Disc honey dryer 70 kg (50 l) with air heater, 230 V SAF NATURA

01 · HOW IT WORKS

It is the thin film that dries, not the heat

Inside the tank 11 discs of Ø 530 mm turn slowly. Each comes out of the mass coated in a very thin layer of honey, and it is from that film, not from the 70 kg, that the air takes the water: the 150 m³/h fan pushes air through a 600 W duct heater and spreads it over the discs, and the moist air leaves through the grille in the lid. Because the surface renews every turn there is no need to cook the batch: the tank has no heater.

02 · PERFORMANCE

Four points in eight hours, if the honey goes in at 35-38 °C

The maker quotes up to 4 moisture points in 8 hours —from 21 to 17 %, say— with the honey fed at 35-38 °C. That detail decides the purchase: since the tank does not heat, the honey has to bring the warmth, so the drum is tempered beforehand, with a heating band or in a warm room, and never past 40 °C, where heat starts to cost HMF and aroma. It is a guide: it depends on the honey house and the humidity of its air. Measure with a refractometer when loading and before unloading; the eight hours are a reference, not a timer.

03 · CONTROL AND BUILD

Disc speed and air temperature, from the panel

The HES-02 controller adjusts disc speed and air temperature steplessly, with the 250 W motor separate from the heater. The tank is 1 mm acid-resistant stainless steel and the lid, in the same material, opens on two gas struts and stays up for loading and cleaning. The outlet is a 6/4″ (1½″) stainless steel guillotine gate 35 cm off the floor: a bucket fits under it; a 100 kg honey tank does not, so there you drain by hose. Powder-coated legs and four braked castors to move its 74 kg around the honey house.

It takes up 82 cm wide, 88 long and 107 high, and arrives on a pallet at 92 kg gross: measure the door of the honey house before the order form.

⚠ PRECAUTIONS

The water that leaves the honey stays in the air of the room, and the machine cannot dry below equilibrium with that air: ventilate during the cycle or run a room dehumidifier alongside. It will not rescue honey already showing fermentation —bubbles when opened, a vinegary smell, foam that does not settle—: removing water does not undo what the yeasts have done. A 230 V machine in a damp room: protected circuit and a dry electrical zone. As soon as the batch reaches the target, drain it and seal the container. Clean tank, discs and gate between batches.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Where it counts most: oil seed rape, orange blossom and the first spring honeys, strawberry tree and heather in autumn, and harvests from wet regions or rainy years. The legal water limit is 20 % (23 for Calluna heather), but the real risk starts at 18: this machine works that margin, one 70 kg batch at a time.