# Vacuum Packed Honey in a Jar Experiment



## threepingsthree (Mar 3, 2014)

I just wanted to post the results of a small experiment I performed on a jar of Honey that i recently had to pull due to cross combing. I used crush and strain, and this is mostly knotweed, with a little goldenrod.
The honey had small air bubbles as most honey does, and I've seen people use a vacuum pump to extract the gasses from silicone molds, so I thought why not try it on my honey?

I pulled about a 28 inch vacuum on the honey and left it that way for about five minutes. when the vacuum is released on the chamber the jar lids seals and preserves the vacuum in the can. Immediately when I looked at the honey it was cloudy. This could be from two things. The trapped gasses expanding to a larger size, or to the water boiling at vacuum pressures. After about two hours the honey separated into three parts. A light foam, a dark foam, and then dark honey on the bottom.

I put the honey back into the chamber, and renewed a deeper vaccuum, not much changed.

I'm not sure if this has and practical application, but if you know of any, chime in.


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## ericweller (Jan 10, 2013)

What a fascinating experiment.
Here is what I think. Lowering the atmospheric pressure causes the honey to boil. The upper layer of foam is mostly air with some honey coating the bubbles.
The middle foam layer is mostly honey with some air mixed in.
The bottom is pure honey with no air.
Because the solution will settle based on weight, the pure honey would weight the most, so it would be on the bottom. Next would be mostly honey mixed with air. Finally, the top foam is mostly air with some honey; the lightest part of the solution.
I would be interested is seeing what happens when you mix the jar up and then let it settle to let the bubbles subside.
I'll bet it would turn back to the original honey color.
Very cool but I'm a science geek.


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## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Looks remarkably like a Guinness working after just being poured off the tap....... I miss Ireland......G


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## Steve zone 5 WI (Jan 2, 2013)

Please post pictures after a few hours/days. The outcome is interesting to me. I tried this with a pump that would pull 20" and not much happened. I only had it under vacuum for a few minutes. 

Thanks 
Steve


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## ericweller (Jan 10, 2013)

An application I could see is speeding the process of removing air bubbles from the honey after extracting.
Don't put on such a deep vacuum and it would probably improve honey clarity in just a few hours.


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## threepingsthree (Mar 3, 2014)

I'll keep you updated. But i'm going to watch the jar for a few more hours. I think that when I release the vacuum on the jar, the bubbles will collapse and it will look mostly the same as the other honey, which is now mostly clear. At least that's my hypothesis. I wonder if you could use a vacuum instead of gravity in the crush and strain method to pull the honey out of the crushed comb. Maybe some sort of cylinder with a hose at the bottom and a vacuum chamber after that. Of course, a vacuum has limited power compared to a hydraulic or screw press.


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## threepingsthree (Mar 3, 2014)

After about 24 hours. the jar on the left is the control, nothing extra was done to it, and the jar on the right is the vacuum jar. It still has the vacuum applied inside the jar. Tomorrow, i'll release the vacuum and see what happens.


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## ericweller (Jan 10, 2013)

Were they both filled to the same level?


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