At 05:17 AM 5/15/98 +0100, you wrote:
 
Hi Alan
 
>consuming job.It is of course possible to speed things up by heating but
>there is no doubt that this degrades the quality of the honey
 
If heating honey degrades it then something must be wrong with the process
being used.
 
One part of the honey heating process is called the "honey cooling process"
and this is done so the honey is only flash heated for a short time to
speed filtration with our without filter aids depending on what the honey
is going to be used for.
 
Most packers must heat the honey to remove the stuff beekeepers get into it
when its extracted. (Including pollen and honey crystals and dust.) This
requires heat, and the honey is not degraded but its value is increased.
Its an added value food process and its why they do. Of course they don't
know what they are doing, but I suspect that few who read this list have
ever set up a honey processing line that included all the requirements to
meet the ever changing market for honey today which is more then just
changing the label design.
 
>This only leaves high pressure honey pumps or high speed centrifuge
>filters-both very expensive to buy in professional form. Has any one
>tried making these units or is it beyond the normal beekeepers
 
> Has any one got details of pressures,speeds which would be
>required to get fast filtration?
 
I ain't no engineer but if you find any system that can do the above on a
small or large scale without heat let us all know.
 
I would suggest for a small scale honey producer system that gravity can be
used to clean the honey but depending on the uncapping process the results
will not be consistent and the quality of the product will suffer and some
honey will be lost in the process if honestly done.
 
ttul, Andy-
 
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