Joel Govostes wrote:
>
> A concern with the usual practice of knife-uncapping is that a substantial
> portion of the honey is after all being cut off with the cappings. There
> is the problem of freeing the cappings of this honey, and of processing
> them with the honey residue that remains.
>
> If left to drain out in some sort of cappings-bin/strainer-arrangement, the
> intermingled honey can for the most part be recovered, and it is just as
> fine as the honey coming from the extractor. Gravity alone l never get ALL
> the honey out, I know, but a warm room can help this along to some extent,
> & large operations can afford cappings spinners.
>
> If, on the other hand, the heavy cappings fall immediately into a cappings
> melter, without draining first, then so much of the honey is subjected to
> heat, and a large volume thereby damaged. If the honey from the melter
> gets put back with the extracted honey, then the color grade and flavor of
> the whole lot can be lowered.
>
> Some folks I've spoken to run all the honey together, while others save the
> cappings-melter honey as low grade or mix it with the bakery-grade stuff.
> -- Any other ideas on this? Preferences or precautions?
>
I certainly agree that heat damages honey. For many years I uncapped
directly into a cappings melter and got lots of inferior honey which I
had to keep separate and for which I got a lower price. Recently I
bought a Gunness uncapper, which works with flailing chains. This
produces a *lot* of honey/cappings slush, producing almost a third of
the honey that comes from the same extracted frames. So I move this
very wet mixture into a drainage tank with wire mesh supported a half
inch or so from the bottom, and I get a much nicer product. It takes
several days to drain *almost* completely, but Joel is right in that one
never gets all the honey out in this way. There are cappings spinners
on the market, but I have never used one. Maybe that is the next thing
to try. Or would a cider press do the job?
Ted Fischer
Dexter, Michigan USA
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