The Misunderstanding of Crystallized Honey
December 03, 2018
Real, raw honey crystallizes.
The crystallization of honey is often misunderstood by the consuming public. Many assume that crystallized honey has been adulterated, is of poor quality or unnatural, or has spoiled or gone bad. This is simply not so. And actually, the exact opposite holds true.
If a honey does not crystallize for a long time, with the except of certain types of honey that naturally crystallize slower or not at all (such as Acacia or Tupelo), it is often a clear indication that the honey has been adulterated, diluted, or pasteurized.
The crystallization process is natural and spontaneous. Pure, raw and unheated honey has a natural tendency to crystallize over time with no effect on the honey other than color and texture. What's more, the crystallization of honey preserves the flavor and quality characteristics of your honey.
So just because your honey has crystallized does not mean that it is bad or needs to be thrown out, you just need to learn how to properly decrystallize it if you want it back in that nice syrup-like state. Not only is this process very easy to do but doesn’t take that long either!
First off, you’ll need a few things:
Your crystallized Honey
A glass jar (only if yours is in a plastic container)
A sauce pan or pot
Water
And lastly your stove
1. As stated above if your honey is in a plastic container then the first step will be to move the honey into the glass container. You will need to be able to put the jar into the pan of water on the stove, so we don’t want to melt the plastic bottle in this process. I suggest using a butter knife to break the honey apart and scrap it out of the plastic container.
2. Once your honey is all into the glass jar you will put it into the pan of water on the stove. You do not want to completely submerge the jar in the water, you want just enough water to sit at or slightly below the line of honey in the jar. Now turn the stove to low-to-medium heat. You want it barely simmering, no boiling. If it is boiling not only will your jar start to thrash about but high levels of heat will start to destroy the natural properties of the honey.
3. Now you’re going to let it sit in the water for between 20 and 30 minutes. You will want to occasionally stir the honey up to help it along. Once you no longer see any crystals, you can turn off the stove and carefully remove the jar from the water to cool. Your honey shouldn’t recrystallize at this point but if you are worried about that you can place the jar into a warm bowl of water so that it does not cool too quickly.
4. Now all that’s left is to enjoy your honey!
Check out these Honey's in different stages of crystallization!
Honey with no crystallization!
Honey in the process of Crystallization!
Another Honey is the process of Crystallizing.
Fully crystallized Honey!
