Quality of liquid or granulated honey

[Cindi]

I have honey still left over from last year that I have not bottled.  It is still held in the glass gallon jars that I stored it in.  It is still in liquid form with no granulation evident.

I am wondering if honey that does not granulate is of a higher quality than one that granulates quite soon.  I know all honeys are wonderful, but does anyone know which are the "best" blend of nectars?  This may come across as a pretty vague question, but lets give it our best shot.  Have a wonderful day, great life.  Cindi

[Kathyp]

cindi, i have honey left from last year that is the same.  the stuff i have out on the counter is granulated.  the stuff i stored in a cupboard and have not opened, is not.  i know that most say that air and light to not contribute to granulation, but i question this.

[Mici]

my bet would be that granulated/crystalized honey is of higher quality. but honestly, i wouldn't know. what i do know, is that sugar-honey (honey extracted from an over-fed colony) will never crystalize.
crystalization is also a part of self-perservation, again if i am not mistaking, because the water content lowers, get's bonded in a way, so it wouldn't ferment.
(i think i got most of things right)

now as for my experience. last year i had a really hard time extracting, most honey just wouldn't go out.
this year, honey went out smoothly, and i kept it in a bucket for about a month, didn't crytalize one bit, but as soon as i mixed it a bit (i took out for a jar of honey) the line where i scooped the honey hardened, i noticed this a week later when we jared the rest of the honey. and now, after a month, not one jar of honey is liquid, everything is hard.

[randydrivesabus]

i sorta remember reading that the larger quantity stored in one container is less likely to crystallize. don't ask me to show you where i read that because i don't remember.

[Potlicker1]

This taken from a website. Not my own.

Some characteristics of honey

Pure honey will last a long time.  It does darken with age however.  The two characteristics of honey we would like to discuss are 1) Fermentation of honey and 2) granulation of honey.

Fermentation of honey

Honey is hydroscopic which means that honey will absorb moisture.  If the moisture content of honey exceeds 18.6%, honey will tend to ferment.  The fermentation yeast in the honey will turn the sugars of the honey into alcohol.  This causes honey to have a sour taste.    It is recommended that if honey is to be stored for any length of time, it should have a moisture content of around 17%.  The honey yeast are not able to grow at cool temperatures.  So if honey is stored at below 50 degrees F., the yeast will not grow and are not able to grow and cause fermentation.   Fermented honey can be feed back to the bees but it is unfit for human consumption.  Honey can be frozen and that is a good way to keep honey for long periods of time.  The optimum temperature for honey fermentation is above 80 degrees F.

Granulation  of honey

All honey granulates at some point.  That is:  it becomes a semi solid sugar like substance.    Honey that has granulated can be returned to a liquid state by heating it.  So it should not be considered a serious problem.   Granulated honey  in jars can be put into a water bath having a temperature of 95 to 120 degrees F.   Honey is darkened each time it is subjected to heat.  If honey is heated to over 160 degrees F. for any period of time quick damage can be done to the honey.  The taste will be changed and the color will darken considerably.  Commercial honey packers usually heat honey to 160 degrees and then rapidly cool it.  This causes the death of the yeast and reduces crystallization for several years -- giving the product long shelf life on the grocery stores shelf.

 

[Scadsobees]

Did you heat or filter your honey?

Some types of nectar/honey are more or less disposed to crystallize.  Some crystallizes in the comb while some won't crystallize at all.  I don't know all the types, but I think fall honey (aster, goldenrod) is supposed to crystallize quicker.  I don't know off hand what types are slower or quicker.

Less pollen/air bubbles will crystallize slower (filtering).  Heating will dissolve any crystals before they get bigger.

Rick

[Romahawk]

Fermented honey can be feed back to the bees but it is unfit for human consumption. 

Boy Oh Boy I wish I would have known about that years ago when I started drinking it.... Oh well to late to save me now...  :-D

[Michael Bush]

All honey (except maybe Tupelo) eventually crystallizes. Some does this sooner and some later. Some will crystallize within a month, some will take a year or so.  I has nothing to do with quality, but everything to do with bits of wax and pollen that act as seed, crystals of honey that act as seed, the temperature and the percents of sugars in the honey.  Sucrose, glucose, fructose etc.

If the seed are plentiful and the temperature is just right it will crystallize quickly and make a smooth buttery consistency.  If the seeds are few and the temperatures not ideal, it will make course gritty crystals.  If the mixture of sugars is just right (like tupelo) it will not crystallize at all.  If you over heat it (and ruin the taste) and over filter it (and remove all the pollen etc.) you can make it take a very long time to crystallize and it will taste as bad as the stuff they sell at the grocery store.  :)

[Cindi]

Awesome replies.  I did not heat the honey, extracted it, filtered it through a cheesecloth bag thing that I got at Canadian Tire.  I think that the cheesebag was one that would have been used by game hunters to put their catch in or something like that, because it was in the hunting/fishing section.  It is a very very useful type of cheesecloth because it comes in a long tube, it can be cut to any length required and stretches like nothing in this world.  I tied a knot in the place where I cut it, I think the original "sack" was about 20 feet long and was very inexpensive.  Great product.  Have a wonderful day, great life, happiness.  Cindi

[Michael Bush]

Cheescloth will usually add small fibers which will act as seed for crystals, so it will usually crystalize faster, which is good if you want creamed honey.

[Cindi]

Michael, ooooh, now that is very interesting.  Although, actually the cheesecloth that I got from the "hunter" section of the store was not like the old fashioned, (been around since the beginning of time) "cheesecloth" that we are all so familiar with.  It was more like the painter's strainer cloth that I got for any harvest forthcoming this year.  It was not nearly as fibrous as the "regular" cheesecloth.  Still, as you say, it did have a tighter weave to it, but still some fibre may have imbedded in the honey.  Not too sure.  But, one year later, the honey is not granulated.

When I took a mini course on honey products, one of the things we were taught was how to make creamed honey.  It was fun, but for some reason the method was not overly clear to me to this day still.  I know we used already creamed honey as the "seed" for making more creamed honey.  Regardless, I would love to learn some more about making creamed honey, it really is nice for spreading on toast, compared to say, liquid honey.  Stuff for learning more about this winter.  Have a wonderful day, greatest of life and health.  Cindi

[Michael Bush]

>But, one year later, the honey is not granulated.

Then it was nylon and not cotton, which is what real cheesecloth is.

To make creamed honey, add some seed (finely crystallized honey) mix well, and store at 55 F until it's done.

A lot of information about crystallization here:
http://www.masterbeekeeper.org/creamhoney.htm

[deantn]

 ;) cindi have a look at this page on honey com, they have some very good info about the different types of honey produced by different flowering plants and trees and what the honey looks like and tastes like also some of them have the crystallization times on them.

http://www.honeylocator.com/flowers.asp

Don't remember which two honeys won't crystallize but know they are in the list somewhere. :roll:

[Mici]

black locust almost never does, but i have eaten crystalized one.