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The
processing of honey may be very simple e.g. in the case of a
hobby operation, or extremely complex involving a great deal
of technology tailored to each individual honey type. Most processing
however is concerned with liquefying and straining (or filtering)
honey. Both of these operations usually require some application
of heat to the honey. The heat has the dual effect of removing
crystallization
in natural honey, and to reduce the viscosity.
Both of these things are required to provide a product that
can be cleaned and further processed for creamed
honey or just filled into jars as liquid honey
Heating Honey
Heating is one of the most discussed topics relating to
honey "quality". Most of this stems from days long
before modern processing systems when considerable change occurred
in honey due to application of heat needed to extract and process
the honey. e.g. the separation of beeswax from honey was often
done by melting the beeswax in the honey which then floated
on top as a liquid. This required raising the honey above 63.5°C
(the melting point of beeswax) with little or no accurate control,
for considerable periods of time. Today, modern pumps, extraction
plants, filtering and straining systems, flash heat exchangers
and coolers controlled by highly accurate electronic sensors
coupled to computerised systems etc. make this excessive heating
a thing of the past. But marketing claims that were once extremely
valid, are still emphasized when their relative importance to
honey quality is now significantly reduced.
When confronted by statements relating to heat, it is important
to remember two things:
- Heat
is relative. e.g. 30 degrees Celsius is "cool"
to someone from tropical climates while the same temperature
in a temperate climate is "hot".
- Nearly
all changes in honey are a function of temperature AND
time. i.e. long times at low temperatures can have a similar
outcome to higher temperatures for a short time (see HMF
example - 30°C for 6 months is more damaging for HMF
than 70°C for 2 hours).
To
have any meaning, statements about heating should therefore
contain a temperature that the honey is heated to, the length
of time held at that temperature, and whether it is cooled quickly
or allowed to cool naturally (which may take hours or even days
depending on the size and thermal properties of the container(s)).
Quality claims such as "unheated" or "raw"
honey that have no qualifying time or temperature, may be quite
misleading. E.g. poor storage of bulk honeys, or a long shelf
time of slow moving retail lines in a warm climate, will produce
changes many times greater than the brief periods of accurately
controlled heating during processing.
Effects of Heating
"Honey" is a generic
name for an extremely varied product produced by honey bees.
This huge variability is in all aspects of its makeup. It is
therefore virtually impossible to record or predict the effect
of heat on every possible component of every honey. However
there are a number of things that do regularly happen to most
honeys when they are heated. In order of importance these are:
- Change in flavours
- Viscosity
changes
- Sugar crystals melt
- Decrease in enzyme
activity
- Change in sugar compositions
- Decrease in Yeast activity
- Increases in HMF
This order may change depending
on the final usage of the product.
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