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BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: kdm on February 04, 2013, 08:06:19 am

Title: plastic honey bottles
Post by: kdm on February 04, 2013, 08:06:19 am
What temperature will the plastic container take before they deform.
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: Moots on February 04, 2013, 08:59:45 am
Not sure....I'm thinking that may very from one specific type of plastic bottle to another.   However, I would think they're all fairly heat tolerant. 

What is it that you're wanting to do that has you concerned.  Worse case scenario you could sacrifice a bottle or two to experimentation. 
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: danno on February 04, 2013, 09:21:30 am
I have found the safest way to re- liquify honey in  plastic is just leave it in my truck, windows up on a summer day
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: kdm on February 04, 2013, 09:47:44 am
I need to liquefy about 4 cases for a customer. I converted an small chest type deep freezer into a hot box.
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: Jim134 on February 04, 2013, 10:25:37 am
What temperature will the plastic container take before they deform.

This is 1 reason why I use glass jars  :roll:


             

              BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: Moots on February 04, 2013, 10:32:42 am
What temperature will the plastic container take before they deform.

This is 1 reason why I use glass jars  :roll:


             

              BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)

Yeah....But glass doesn't bounce near as good as plastic!   :)
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: splitrock on February 04, 2013, 12:07:37 pm
"Yeah....But glass doesn't bounce near as good as plastic!   Smiley"

Very true, but glass doesn't contain those chemicals and toxins that can leach into your honey from the recycled plastic, especially when it's heated up.

I don't know why anyone would even want honey that had been heated up enough to deform plastic.
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: Michael Bush on February 04, 2013, 07:04:36 pm
Those crystal clear ones warp at very moderate temperatures.  The translucent ones will take much more heat.  Usually boiling doesn't harm those.
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: edward on February 04, 2013, 08:00:06 pm
Warm them slowly at 40 degrees Celsius = 104 degrees Fahrenheit until all crystals have dissolved

This will preserve all the antioxidants and minerals and enzymes that make honey good for you  ;)


mvh edward  :-P
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: ch.cool on February 05, 2013, 10:17:51 am
Hi,

check the bottom of your container in the recycle sign should be a PET or PETE. You can heat those container up to 150°F they should not deform below this temperature and PET/PETE does not give any poison chemicals in the environment even the recycled PET.

ch.cool 
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: kdm on February 05, 2013, 10:53:06 am
This is the kind of info i needed. Thank you.
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: Intheswamp on February 05, 2013, 10:55:32 am
check the bottom of your container in the recycle sign should be a PET or PETE. You can heat those container up to 150°F they should not deform below this temperature and PET/PETE does not give any poison chemicals in the environment even the recycled PET.
Also note that inside the recycling triangle there is a number.  The number would be "1" for PET...#2 is HDPE.  Interestingly, PET/#1, which soft drinks and bottled water come in, is porous and allows gases to pass through.  It is known to harbor bacteria in it's porous material and to leach certain chemicals/toxins.  It is also not recommended for re-use.  HDPE, the old "milk jug" plastic, apparently has a better reputation for being "food safe" and for being reusable.   As Michael Bush mentioned, the HDPE jugs will take a *lot* more heat than the PET jugs will.  In mead making many people will not age it in plastic due to it's porosity and the associated oxidation fears/issues but rather will age it in glass.  To what degree all of this will affect honey is a question.   I would think that for someone likes to keep some honey around but who doesn't eat much honey, maybe only a pint or two a year, that a glass container might be better.  Most regular customers eat more than that, though.  One aspect of plastic versus glass....that glass is easy to recycle for the hobbyist.

Having said that, my mentor is making the change over to plastic this year.  He just purchased a 12 gallon bottling tank and bought several cases of plastic 1-liter "mini jugs" and a good many pint flip-tops.  These are #2 plastic.   He is 80+ years old and has downsized to around 35 hives this year.  His reason for going to plastic is in response to customer input...his customers are mostly older or senior adults and many have asked about having a container with a "handle" on it to make it easier for their hands to grasp.   He had gone to the plastic pint containers last year and sold everything he put out, these were smaller in diameter than pint canning jars and I'm sure was easier to hold...it worked for him.

One good thing for me....he's giving me the glass jars that he has on hand...he said if he's going plastic that he's going all the way with it. :)  I figure I will stick with glass for quiet a while until one day I look and I'm (hopefully) 80 years old and have 30 or 40 hives and figure it's time to go the plastic route...and then I'll pass my glass jars on to some newbee coming behind me. ;) :)

Ed
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: Jim134 on February 05, 2013, 11:09:00 am
One good thing for me....he's giving me the glass jars that he has on hand...he said if he's going plastic that he's going all the way with it. :)  I figure I will stick with glass for quiet a while until one day I look and I'm (hopefully) 80 years old and have 30 or 40 hives and figure it's time to go the plastic route...and then I'll pass my glass jars on to some newbee coming behind me. ;) :)
Ed


 
   X:X   X:X   X:X



             BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: BeeMaster2 on February 05, 2013, 01:22:36 pm
 :goodpost:

Thanks Ed.
Jim
Title: Re: plastic honey bottles
Post by: ch.cool on February 05, 2013, 05:59:14 pm
Hi,
here a better answer from one of our engineers (we do nothing else than research and development of plastic container)

The softening point of PET is above 75°C, or 167°F. It’s a bit of a range, though, so you want to keep well below that temperature. There’s no real basis that I know of to claim that PET harbors bacteria any more than glass does, and PET has to pass the same regulations for food contact that other materials have to pass.

Plastics are permeable to gases and water. PET is a good barrier to water, CO2 and oxygen, but some does permeate in over time. HDPE is an excellent water barrier, but a very bad oxygen barrier. I wouldn’t expect honey to be oxygen sensitive, though. I definitely wouldn’t do mead in plastic because of the oxygen permeation problems. In that case, you need to worry about the closure too, since if it’s polypropylene, it’s going to be a bad barrier as well.

ch.cool