WHY DOES HONEY CRYSTALLIZE?
Bee (yes, we went there) thankful your honey has hardened… because it is a truly natural product with no preservatives, funky additives, or fake sugars!
Depending on the blend of your honey (wildflower, dandelion, canola, clover, etc.), the natural sugars in the honey (glucose and fructose) begin to bind together and begin to form little crystals, which can start making your honey harder. This is different from creamed honey, although the visual outcome of both appears similar.
The moisture content of the honey affects the rate at which this binding happens as well as any remaining pollen bits in the honey. When you buy honey from us, you’ll often hear me say that you may find ‘bee bits’ in your honey due to the way we naturally filter it; this is both pollen bits and bits of bees themselves.
When your honey becomes solid or a bit crunchy, you can know that your honey hasn’t been altered, added to, processed or overheated in the bottling process. And, while it might mean less shelf appeal because the honey looks solid, keeping those ‘bee bits’ in honey means you’re getting a real product.
BUT, I WANT LIQUID HONEY!
No problem, friend. No problem. Our guess is that you sought out our honey because it is single-sourced produced at our farm, raw, and delicious. The way you choose to re-liquify it could affect that so exercise that patience bone because it isn’t a quick fix, but it is easy.
Sunlight: leave your honey jar in a warm window and the sun’s warmth will begin to break down the crystals and smooth the honey.
Warm water: Boil some water, add it to a large bowl and set the closed honey container in it for a few hours. Again, the warmth will begin to separate the crystals and soften the honey.
Dehydrator: If you have a dehydrator that you can make yoghurt in (for example – Excalibur), take out the shelves and place your honey in it on the low setting overnight. In the morning, your honey will be fully reliquified.
Woodstove/fireplace: If you have a wood stove, leave your honey container a safe distance beside it overnight to soften it.
Learn to love crystallized honey. It’s not really that big of a deal AND it scoops into your tea much easier 🙂
We feel like it goes without saying, but DO NOT USE A MICROWAVE. It will destroy all of the amazing reasons that make raw honey special.
Which do you prefer? Liquid or solid honey?
