If the inside surface of a food container were given a super hydrophobic (i.e., very water repelling) coating, then water-based foods (such as honey) wouldn't stick.

Thus, you could easily get every last bit of honey (or jelly, or jam, etc.) out of the jar.
-- goldbb, Apr 06 2009

Sphincter http://picnicb.ciao.com/de/14727343.jpg
the white thing in the middle, it's silicone, slightly rough. [loonquawl, Apr 07 2009]

Don't like making foodcontainers even more expensive.-

I make a cup of tea in the honey jar when it is almost empty. Shake and enjoy.
-- zeno, Apr 06 2009


The problem is that superhydrophobic coatings are generally expensive and fragile. Polythene, polypropylene etc are already quite hydrophobic, and they don't help a lot with something as gloopy as honey. Teflon might help a little, but is still expensive. As a test, put some honey in your non- stick frying pan.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Apr 06 2009


I don't like the idea of a coating which would make it diffcult or impossible to recycle. Like [Ian], i get the last bits out of a honey jar with hot liquid, coffee in my case. I think tomentose surfaces give liquids a high contact angle, but i'm not sure honey is actually a liquid. Repelling water wouldn't be enough. Maybe lining the jar with something like mullein leaves and smearing wax on the outside would help. That way, there would be a smooth surface on the glass side. Come to think of it, you might just line the whole thing with beeswax.
-- nineteenthly, Apr 06 2009


Just ask a bee.
-- blissmiss, Apr 06 2009


There is a type of honey jar (actually more of a tube) that utilises hydrophobic surfaces : The opning is below, and there is a rubber/silicon/something sphincter, that lets out the honey. when the tube is squeezed - the sphincter automatically closes again, and the honey never sticks to it. [link]
-- loonquawl, Apr 07 2009


Talk about anal...jk.
-- blissmiss, Apr 07 2009


Is it just me or is there something wrong about the phrase honey sphincter?
-- oneoffdave, Apr 07 2009


Hmm... I've read that Hellmann's Mayonnaise now comes in a jar with a nonstick interior... I don't see why it would be *that* problematic for honey.

...

Ian, the reason the air has "multiplied" is because the air was cold before you added tea, and became hot (and expanded) after you added tea.

I'd suggest you only half-fill your mostly empty honey jar with hot tea, then squeeze as much of the air out as you can, and then close the cap.

Since the bottle will be half-squished, when you close the cap, there will be lots of capacity for any air that you didn't manage to squeeze out to expand into.
-- goldbb, Apr 07 2009


//honey sphincter//

Sounds like something Mel Gibson would say.
-- nomocrow, Apr 10 2009



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