 gallon buckets and transferred to individual jars as needed. I would like to know any advantages/disadvantages of storage in the buckets verses jars. Does one way crystallize faster than the other? Is it easier to reliquify in jars over buckets? How long can I expect the honey to remain clear after decrystallizing?
Buckets or Jars?
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I store my honey in 5 gallon buckets that have gates on them. I keep the buckets in my pantry, and dispense into quart/pint jars when needed. Maybe because of my location, and how dry the air is where I am, but I have yet to have ANY of my honey crystallize.
We have lots of 5 gallon buckets with honey in them. They store just fine.
If it crystallizes, we use a bucket blanket heater that works oh so nice!
If it crystallizes, we use a bucket blanket heater that works oh so nice!
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Could it be star thistle honey that does not granulate easily?
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I keep my honey in 5 gallon buckets. Before dumping into the bottling tank, I warm the bucket with a bucket heater for 5 hours to make sure the honey is de-crystallized. Plus, the warm honey drains from the bucket much faster.
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I just saw this. I wish I had one of the blankets versus the metal band that I have. When I first got my bucket heater, I melted a bucket when the honey level got too low.
I just bought one of these. Left it on for 3 days. Bottom of the bucket was still full of crystalized honey. I also had condensation under the lid of the bucket. Any suggestions for helping the bottom of the bucket and the condensation on the bottom of the lid.
We sometimes get condensation. We just wipe it off. Maybe crack the lid a bit.
Try stirring your honey a bit and mixing the crystallized with the un. Also, heat rises. Is your blanket as low as you can get it in the bucket?
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I vote buckets . Once honey crystalizes,it never totally liquifies again.If placed in jars,there will be a slight layer of crystals in the bottom of the jar.If you store in buckets,you can liquify in a hot water bath or hot box at a low temp.(It may take a few days.)Pour through a paint strainer into you bottler and let sit for a day before you bottle and your product will look fresh as if it were just extracted.
Temps over 110° degrade the honey.I'm not sure what temperature the bucket heaters work at but I suspect more than 110°.Honey can be pasteurized at temps of 145°-150° to retard granulation but eventually it will ganulate.
See this:
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/honey-pasteurization/
Temps over 110° degrade the honey.I'm not sure what temperature the bucket heaters work at but I suspect more than 110°.Honey can be pasteurized at temps of 145°-150° to retard granulation but eventually it will ganulate.
See this:
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/honey-pasteurization/
I am assuming the OP is a small time hobbyist based on his post. I wouldn't spend $100 on a bucket blanket when I could bottle it up now and if it crystallizes, put as many jars in the dishwasher as I needed to sell and liquefy it that way. As Jack said, a few crystals will result in crystallization. Doesn't this happen with a bucket blanket unless you keep it heated? Betterbee's bucket blanket heats the honey to 133F which degrades the honey as Jack says. I assume they are all about the same unless thermostatically controlled. If you put the honey in a dishwasher, it will de-crystallize the honey at much lower temp (on non-heat setting).
As an aside, most of my honey crystallizes. I do not sell any, but give most of it to friends and family. After explaining that it doesn't mean the honey is bad I tout the health benefits as well as it being much easier to put in your tea or on your toast without it dripping all over the place and having a sticky mess. Most of my friends now prefer "solid" honey as they call it. J
As an aside, most of my honey crystallizes. I do not sell any, but give most of it to friends and family. After explaining that it doesn't mean the honey is bad I tout the health benefits as well as it being much easier to put in your tea or on your toast without it dripping all over the place and having a sticky mess. Most of my friends now prefer "solid" honey as they call it. J
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Could it be star thistle honey that does not granulate easily?
Don't think so odfrank, we have an abundance of variety here. Big Buck Brush bloom here, not a lot of star thistle but some. A few homes with flowers and fruit trees, about 1/2 mile away as the crow flies. Manzanita, among others. Mostly lots of Buck Brush, and when it doesn't have a good bloom, my honey is darker. Last year the buck brush had a GREAT bloom, this year not so much. Last year my honey was a nice light golden color, this year it's much darker.
Don't think so odfrank, we have an abundance of variety here. Big Buck Brush bloom here, not a lot of star thistle but some. A few homes with flowers and fruit trees, about 1/2 mile away as the crow flies. Manzanita, among others. Mostly lots of Buck Brush, and when it doesn't have a good bloom, my honey is darker. Last year the buck brush had a GREAT bloom, this year not so much. Last year my honey was a nice light golden color, this year it's much darker.
IMO "Boil" is too hot, it is like 212. I would recommend "Simmer" 120-150 should be hot enough to melt the honey. I use the "low" setting on the stove it never boils but does de-crystallize.
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I have built a cabinet to warm honey to deCrystal honey. A couple hours in the shop to build. Out of scrape plywood. And a dimmer switch and a light bulb. I Amit that I now use a thermostat controller for the lightbulbs . But can be done for a twenty dollar bill
that is a great idea, can do many more than a pot full as well
thanks a new project on the list
GG
Here is the link to some plans to a honey cabinet I built with a dimmer switch. Like smokepole, I put an Inkbird thermostat on it to dial in the exact temp, although that really is not necessary. And like ericweller, I have since purchased a bottling tank, however, I still put my buckets in the heater over night before I pour it into the bottling tank. For the exact reasons eric gives above.
http://www.michiganbees.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Bucket-Heater_20100726.pdf
http://www.michiganbees.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Bucket-Heater_20100726.pdf
thanks the pdf is in the to do list, seems easy enough. this years honey is setting up already, be nice to do many instead of 3 or 4 at a time.
GG
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We did that and it still crystallized on the bottom, and it is on a butcher block counter so we can dispense it to customers; our next step is to buy a seedling warming pad that would be used for germinating seeds. They sell them on Amazon. Then you could put that on top of the insulation under the buckets you dispense from. We have a warming blanket around them set on a timer to control the honey temperature in the dispenser. We use food grade buckets to store the honey in and use a warming box that uses a 100 watt bulb for heat, with an adjustable dimmer switch to control how much heat is put out. Deb
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