Fast and Effective Honey Decrystallizers

Honey decrystallizers are equipment for returning crystallized honey to a usable liquid state. This guide to the best honey decrystallizers explores this equipment and explains the processes of honey crystallization and decrystallization. It also outlines how you can prevent honey crystallization. Even then, keep in mind that the crystallization of honey is not a bad thing. It is a natural occurrence due to various factors present in honey and your handling of it. The high sugar content in honey is the primary reason that it is able to crystallize. The second major reason for the crystallization of honey is low temperatures. Thirdly, honey sitting in one place for a long time shows the tendency to crystallize.

Causes of Honey Crystallization

Crystallized honey is not bad honey. Even pure honey can crystallize when conditions are right for its crystallization. The formation of sugar crystals and their growth in honey is not a sign you should use to claim adulteration or spoilage. The supersaturation of sugar in honey is the major factor that enables crystallization to happen. Glucose and fructose sugars are present in honey in varying levels but at very high concentrations due to the little water content of honey.

Secondly, the storage temperatures of honey impact crystallization. Honey in a sealed container should be stored at a temperature of 25⁰C (77⁰F) to avoid crystallization. If you expose honey to temperatures that are higher than this, you risk destroying some antioxidants and nutrients in it. This is especially important when you are storing honey for a long period of time. You may store honey at a temperature of 4⁰C (39.2⁰F) to ensure low mobility of sugar molecules in the honey. This storage temperature is, however, sure to cause crystallization of the honey in storage.

Materials that are used to make honey storage containers are another factor of crystallization. Honey that you store in glass containers shows fewer tendencies to crystallize. This is unlike plastic honey containers that tend to have the honey you store in them forming crystals readily.

Raw and natural honey is a highly desirable product. It undergoes minimal processing and has all the components that are in the honey at harvest time. This means that raw honey has some particles in it such as pollen, beeswax, plant components, and yeasts. While these particles are safe, edible and occur naturally in honey, they often provide starting points for the process of crystallization.

Undesirable Effects of Honey Crystallization

Working with crystallized honey is difficult. This makes crystallization an undesirable occurrence. Even consumers of honey do not like having their stored honey crystallized. Some challenges encountered with crystallized honey are:

Processing

Crystallized honey presents many problems in industrial and technological processing. In some instances, it becomes impossible to process the honey in any way until you decrystallize it. This is largely because crystallization increases the turbidity of honey. It cannot flow easily or at all through processing equipment.

Presentability

While crystallized honey is safe to consume, it is cloudy. Retailers have difficulties selling the cloudy crystallized honey. This happens more often when the honey is contained in clear jars through which it is visible.

Microbial instability

The crystallization of honey results in sugars dropping to the bottom of the storage container in form of crystals. At the upper levels of the stored honey, the concentration of sugars drops while that of water rises. In the elevated moisture content of the upper layer of honey, microbes can easily thrive and cause spoilage of the honey.

Decrystallizing Honey that has Crystallized

Honey that has crystallized requires decrystallization to return it to a usable state. Decrystallizing honey also ensures that the honey maintains all its properties, including the ability to resist spoilage. If you are not able to prevent the crystallization of your honey in storage, you can use one or more of several methods to decrystallize it.

The decrystallization process utilizes heat to improve the mobility of sugar molecules in the honey. Heating the honey causes the crystals to dissolve back into the honey. It also causes the honey to become less viscous and can thus flow better. The best temperature range for decrystallizing honey is 35–40⁰C (95–104⁰F). After the decrystallization process is over, remove the source of heat from the honey and allow it to cool down to around 25⁰C (77⁰F).

The main methods of honey decrystallization are:

1. Using a Honey Decrystallizer

A honey decrystallizer is a tank that is manufactured for use in decrystallizing honey. It is specially designed for its task. Decrystallizers are great for use in liquefying bulk amounts of honey. They give off slow controlled heat that they spread evenly through the honey and surfaces of honey containers.

A decrystallizer tank is energy efficient and can come equipped with digital control systems for easy use. Proper use of the decrystallizer tank gives you fast, safe and precise heating of honey in the tank without scorching the honey, occurrence of hot spots or overheating the honey once it has liquefied.

2. Using a Warm Water Bath

1. Heat up water in a container until the water is warm.
2. Place your container of crystallized honey in a pan or wider container. Remove the lid off the container of crystallized honey.
3. Pour warm water into the pan. Allow the container of honey to sit in the warm water until the honey melts.
4. Stir the honey in its container at 5-minute intervals. You can do this while the honey container is still sitting in the pan with warm water.
5. Large amounts of crystallized honey take longer to decrystallize than smaller amounts. If the water in the pan gets too cool, replace it with fresh warm water.
6. Keep up the periodic stirring until all the honey has decrystallized.
7. Remove the container of honey and allow it to cool down. Store the honey at room temperature.

Using this method of honey decrystallization, do not heat the pan directly to warm up the water.

3. Using a Microwave

1. Place the crystallized honey in a microwave-safe container. Ensure that there is no lid on the microwave-safe container with crystallized honey.
2. Glass jars for honey packaging may be microwave-safe if they do not have air bubbles in the glass, and if they do not have metallic rims on them among other factors. Plastic containers are not microwave-safe.
3. At a medium power setting, microwave the honey for 30 seconds.
4. Remove the honey from the microwave and stir it.
5. Return the honey to the microwave for another 30 seconds microwaving at medium power.
6. Repeat the cycle of microwaving for 30 seconds at medium power and then stir the honey until all the honey decrystallizes. Take care not to boil or scorch the honey.
7. Once it is decrystallized into liquid honey, use up the amount that you need and store the rest of the liquid honey at room temperature.

 

Effects of Overheating Honey during Decrystallization

Whatever method you choose to use to decrystallize your honey, make sure it does not lead to damaging it. Primarily, high temperatures are the biggest risk to honey during decrystallization.

Exposing the honey to high temperatures causes it to lose some of its antimicrobial properties and lower its nutritional value. High temperatures also destroy antioxidants present in honey and thus lower its medicinal value.

Scorching the honey is a likely occurrence when decrystallizing it. Honey that has been scorched acquires a bad taste and odor that consumers do not like. Use gentle, steady heating when decrystallizing honey. Additionally, ensure even heating of the honey. Slow and controlled heating gives you the best results when decrystallizing honey.

With all that said, let us know dive into the best honey decrystallizers that are available on the market.

Overview of the Best Honey Decrystallizers

4. WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer I

The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer I is a stainless steel tank for fast, safe and easy decrystallization of honey. It lives up to its promise and gets the job done even if your honey has been sitting and crystallized for a long period of time. This decrystallizer comes in a silver color. It is made using durable stainless steel. On its front, there are various labels and a control interface. Labels and stickers on the front of the tank include cautionary information for your safety and for the safe operation of the tank. There is also a power button for switching the decrystallizer tank ON and OFF.

This tank is 13″ (33cm) wide x 13″ (33 cm) long x 14″ high (35cm). It has a digital temperature controller installed inside it. The controller is easy to use and read. On the controller, there is an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen that provides you with control over the accurate, precise heating of this decrystallizer. You can set the tank to stay at temperatures ranging from 0⁰F to 212⁰F (100⁰C). When the tank is powered up and running, a light-emitting diode (LED) lights up to indicate ON status. This LED turns off when you switch OFF the Honey Decrystallizer I tank.

It comes with a one-year warranty and WaxMelters has fantastic customer service. Extras that are included upon purchase of the tank are brass ball valves and a stainless steel lid.

Features

The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer I features eco-heating that is friendly to the environment. It saves you money by using up only the electric power that it needs for heating. The tank is designed and constructed with adequate insulation so that there is minimal heat lost from the surfaces of the decrystallization tank.

The decrystallization tank is fabricated using food-safe stainless steel. It makes the decrystallizer tank long-lasting by resisting rusting and also ensures that heat is spread evenly on all heated surfaces of the tank. Additionally, the stainless steel makes the tank easy to clean when you need to. The tank comes in a silver color due to the stainless steel used to manufacture it.

Heating elements and management of the generated heat are major considerations in this tank. The tank is made with permanent heating elements installed in it. WaxMelters reduces the wastage of heat from the tank by using permanent heating elements. These elements also last for long and eliminate costs you would incur repairing or replacing them.

The decrystallizer gives you digitally controlled heating for your crystallized honey. It is precisely distributed to where it is needed most and is even. No hot spots occur during heating to decrystallize honey in this tank.

Pros

• This tank warms honey evenly and decrystallizes it quickly. It does this while saving power and spreading the heat evenly. This avoids destroying components of honey during the decrystallization process.
• The Honey Decrystallizer I is great for small beekeeping operations that have small amounts of honey to decrystallize at a time. The tank can take one 5-gallon bucket at a time and enables you to warm many such buckets of honey in succession over a period of a few days or weeks.

Cons

• The small size of this decrystallization tank makes it unsuitable for large beekeeping operations. In situations where you want to decrystallize honey in large amounts at once, the WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer I will not be of much help.

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3. WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer II

The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer II is a great honey liquefier for small and medium-sized beekeeping operations. It is also great for medium-sized honey-processing industries. This decrystallizer can warm up two pails of honey of the 5-gallon size at a time. It has a width of 26 inches (66 cm) and a length of 13 inches (33 cm). The decrystallizer tank sits on the floor and has a height of 14 inches (35 cm). These dimensions give the tank enough capacity to warm up a considerable amount of honey for your use. You can use it at half or full capacity.

Food-grade stainless steel is the main material that makes most of this decrystallizer tank. It is joined together in excellent workmanship. The tank is, therefore, easy to clean both inside it and the outer surfaces too.  Using stainless steel to make the decrystallizer also makes the tank very strong. It does not bend, chip or flake even with some rough use. The tank does not rust and will thus give you many years of service in your operation. Its appearance remains the same during all the years that you will use the tank. This tank comes in a silver color due to its stainless steel exterior.

On the front of this honey decrystallizer, there is a control panel. It helps you keep excellent control over the heating of the tank. The control panel has a digital Liquid Crystal Display screen that is touch-enabled. It gives you precision and accuracy in heating that enables quick and efficient decrystallization of honey. Using the control panel, you can make adjustments to the temperature in the tank and even adjust the temperature differential range.

Features

You get a LED information output on the front of this honey decrystallizer that indicates the ON and OFF states of the decrystallizer. When the tank is powered and switched ON, the LED lights up to indicate the status of the tank. Once you turn the tank OFF, the LED also turns off and stops emitting light.

Precise heating is possible with this tank with a heating range from 0 to 100⁰C (212⁰F). The decrystallizer has a touchpad that is easy to use when you are setting the heating temperature.

The manufacturer has installed various safety features in this decrystallizer to ensure proper heating, efficiency in power use and the safety of the operator too. They include the ability to stop the supply of power to the heating elements ad having a lockable control panel.

WaxMelters gives you a stainless steel lid to cover this decrystallization tank. This is great for heat conservation in the decrystallizer. You also get brass ball valves for use with the tank.

Pros

• This decrystallizer has the capacity for 2 pails of the 5-gallon size. It allows you to decrystallize up to 10 gallons at a time. This is usually enough honey for when you are aiming to package honey for sales events and other uses.
• Excellent control over the heating process in this decrystallizer, and the use of high-quality heating techniques make it great for decrystallizing honey without scorching it. The decrystallizer heats the honey evenly.

Cons

• This decrystallizer is not very suitable for large processors in the honey industry. It has hard time meeting the need to warm up large amounts of honey at a time.

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2. WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer IV

The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer IV is one of the decrystallizers that are suitable for both medium and large honey processors. The decrystallizer takes four pails of the 5-gallon size at a time. This means that you can liquefy up to 20 gallons of honey at a time using this decrystallizer. It has a width of 26 inches (66 cm), a length of 26 inches (66 cm) and a height of 14 inches (35 cm). This decrystallizer comes in a metallic silver color and features a control panel at its front. It lives up to its promise and delivers excellent heating to decrystallize honey with efficient use of electric power.

The manufacturing of this decrystallizer makes use of food-grade stainless steel. It makes the honey decrystallizer tank very durable and easy to work with. You are able to easily clean the surfaces of the tank when you need to. Additionally, stainless steel is a non-corroding material, so it keeps the original appearance of the tank for its entire lifetime. This tank is made to excellent standards. Its seams and general construction show excellent workmanship by WaxMelters.

An enclosure with high impact resistance protects the control panel at the front of this decrystallizer tank. The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer IV control panel has components that would get damaged if any forces caused too much stress on them. The enclosure protects this control panel from both stress forces, as well as heat produced in the tank. It is a water-tight and corrosion-resistant enclosure that is surface-mounted onto the decrystallizer. The enclosure is also lockable to add a layer of security, safety and protection to the tank, its control panel and the use of the decrystallizer tank.

Features

This decrystallizer runs on electric power. It thus has heating elements in it. The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer IV uses electric power very efficiently and is effective in its job. Additionally, it is fitted with reliable heating elements that do not need replacement.

You have excellent control over the working of this decrystallizer tank through its control panel. The panel comes equipped with a clear display screen that is touch-enabled. Various important parameters are easy to set and change through the control panel such as the temperature of the decrystallizer.

Permanent heating elements in this decrystallizer do not require any replacement and thus there is less wastage with the decrystallizer. The elements work well with the digital temperature control of the decrystallizer and the Single Pole, Double Throw (SPDT) relay in the decrystallizer.

Pros

• The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer IV has a large heating area that can take many honey pails at a time. This makes it suitable for medium and moderately large honey processing operations. The decrystallizer has even heating and does not scorch honey during decrystallization.
• Control over the heating process and final temperature of this decrystallizer is great. You have the ability to adjust the length of pauses between heating and also the maximum temperature of the tank. The decrystallizer works by heating up gradually until it reaches the final temperature that you set.

Cons

• Small-sized honey processing operations are not suited by this honey decrystallizer. They will end up wasting energy and capacity if they use this decrystallizer. Additionally, the operation would incur a large cost of purchasing the decrystallizer and not using it to its full capacity.

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1. WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer VI

The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer VI is a large decrystallizer that is suitable for large honey processing operations. It has a capacity of six pails of the 5-gallon size. This means that you can decrystallize 30 gallons of honey using this decrystallization tank at a time. It has a width of 26 inches (66 cm) and a length of 38 inches (96 cm). A height of 14 inches (35 cm) allows you to have easy access to the inside of the decrystallizer. The decrystallizer comes in a metallic silver color. It gets its color from the stainless steel that WaxMelters uses to make the tank.

Using stainless steel to make this tank makes it durable. The stainless steel does not rust or chipped during use. It is also very strong and resists denting, flaking and chipping. Additionally, the stainless steel is joined very well and strongly at the edges of this decrystallizer. It gives the tank reliable structural integrity over its lifetime. The stainless steel that WaxMelters uses to make this decrystallizer tank is food-safe. This allows you to use the tank without fear of contaminating your honey. Cleaning the surfaces of this decrystallizer is easy, so you are able to achieve and maintain high standards of hygiene in your operation.

The process of liquefying honey using this decrystallizer is smooth and energy-efficient. WaxMelters installs permanent heating elements in this tank. They give you revolutionary eco-heating that is fast and environmentally friendly. Heating elements of the decrystallizer also last for many years. It saves you from incurring repetitive costs of replacing heating elements. The distribution of heat from the elements to the honey that you are decrystallizing in this decrystallizer is very even. It ensures that there are no hot spots in the honey you are liquefying.

Features

The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer VI comes with excellent control over the heating process. It has a control panel that allows you to set heating intervals, periods of waiting for the decrystallizer, and the highest temperature that the decrystallizer should attain. This prevents overheating and scorching of the honey that you are liquefying.

The control panel of this decrystallizer comes equipped with an LCD screen. It is touch-enabled for easy use. You can set and adjust the values of various parameters easily using the touchscreen. Its use is intuitive and easy. Digital control over the heating process using the control panel gives you the best use of the electric power that this decrystallizer uses.

Heat distribution in this decrystallizer is precisely controlled. The decrystallizer spreads heat evenly throughout the honey that you are decrystallizing. It uses the installed Single Pole Double Throw output relay to give you excellent single-stage electronic temperature control. To prevent heat loss through its top, the decrystallizer comes with a lid that covers the top very well and safely.

Pros

• The WaxMelters Honey Decrystallizer VI is constructed using durable materials that are food-safe. Where such materials are not used, there is little likelihood of the respective surface coming into contact with honey in the decrystallizer.
• You can use this honey decrystallizer in your large honey processing operations. It is worth the costs you incur purchasing it and does its job very well. The decrystallizer lasts for a long time, giving you great returns on your investment in it.

Cons

• Using this honey decrystallizer in small honey decrystallization operations is wasteful. It has a very large space in its tank and cannot be easily adapted to efficiently decrystallize small amounts of honey.

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Conclusion

The high sugar content in honey makes its crystallization possible. There are many different ways you can decrystallize honey. Using equipment that is professionally made for the job of decrystallizing honey is the best method of decrystallizing honey. The equipment is manufactured with adequate consideration of the various properties of honey. It, therefore, does not cause any harm to honey such as the reduction in the nutritional value of honey during crystallization. Additionally, honey decrystallizers do not overheat or scorch honey. Use the detailed best honey decrystallizers for great results when you need to get crystallized honey back to a usable state.

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