Honey settling tank 400 kg SAF, conical bottom

01 · THE CONICAL BOTTOM

What is left in the bottom goes into the jar too

With a flat bottom, the honey lying below the valve outlet will not come out on its own: either you tilt the tank, which with 400 kg is no longer a job for your hands, or it stays inside. In the flat-bottomed 400 kg SAF, 625 mm across, every centimetre of that layer is about 4 kg of honey.

Here the bottom is a cone that guides the honey towards the outlet, so the tank drains better. You see the difference when you finish off a batch; when you change honey type, because you do not carry a leftover of the previous one into the next; and when cleaning, because the rinse water also runs to the outlet and does not pool in the bottom.

02 · SETTLING AND BOTTLING

First jar aside, foam off before the end

The tank's job is to let honey rest: air and fine wax rise, and clean honey comes out at the bottom. With the cone, the little that settles, such as the first crystals or a heavier particle, gathers at the bottom and comes out with the first flow, so keep that first jar separate. And because the tank drains right down, the foam layer ends up passing through the valve: skim it off with the paddle before the level reaches the bottom.

No direct heat: no flame underneath and no heating elements against the steel, which scorch the honey on the wall. If the honey needs warming, use gentle, all-round heat and keep it below 40 °C.

03 · BEFORE YOU BUY

If you bottle one honey type per season and don't mind leaving some in the bottom, the flat-bottomed 400 kg SAF settles just as well. The conical one pays off when you change batches often, work thick honey or want to wash it without tipping a tank this size.

The valve already comes in stainless steel, not plastic as on the SAF tanks up to 200 kg.

Decide where it goes before you fill it: full of honey it weighs over 400 kg.