200kg Stainless steel honey storage tank

01 · WHY YOU SETTLE HONEY

The dross rises, the clean honey stays below

Straight out of the extractor, honey carries wax crumbs, bubbles and particles the filter did not catch. Left to stand, all of that rises to the surface and forms the froth you skim off; the clean honey stays underneath, and that is why the valve is at the bottom and you bottle from below. A few days' rest somewhere temperate shows in the jar, which is where the customer judges it.

02 · THE VALVE

Gate type, and one and a half inches

The gate valve in food-grade nylon opens across its full section, which is what thick honey needs to come out without surging. And the figure to note before buying spares: the outlet is 1½" (40/49) and already threaded, so if one day you would rather fit a metal non-drip valve — which plenty of people do — you just order it in that size, no adaptors and no extra thread.

03 · THE LID AND THE STEEL

See without opening, clean without corners

The clear polycarbonate lid with its knob lets you check the level and the state of the honey without taking it off, which is how you avoid letting dust in every time you walk past. The body is AISI 304 BA, food-grade stainless, with a flat bottom and TIG welding: no pores or cracks where old honey can sit, so it empties and scrubs out whole. It works for any foodstuff, not only honey.

04 · WHERE YOU PUT IT

It is filled in place and not moved

Empty, the ripener weighs 31 kg; full, it goes past 230. That means you set it before filling it, on a firm base and at a height that lets you get a jar under the valve without bending double. If you are going to warm it for bottling, a heating cable round the outside sorts the bottom out; what you do not do is move a loaded ripener.

05 · BEFORE YOU BUY

No filter or strainer included: the ones that fit this mouth are in accessories. To choose a replacement valve, the size is 1½" (40/49).