I just picked up my honey today and wondered what's the best way to store it. I intend to give a bunch away at Christmas, but the bee shop told me it will crystallize in 4-6 weeks. They also said that store honey has been cooked which prevents crystallization, but it seems like "raw" honey is more desired. What is the downside of cooking the honey. Right now the honey is in 50lb. buckets. Thanks for any help!
I've heard that cooking the honey destroys beneficial enzymes and amino acids which are in raw honey.
If you freeze it for storing it, it will not crystalize, just thaw it out a few days ahead of need. If you put it in the refridgerator, it'll make it crystalize more quickly, so don't put it there.
If you put it in the freezer it will keep. Honey with the right mosture content will not really freeze it just gets thick. It will get back to normal in 15 min in a warm pan of water.
Either the freezer or somewhere that it stays warmer, say 80-90 F. Or let it crystallize wherever and then just warm it up as needed.
They are sort-of correct as to store honey but not really. It isn't "cooked" per se, but is usually flash heated to 120F (the top temp that is reported that won't affect the honey) and then filtered through very fine filters. This a) disolves any crystals and b) removes the particles that new crystals can form on.
IMO it is the honey source first that affects the honey flavor (store bought is going to be a generic population-expected source), the filtering next, and the heating last that affects flavor.