Does your honey look like this? All chunky and crystallized?
No, this doesn't mean it has gone bad ~ do NOT throw it out! You can revive honey to it's natural state.
Crystallization is the natural process by which liquid honey becomes solid. Heating honey is the only way to dissolve the crystals. Three things cause honey to crystallize:
Temperature: crystallization starts below 50ยบ F.
Ratio of glucose and fructose in the honey: some types of honey are more prone to crystallization. Alfalfa and Clover honey are two examples.
Pollen: Fresh, raw honey naturally has pollen, which crystallization builds upon. Store bought honey is filtered to remove pollen, creating a more shelf stable honey.
DO NOT MICROWAVE THE HONEY!
Microwaving over heats the honey, doesn't heat it evenly, and most likely, you will melt your plastic container... yuck. Microwaving also destroys all of the beneficial enzymes and properties of the honey.
1. Find a large pot with a heavy bottom, and if you can, put a trivet on the bottom of the pot.
2. Place the container of honey into the pot and fill it with hot tap water.
3. Unscrew the honey lid slightly to allow any steam to escape.
4. Place the pot onto your stove and turn the temp to medium low. At temps above 100ยบF, you risk melting the plastic and destroying all the beneficial enzymes and antioxidants honey provides.
Keep an eye on the honey and pick it up every so often, gently shaking the honey container to loosen any honey crystals.
5. When the crystals have dissolved, turn OFF the stove and let the honey in the pot COOL down completely. This entire process can take several hours, depending on the size of your honey container and how crystallized your honey is.
When your honey is cooled to room temperature, pour it into clean, glass jars. Plastic is more porous than glass, so canning jars are perfect. The pint size works great for our family.
Label and store in a cool (but NOT cold) place.
Enjoy!
This is totally awesome. Who knew I was doing it wrong all these years. Thanks for the info. Totally appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThis is great! I used to throw it away. Well I won't any more. Thanks for the tip!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing tip! I always put it in the microwave, not anymore! I tried this method and it works awesome! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteIf you have a Sous Vide, this can be done without worrying about over heating.
ReplyDeleteHoney is the only food that NEVER spoils! It will crystallize, but it’s still good!
ReplyDeleteWe saved an entire quart jar this way it took 20 hrs but was well worth it. Its still in the cupboard and still hasn't recrystalized.
ReplyDeleteWe put crystal honey in a quart jar , put in the oven at 170 for 45 min turn off till cooled down.
DeleteThanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is an apiarist (beekeeper). Our perfect way to DE crystalize honey is to put it out in the sun!! Works great!! Our favorite honey is Tupelo which is delicious, and is the least crystalizing of all honeys, therefore easily the most expensive!!
ReplyDeleteGreat info, tank you!
DeleteTHANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INFORMATION ON HONEY !!!
ReplyDeleteI use my souve to control the temp keep it about 110 F. And stir from time to time, to break up chunks. I use honey for making mead.
ReplyDeleteWe used to use the microwave method, sometimes the hot water method but recently found the best way and it stays uncrystallized for a long time. I cut the plastic container off and then placed the honey chunk in a sauce pan and put it on the stovetop on low until it was clear of all crystals and poured it into quart canning jars and it worked better than anything I've ever tried.
ReplyDeleteYep - low and slow is the way to go. ๐
DeleteWhen I married in 1986, we were given a gift of 2 half gallons of crystallized honey!! That was worth gold to me. My husband thought it was garbage, but I told him that the only way to tell if honey was pure was IF it crystallized! It took a long time to liquify it but when it was in liquid form, I poured the honey into pint jars. Now my daughter and son-in-law are keeping bees, and I told her to put all their honey in pint jars - way easier to liquify it in smaller containers. Fortunately, she is taking my advice as last year's honey is already starting to crystallize in their basement which is pretty cool.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it's liquid gold! Thanks for sharing your story and especially the comment to to store honey in pint jars. ๐
DeleteI was just re-reading this post. I implore you to never store honey in plastic. We have enough plastic in our lives and while I cannot confirm the micro-plastic issues, I prefer to keep honey in mason jars! If I do get honey in plastic jugs, I immediately transfer the honey to glass containers!
ReplyDelete