Author Topic: Bee's Wrap  (Read 3750 times)

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Offline Bakersdozen

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Bee's Wrap
« on: September 21, 2021, 09:36:19 am »
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/15/cnn-underscored/bees-wrap-reusable-food-storage/index.html?iid=CNNUnderscoredHPcontainer

Bee's Wrap started finding a new market in the last couple of years.  A beekeeping friend, who has done Farmer's Markets for 20 years, has started producing these in the last year.  She says that are gaining popularity.

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2021, 06:21:59 pm »
I have thought about making some of these, and I probably will at some point.  I think they have their uses, but the problem I have is they can't fully replace plastic wrap because they are not microwaveable. 
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #2 on: September 22, 2021, 09:47:22 am »
I have thought about making some of these, and I probably will at some point.  I think they have their uses, but the problem I have is they can't fully replace plastic wrap because they are not microwaveable.

I'm curious, 15th Member, is the plastic wrap to keep food from splattering in the microwave?  I don't know that I could ever totally give up on plastic wrap even though I remember a time before we had it.  I am working very hard on not bringing home plastic shopping bags.  :)

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #3 on: September 24, 2021, 09:50:53 am »
I'm curious, 15th Member, is the plastic wrap to keep food from splattering in the microwave? 
Yes, that's right.  My mom has spent too many afternoons scrubbing the microwave to let anyone slack off on covering things in the microwave anymore.  ;)

I am working very hard on not bringing home plastic shopping bags.  :)
There's another thing.  I also wish we could eliminate plastic bags for the environment's sake, but we use them for all sorts of stuff, kitty litter, as trash bags for tiny trash cans, cleaning up especially messy situations.  I wish someone would invent a better single use biodegradable grocery bag, so that I could reuse them with a cleaner conscience.  :) 
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #4 on: September 24, 2021, 10:16:21 am »
I bought a microwave food dome at Menard's (big home improvement store) about 4 years ago.  I think it was $5. Of all the other efforts to get my husband to use something in the microwave, this he will use. 
Those darned plastic shopping bags fit my bathroom trash cans perfectly.  A beekeeping friend operates a booth at the farmers market and I believe her bags are compostable or breakdown.  I sure they are more expensive.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #5 on: September 24, 2021, 01:09:17 pm »
I bought a microwave food dome at Menard's (big home improvement store) about 4 years ago.  I think it was $5. Of all the other efforts to get my husband to use something in the microwave, this he will use. 
Those darned plastic shopping bags fit my bathroom trash cans perfectly.  A beekeeping friend operates a booth at the farmers market and I believe her bags are compostable or breakdown.  I sure they are more expensive.
That sounds like a great way to not use plastic wrap, or at least use less.  I'll take a look at those, thanks. 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline Lastfling

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2021, 07:56:41 am »
Wax paper works well in microwave as a substitute for plastic.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #7 on: September 28, 2021, 01:30:46 pm »
Wax paper works well in microwave as a substitute for plastic.
Huh, I've never thought about wax paper being more ecofriendly than plastic wrap, but I guess it's biodegradable as long as the wax on it is organic.  And even with synthetic wax, I'd imagine it still breaks down better than plastic wrap. 
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Offline Zweefer

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #8 on: October 05, 2021, 11:04:04 pm »
Anyone have a good recipe for making these?
Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau

Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2021, 09:32:23 pm »
As I said, I've never tried it, but honeybeesuite.com has a recipe, and Rusty has never steered me wrong with anything so far.
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/beeswax-food-wraps-step-by-step/
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2021, 10:27:40 am »
As I said, I've never tried it, but honeybeesuite.com has a recipe, and Rusty has never steered me wrong with anything so far.
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/beeswax-food-wraps-step-by-step/
I really like Rusty Burlew and her writing and remember seeing this article in the ABJ.
I made an attempt to make this a few years back, using a different method.  My finished product was very disappointing.  The method I used including the oven, which makes me nervous.  Beeswax + oven can end disastrously.
It appears that once you gather all your ingredients, you should plan on making multiple sets.  You can gift them or sell the extra sets.  With all the great cotton fabrics available, all you need to do is wait for a sale!

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2021, 08:52:04 pm »
As I said, I've never tried it, but honeybeesuite.com has a recipe, and Rusty has never steered me wrong with anything so far.
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/beeswax-food-wraps-step-by-step/
The15thMember,  I just finished one round of Rusty Burlew's beeswax wrap recipe.  I haven't cleaned up yet.  I am waiting for everything to cool down.
As promised, it is easy.  You have to work with it and figure a system for you.  Rusty didn't write in the article about keeping the wax mixture warm so I kept my pint jar in the double boiler pan on low while I worked.  I like as little clean up as possible, so I'll have to see how easy this wax comes off the stove.  I wore vinyl gloves and that helped because you can't keep it off your hands.  Be aware that everything you touch will get wax on it.  So, I recommend an old tea towel over the door to the oven.  I spread freezer paper and newspaper over as much surface as I could.
I was only able to fit medium and small wraps on my baking pan, so I will need to find something bigger for the large wraps.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2021, 04:38:52 pm »
The15thMember,  I just finished one round of Rusty Burlew's beeswax wrap recipe.  I haven't cleaned up yet.  I am waiting for everything to cool down.
As promised, it is easy.  You have to work with it and figure a system for you.  Rusty didn't write in the article about keeping the wax mixture warm so I kept my pint jar in the double boiler pan on low while I worked.  I like as little clean up as possible, so I'll have to see how easy this wax comes off the stove.  I wore vinyl gloves and that helped because you can't keep it off your hands.  Be aware that everything you touch will get wax on it.  So, I recommend an old tea towel over the door to the oven.  I spread freezer paper and newspaper over as much surface as I could.
I was only able to fit medium and small wraps on my baking pan, so I will need to find something bigger for the large wraps.
That's great to hear!  I think I'll probably give it a try.  I was talking to my mom about it, and I think we could find enough use for them to be worth it.  Plus she loves the idea of having something pretty and reusable to use for rising bread dough.  How did it come off the stove?
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2021, 10:20:54 am »
The 15th, the stove wasn't bad, but I wish I had covered the floor in front of the stove.  I was worried about the step where you wave the hot wet covers in the air to cool.  I did that over the pan.  I think there was a picture, in the article, that showed checking for full wax coverage while the pan is in the oven.  Worried about a fire hazard, I pulled the pan out of the oven to do that.
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2022, 05:15:20 pm »
I finally got around to making the beeswax wraps this morning, and it went super well.  It was really easy once I had everything set up, and with proper precautions, it wasn't even that messy.  I did use Rusty's recipe and instructions, with a few minor changes.  I was uncomfortable with the safety of a mason jar just sitting in the bottom of a pan of water, since they can crack due to the uneven heating of the jar (which Rusty does mention by the way, she was just okay with the risk and I wasn't), so I made a little trivet by setting mason jar rings in the bottom of the pot to be sure it was safe.  I also pinked the edges of my fabric mostly because my mom wanted it to look nice and neat.  I also took your advice, Bakersdozen, about keeping the jar warm on the stove and taking the pan out of the oven to work with it.

I made 4 different sizes to try out, all for glass dishes that we use regularly in the kitchen that don't have lids: 11x13, 9x9, 8x8, and 5x5.  My mom and sister had picked out 3 different patterns of fat quarters (for those who don't know, that's precut cotton fabric that is usually 18x21 inches, it's super cheap and comes in all kinds of fun patterns and colors), and I ran them through the washer last night.  They frayed pretty significantly in the washer, so I next time I would pink them before washing the sizing out.  I ironed them this morning (the first time I have ever ironed anything) and cut them into the sizes I wanted while the rosin and wax was melting. 

I used a big sheet pan of my mom's and covered it with heavy duty extra large aluminum foil so it wouldn't get ruined.  The hardest thing was just getting a feel for how much wax to pour onto the fabric and how much it needed to be melted.  The first one I did, I didn't have enough wax so I just added a little more.  My mixture also wasn't quite melted when I took it out of the oven and when I picked up the fabric it just peeled up and left the wax behind, so I learned I needed to work a little quicker or heat it a little longer and peel up the fabric while the mixture was still liquid.  But it's really forgiving with these sorts of problems, you just pop it back in the oven and redo it if something goes wrong.  On the next one I made, I had a little too much wax, which was on the only thing I couldn't really fix, but even that isn't too big of a deal. 

Here is what my workspace looked like.  This was after I had already made 3, and as you can see, this process was not creating any sort of huge drippy mess, like I was worried it would. 


Here's my small one in the oven.


Here they are finished.


And here's one on a bowl.  This is the one that I got a little too much wax on, so you can see a buildup of it on the edge.  They seem to seal really nicely.  It's not instantaneous like with plastic wrap; you do have to sort of work around it with your hands to warm it up and make it stick, but it seems like it'll work.  I'm curious to see if the seal will hold in the fridge. 




How have you been liking yours, Bakersdozen? 
I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.
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Offline Zweefer

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #15 on: April 23, 2022, 06:17:21 pm »
Thanks for sharing! Its still on my list...
Keeping of bees is like the direction of sunbeams.
Henry David Thoreau

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #16 on: April 24, 2022, 10:52:45 am »
Mine work really well for me.  Once dried,  I could tell that I didn't apply the wax mixture evenly.  There are a few spots that could use touching up, but since they still work I haven't bothered.
I'm glad you posted your results.  I was thinking about this project the other day and I couldn't remember where the recipe originated from. Thanks for the memory jog.  I tend to post a lot of recipes on here so that they are easy to find.  ;D
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Offline The15thMember

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2024, 06:10:57 pm »
I made a bunch of beeswax wraps today, enough for everyone to use them for sandwiches when we hike or spend the day at the lake, plus a big one to fit our largest bowl. I really like these things, I gotta say. I've been using the first ones I made for a couple of years now, and they have held up really well. I also refreshed my most frequently used one, because the wax mixture was starting to wear off, and it looks good as new.





I come from under the hill, and under the hills and over the hills my paths led.  And through the air, I am she that walks unseen.

Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Bee's Wrap
« Reply #18 on: March 10, 2024, 12:43:08 pm »
Good job!
A beekeeping friend of mine makes these and sells them at several farmer's markets.  She gets a good price and sells plenty of them.