Someone told me that the way you can tell whether honey was pasturised is to try and ferment it, sopposedly, pasturized honey won't ferment (is this true?).
So I put a bit of honey in a bottle, poured some cooled off boiled water and closed the bottle. Now after a few days a bounch of bubbles have appeared and these small green lumps that look like pieces of gauze rolled up into balls.
Does this mean it has fermented?
sounds like mold to me
Why wouldn't pasteurized honey ferment? It is still mostly sugar.
Scott
I think by heating honey you kill any yeast spores (if my memory serves me). Add water and some spores of yeast guess what you will get?
That said my question would be, will honey under 18 % water content ferment if not heated and if not why not?
The yeast (and many bacteria for that matter) are aerobic...they need the water to survive.
Scott
aerobic. means they need air or o2 to survive
Quote from: bee-nuts on September 04, 2010, 09:19:01 PM
That said my question would be, will honey under 18 % water content ferment if not heated and if not why not?
yes and no....
No because as long as the honey is not crystallized and is consistent, then it won't ferment.
Yes because it if it crystallizes and the crystals fall to the bottom and build up, then the top will be higher water than the lower, and if the top goes over 18...well...then it could.
my honey always crystallizes solid top to bottom like creamed honey, so this hasn't been an issue for me.
Sorry slacker...my bad. Meant to say anaerobic.
Scott
here is my contention with this, we know that honey will absorb water from the air, and air is full of all kinds of spores for all different types of yeast, so with this in mind just opening a jar of honey , in my opinion, can lead to fermentation with in the jar. "is the cat dead or alive", some of you will know what that means
So pasturized honey ferments, too?
Is there any other way I can tell whether the honey I have has been pasturized?
Yes, fermented honey will ferment. Some people heat treat the honey before using it.
The only was I know if it has been heated is to ask the beek.