All You Need to Know About Crystallization of Honey.
Honey is one of the most healthy products you can add to your diet and has a lot of health benefits. It is anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. But there are a few things that you need to know about to make an informed decision. You must also consider the side effects if you are new to consuming honey.
Are you about to throw your jar of honey away because it crystallized? Do you believe it is not edible anymore? Wait! Stop right there. Before you do that, read this post and we assure you some strong myths about crystallized honey will be broken. Many people up until now have presumed that crystallized honey means it has gone bad. Honey around the world can taste and look different depending on where and how it is produced. Some are clear and pale in color, some dark amber. Some crystallize, some don’t. But there are tons of questions surrounding this product. In this post, we will tell you all about honey crystallization and how Honey Hive Farms feels about crystallized honeys.
What Is Honey Crystallization?
Honey in a semi-solid state with a grainy texture is called crystallized honey or granulated honey. Most of us associate the crystallization with adulteration of honey. Surprisingly, that is not the case.
Honey crystallization is a natural process and is something that can be controlled by the Beekeeper that should be harvesting the honey.. Honey Hive Farms controls the harvesting and storage of our honeys to offer our customers only the highest quality honeys on the market, all 100% raw and Grade A+. There is a popular myths, pure, raw honey has a tendency to crystallize over time.
Why Do Honeys Crystallize?
Honey is essentially a super-saturated solution made of two sugars: glucose and fructose. The crystallization happens when the long chains of glucose in the honey break down. Pure honey collected by the bees is stored in the hive and is always in a liquid state. The temperatures are usually between 70 to 80 degrees. (Why Honey Hive Farms stores our honeys at 80 degrees) The moment the honey is harvested by the farmers from the hive, the crystallization process can start depending on various factors, like location and type of honey. For example Clover honey crystallizes very quickly along with Sunflower honey. Both of these honeys in our, and many others that have tasted them, are a very low quality tasting honeys. Some companies use Clover, if you are lucky (and not something worse like rice syrup), to cut other honeys to help save money.
1. The chemistry of honey
Honey in its natural form is a supersaturated solution. This means that the sugar to water ratio in honey is far from equal. Usually, the sugar content (natural, not added sugar) in honey is more than a whopping 70%, while the water content is somewhere under 20%. The crystallization depends on the moisture content and glucose levels.
2. Botanical aspect of honey
The type of floral nectar the bees used to make honey with also determines the speed at which the honey will crystallize. The glucose and fructose level of honey also depends on the type of flower the bees fed on. Now, as the glucose content is what leads to crystallized honey, some honeys are resistant to crystallization because they have low glucose levels while some have faster crystallization rate. Again this all can be controlled by managing your harvests and storage of your honeys.
3. Storage conditions of honey
Temperature, humidity, and type of container used to store the honey play a big role in how fast honey will crystallize. As we stated many purchase honey from whomever they can get it for the cheapest price. No telling how the honey was stored up to this point and then the repacker puts the honey in a bucket on the concrete floor in a garage. The garage temperatures change a lot from hot to cool to cold. Honey Hive Farms has done extensive research on storing raw honeys. As stated before, we control crystallization by a balance of harvesting and storing at consistent temperatures. We are only offering the best and freshest honeys. Honey Hive Farms harvest our Wildflower honey every three months. This keep the Wildflower honey fresh and helps with a lot of allergies. Harvesting every three months is the key to helping our customers with their allergies. This is why honey / pollen may not work for allergies, old honey and from a different state of country.
Types Of Honey Crystallization
You must have noticed how different brands of honeys have a different type of crystallization process. Let’s have a look at the different types of Honey Crystallization. The size of the crystals can be either fine, or chunky. The honey can be partially or fully crystallized depending on the storing conditions. The speed at which honey crystallizes also determines the size of the grains. Honey that crystallizes rapidly will have a finer texture. The longer it takes, the grainer the texture. One thing to note, crystals need something to attach to. So say there was no pollen in the honey and the honey had been filtered not strained. The filter honey without pollen for the crystals to attach to would probably take years to crystallize, at this point more like water than honey as it has been processed so much. To wrap it up, Honey Hive Farms does not support nor offer crystallized honeys. We feel that a good beekeeper would manage the harvest and storage of their honey to offer only a good liquid product. We are not stating that we are better than they are nor that they do not have a quality tasting product. But after 12 years we have seen and spoken to a lot of customers, etc. and we find this is the product that they want. Again liquid honey is a indicated that they have bees as it is a fresher honey. Use your best judgment, but the easiest thing to do is to order from Honey Hive Farms and know that you are getting the real deal that was only harvested with all the care in the world.
Is Crystallized Honey Edible? Has The Crystallized Honey Gone Bad?
We have often been asked the question if crystallized honey is safe to eat? Crystallized honey is 100% edible. Yes, the texture of the honey might have changed but it does not mean that it is not safe to eat. In fact, some people prefer crystallized honey.. So go ahead and add some honey goodness in your life. Further in the article, we have suggested a few ways you can use crystallized honey.
Is Pollen In Honey Normal?
Yes. Pollen in honey is normal. The amount of pollen in honey is very little and does not affect the nutritional value. Raw honey contains pollen in higher amounts in comparison to processed honey.
That being said, the presence of pollen can indicate the type of nectar or type of flower the bee fed on to produce the honey. It has been found that raw honey might also contain bee venom, bee parts, and bacteria too. If the honey is pollen less, you cannot track the type of flower that the bees used to make honey.
NOTE: In Arizona for sure, if the bee pollen is wet or needs to be in the fridge, something is not right. We have seen pollen sold in Arizona that is wet, the pollen here could not be more dryer, so watch that.
To make it easy, just order your honey or bee pollen from Honey Hive Farms, why guess?
Crystallized Honey – Does The Nutritional Value Of The Honey Change?
Absolutely not. On the contrary, the crystallization process of honey keeps the nutrients and flavor intact. But yes, if you heat the honey the flavor and aroma will be altered. Repetitive heating of honey is not recommended.
Can You Prevent Honey From Crystallizing?
The right storage of honey is vital. If you store your honey correctly, the crystallization process will surely slow down. If your honey is unfiltered and completely raw, but cared for like Honey Hive Farms honey, you should be fine, for sure how fast you will eat our honey :). Avoid storing your honey in the fridge, as it will accelerate the process. Storing your honey at room temperature or the ‘warmer’ room is better to reduce the speed of crystallization.
Can You Fix Crystallized Honey?
Yes, you can. If you do not like the look of crystallized honey and want it to go back to its liquid state again, there are a number of ways to do it. But, be warned; heating the honey at high uneven temperatures will put the nutrients and flavor at risk.
Warm water bath is the perfect answer if you want to liquidize your honey. The best and safest possible method to liquidize your honey is to soak the bottle in warm water at a regulated temperature. This might take anywhere between 10 minutes to 1 hour depending on the temperature of the water.
Boiling honey is a disaster, never do that. Liquifying your honey, again and again, is also a big no-no. Repeated heating and cooling of honey eventually will highly increase the chances of losing the natural flavor and aroma of honey.
How To Use Crystallized Honey?
Crystallized honey tastes fine. Here are some ways for using crystallized honey if you have no other honey to purchase.
Using Crystallized honey, dont. Honey Hive Farms sell only fresh raw honey that is taken care of. Sorry no old honey here. :)
Frequently Asked Questions
Here we answered a few FAQs about honey crystallization.
1. Is it safe to eat honey that’s crystallized?
Yes. The sugar content in honey is 80% which is why it is absolutely normal for honey to crystallize. The nutritional aspect of the honey remains unchanged even after crystallization.
Although I believe we have presented the case that crystallized honey is a indicator that the honey has not truly been taken care of, has been sitting around for some time and most important it would be a clue to know that the person selling the honey was not the one that harvested the honey. You would still need to ask question about where they honey came from and how it was harvested, etc. or buy honey from Honey Hive Farms. After over 12 years we have it figured out and hoping to have only the best honey for you.
2. How long does it take for honey to crystallize?
The crystallization of honey depends on where the honey was harvested, when the honey was harvested, what plants the bees were on and mostly how the beekeeper stores the honey.. The crystallization process accelerates with changing temperature swings. We would advise to never refrigerate your raw honey, it does not help the honey from crystallization. Honey does not go bad but again, the crystallized honey should say something about how the honey was stored, if they cared about it, etc.
3. Is it OK to microwave crystallized honey?
It is advised not to microwave honey to decrystallize honey. As it may destroy beneficial enzymes and change the chemical composition of honey. Instead, a warm water bathing honey bottle to decrystallize is the better and safest option.
4. Can you reverse crystallized honey?
It is advised to never heat the honey. Heating it at an uneven temperature can lead to a loss of nutrients and a change in the flavor of honey. There are two safe methods to liquidize honey.
The best and safest method to liquidize the honey is by soaking the honey in a warm water bath. This process might take anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the temperature of the water. Make sure you don’t use boiling water for this.
It is also advised to never boil the honey. Neither should it be reheated or re-liquified more than once.
Final Words
It is concluded that honey crystallizes. The crystallization process in honey is natural but is or should be controlled by the beekeeper, a balance.. The crystallized honey is safe to eat but a good indicator how the honey has been treated.. When the honey is crystallized dont throw it away instead keeps the honey in the warm water for a few minutes. Once done, honey is safe to consume.
NOTE: 1. Eat the honey faster, 2. Buy your honey from Honey Hive Farms.
Let us know what you do with the crystallized honey?