RuBee® Honey-Therma honey melting and straining set

01 · HOW IT WORKS

Heat where the honey passes, not in the whole block

Crystallised honey goes into the basket, on top of the coil, which is rated at 500 W at 230 V. Whatever touches the hot metal melts and drops through the perforated base into the tank. With a solid block, the coil can sit on top: its heat and its own weight carry it down as the honey melts.

A warming cabinet or a heating blanket has to bring the whole bucket up to temperature for hours, because honey conducts heat poorly. Here each portion is only warm for as long as it takes to pass through, and heat damage to honey depends on exactly that: temperature multiplied by time.

02 · THE THERMOSTAT

The dial shows the device's range; what counts is the honey

The coil thermostat is adjustable from 30 to 85 °C, but that range belongs to the device. The manufacturer advises not going above 65 °C on the dial and puts the honey leaving the coil at around 38 °C, because it does not stay there. Held above 40 °C, honey starts to suffer: HMF, a legal quality parameter, rises and aroma is lost.

The sensor sits between the first and second turns of the coil, so the coil must stay covered with honey the whole time and must never run dry. Nor is it designed to run from an external timer. For the first batches, check the honey dropping into the tank with a thermometer: that is the reading that counts.

03 · STRAINING

It strains as it melts, and the cloth sets the pace

A stainless steel clamping ring holds the straining cloth on the basket, so wax fragments and particles are held back before the honey reaches the tank. If the flow drops while the dial stays at the same setting, the cloth is usually clogged: clean or change it before turning up the heat. Making up for a dirty cloth with more heat punishes the honey without making it run any faster.

To clean it, unplug the coil and rinse it under a lukewarm running tap, without letting water into the thermostat housing.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

The manufacturer specifies the basket for honey tanks of 25 to 50 kg with a diameter of 300 to 305 mm: measure yours before ordering. If you are buying it as a replacement for the Kaskade® kit, there is no need to measure: it is the same unit the kit comes with.