Patent ID: 8642103
Filing Date: 2014-02-04
Classification: A23G,A23L

Abstract:
1. A process for the preparation of chewable honey without loss of its nutritional values, characterized in that the process refers to a starting material consisting of raw honey with 19% water content, and in that the process consists of a plurality of repetitions of the following sequence of steps: a) preheating honey in an indirectly heated double jacketed balance tank and homogenizing said honey with a stirrer to obtain honey of uniform consistency with viscosity levels suitable for making the honey pumpable, the differential temperatures between inlet and outlet hot water used to indirectly heat the honey showing more than a 7° C. decrease; b) passing the honey through a sparkler filter with a 550 micron bed to give honey sparkling clarity; c) pumping the honey to a feeder tank; d) pumping the honey to a honey thin film evaporator (4), which works at a reduced pressure set to approximately 650 mm Hg, at a strictly controlled flow rate that ensures a desired heat transfer rate, this step reducing water content of honey by no more than 2%, the cooling water of the evaporator being maintained at 20-22° C. and 2 kg of pressure, the differential temperatures between outlet and inlet cold water used to condensate the evaporated moisture showing a minimum increase of 5° C.; e) checking at intervals of 5 minutes maximum the moisture content of honey going into the evaporator (4) and the moisture content of honey coming out of the evaporator (4) in order to check that no more than said 2% moisture is being extracted from honey in said step d), and checking continuously that honey temperature never exceeds 60° C.; f) recycling the honey coming out of a discharge pump from said evaporator (4) to perform a subsequent sequence of steps a) to d), wherein the process is ended when the water content of honey reaches a predetermined value.