Crystallized Honey? - Food Storage suggestion


NeedleinA
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Opened up some food storage honey, at least 25 years old. For lack of a better term, it appears to be crystallized. I went ahead and heated up one can of honey to liquefy it. Once it was runny again, I put it into pour jars but after a little while it just tried to firm/crystallize up again, meaning I had to reheat it each and every time we wanted to use it. Ended up throwing away the first can.

So, I thought I would try it again with this second can. Any ideas on how to save this? Thanks in advance!

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Edited by NeedleinA
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Put it hot (~150°F) water until it liquifies. Honey stays good for millennia. Even if you have to reheat it, it doesn't change its nutritional and taste value.

Lehi

Edited by LeSellers
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10 minutes ago, LeSellers said:

Put it hot (~150°F) water until it liquifies. Honey stays good for millennia. Even if you have to reheat it, it doesn't change its nutritional and taste value.

Lehi

Thanks Lehi. I figured if someone would comment on this question it would be you!

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26 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

Thanks Lehi. I figured if someone would comment on this question it would be you!

Hey! I'm old, but not even I am old enough to be counted on to know that honey stays good for millennia by personal experience.

Lehi

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2 hours ago, NeedleinA said:

So, I thought I would try it again with this second can. Any ideas on how to save this? Thanks in advance!

Can't remember the name of the company, but there's one near Georgetown TX that somehow whips crystallized honey into fresh honey to make a spread that's still pure honey, but spreads like butter.  Sounded like the sort of process that's dead simple, but takes some experimentation to find the ratios and method.  The end result is addictive though.

If you could find a way to whip butter into it at the same time, you could save a step when prepping toast.

Edited by NightSG
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3 hours ago, NightSG said:

If you could find a way to whip butter into it at the same time, you could save a step when prepping toast.

Butter goes rancid. 

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter
But a bit of better butter
Will but make my batter better.”
so she bought a bit of butter
Better than her bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.

In any case, whipped honey is dead easy. The more fluid it is, the better. Then you, well, just whip it. It turns white, and I can't recall any that crystallized later. Probably because it didn't last long enough.

Lehi

Edited by LeSellers
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2 hours ago, LeSellers said:

In any case, whipped honey is dead easy. The more fluid it is, the better. Then you, well, just whip it. It turns white, and I can't recall any the crystallized later. Probably because it didn't last long enough.

The crystallized part gave it more texture.  I think there was just enough liquid honey mixed in to make it whip smoothly.

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2 hours ago, NightSG said:

The crystallized part gave it more texture.  I think there was just enough liquid honey mixed in to make it whip smoothly.

There are, I suppose, different recipes.

Lehi

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2 hours ago, David13 said:

Am I wrong to think this could be avoided by simply rotating and using storage stock?

dc

This won't stop it from crystallizing. There is nothing wrong with the honey at all. Actually this is proof that it is 100% unadulterated honey.
 

Quote

 

From: https://brookfieldfarmhoney.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/why-does-honey-crystallize/ 

How to make crystallized honey runny:

You can gently warm honey by placing its container in a steamer, a water bath (like a water-filled crock pot), a warm sunny window, or a microwave. I would not do this any plastic container.  The important thing is that you do not want to heat that honey over 100F if you want the benefits of honey to remain.   After 120F you’ve got nice yummy honey, but the pollen, propolis, enzymes, and antioxidants have been rendered useless.  Some folks say this happens at 104F.  So, stay safe and don’t go over 100F. If you can’t be exact, aim at 95F for some “wiggle room”.

The problem is that once the honey cools, it will start its march back to crystallization.  After a few sessions of heating and cooling, the honey will start to lose its consistency and its aroma.  Because of this it’s best if you only heat the amount of honey you want runny.  Leave the rest in the container.

 

This entire article is well worth the read, http://www.realnews24.com/there-are-shocking-differences-between-raw-honey-and-the-processed-golden-honey-found-in-grocery-retailers/

My husband suffers every summer from allergies from the pollen's, and the cut grass. I am having a very difficult time finding honey that the local bee farmers have not boiled to death. They say they have to, I say too bad and they had darn well label it pasteurized and how they pasteurized it. Yes, you can buy pollen in the Organic section of the store, but where is the pollen from? Not my neck of the woods. I keep forgetting to ask a brother at church if the family he home teaches still raise honey bees and harvests the honey. Way back in 2002 I got a gallon of it for $5.00, IF I brought my own GLASS gallon jar w/metal lid. Used it all up by 2009. Yes it crystallized, made it all that much easier to measure out and use. .

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5 hours ago, Iggy said:

This won't stop it from crystallizing. There is nothing wrong with the honey at all. Actually this is proof that it is 100% unadulterated honey.
 

This entire article is well worth the read, http://www.realnews24.com/there-are-shocking-differences-between-raw-honey-and-the-processed-golden-honey-found-in-grocery-retailers/

My husband suffers every summer from allergies from the pollen's, and the cut grass. I am having a very difficult time finding honey that the local bee farmers have not boiled to death. They say they have to, I say too bad and they had darn well label it pasteurized and how they pasteurized it. Yes, you can buy pollen in the Organic section of the store, but where is the pollen from? Not my neck of the woods. I keep forgetting to ask a brother at church if the family he home teaches still raise honey bees and harvests the honey. Way back in 2002 I got a gallon of it for $5.00, IF I brought my own GLASS gallon jar w/metal lid. Used it all up by 2009. Yes it crystallized, made it all that much easier to measure out and use. .

Great info, thanks Iggy!

LAST QUESTION: Any one know...
The first metal can of honey that I threw away appears to have had a little "rusting" going on with it. Not nasty super crusty rust, just slight baby rust ;)
Anyways the honey had a little metallic taste to it. Any one know how bad this may or may not be for you to consume??  This 2nd can appears to have the same rust issue again. 
I could cut out the top 80% of the honey before I heat it up and "maybe" leave the bottom 20% rust honey alone... thoughts??

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1 hour ago, NeedleinA said:

Great info, thanks Iggy!

LAST QUESTION: Any one know...
The first metal can of honey that I threw away appears to have had a little "rusting" going on with it. Not nasty super crusty rust, just slight baby rust ;)
Anyways the honey had a little metallic taste to it. Any one know how bad this may or may not be for you to consume??  This 2nd can appears to have the same rust issue again. 
I could cut out the top 80% of the honey before I heat it up and "maybe" leave the bottom 20% rust honey alone... thoughts??

The metallic taste is just because the air has hit the honey exposed to it. It's not really harmful but it obviously doesn't taste good.  My personal thoughts (if it were me) is I would transfer all of the honey into smaller glass mason jars - and it's up to you if you throw out the small amount of honey exposed to the air that has a metallic taste, but if you have a whole gallon of honey basically, I'd probably just mix it all together knowing the small amount with the off taste would be incorporated into the larger mass - mix well and separate into my glass jars with lids and put into the pantry.  You can warm the smaller jars to use the crystallized honey or just scoop it out as crystals and use it if it's going to be warmed, added to a warm beverage or used in baking/cooking where it doesn't matter.  You can also add a bit of hot water to the amount you need and 'melt' it into liquid honey again.

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No idea on the rust (though I wonder if this is basically iron, and good for you :P ), but I have a friend whose brother keeps bees and sells honey and she said he recommends that unlike regular food, honey be stored in a warm place, and exposure to sunlight is OK (presumably as long as it doesn't get so hot as to heat the honey to over 100F).  FWIW

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On 6/9/2016 at 11:46 AM, LeSellers said:

Butter goes rancid. 

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
“But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter
But a bit of better butter
Will but make my batter better.”
so she bought a bit of butter
Better than her bitter butter,
Made her bitter batter better.
So ’twas better Betty Botter
Bought a bit of better butter.

In any case, whipped honey is dead easy. The more fluid it is, the better. Then you, well, just whip it. It turns white, and I can't recall any that crystallized later. Probably because it didn't last long enough.

Lehi

I know you like Dr. Suess, but GEEZZ!

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On 6/10/2016 at 7:32 AM, NeedleinA said:

The first metal can of honey that I threw away appears to have had a little "rusting" going on with it. Not nasty super crusty rust, just slight baby rust ;)
Anyways the honey had a little metallic taste to it. Any one know how bad this may or may not be for you to consume??

Nothing unhealthy with consuming trace amounts of rust (unless you already have high iron blood).  In fact, it will be healthy.  But if you don't like the taste, you don't like the taste.

All honey will crystallize over time.  But once a single crystal is formed, the rest of the container will soon coagulate around it.  Once this happens, it is very difficult to get rid of ALL the crystals.  

To remedy the crystallization, not only do you need to heat it up, you'll need to maintain that temperature (150 F)for a good hour or so in a pot of water.  Then let the honey cool to room temperature while standing in the water.  Stir occasionally with a plastic utensil.  Fast cool downs will initiate crystallization again.  the stirring will prevent segregation which also encourages crystallization.  Then keep it in a warm dark place.  Colder temperatures encourage crystal formation.  Light will destroy the natural preservative and WILL allow the honey to go rancid.

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8 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Nothing unhealthy with consuming trace amounts of rust (unless you already have high iron blood).  In fact, it will be healthy.  But if you don't like the taste, you don't like the taste.

All honey will crystallize over time.  But once a single crystal is formed, the rest of the container will soon coagulate around it.  Once this happens, it is very difficult to get rid of ALL the crystals.  

To remedy the crystallization, not only do you need to heat it up, you'll need to maintain that temperature (150 F)for a good hour or so in a pot of water.  Then let the honey cool to room temperature while standing in the water.  Stir occasionally with a plastic utensil.  Fast cool downs will initiate crystallization again.  the stirring will prevent segregation which also encourages crystallization.  Then keep it in a warm dark place.  Colder temperatures encourage crystal formation.  Light will destroy the natural preservative and WILL allow the honey to go rancid.

See my post above yours somewhere. No, not ALL honey will crystallize. Only UNprocessed honey will. If you heat a #10 can of crystallized honey to make it ALL runny, then you will be ruining the remainder of it.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the honey that has crystallized. Only pure UNadulterated honey will crystallize. THAT is the only honey one should be eating because as I have posted above and provided links to, the other stuff is not honey at all.

Real, UNadulatered, UNprocessed honey will NEVER go rancid.

Carborendum, please post links to your sources regarding all honey will crystallize, how to permanently bring it back to syrup texture.

What you state regarding the remedy is processing the pure raw honey and that in effect ruins it.

Am going to post my links again - so one does not have to scroll back in search of them:

Quote

 

LINK #1:

From: https://brookfieldfarmhoney.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/why-does-honey-crystallize/ 

How to make crystallized honey runny:

You can gently warm honey by placing its container in a steamer, a water bath (like a water-filled crock pot), a warm sunny window, or a microwave. I would not do this any plastic container.  The important thing is that you do not want to heat that honey over 100F if you want the benefits of honey to remain.   After 120F you’ve got nice yummy honey, but the pollen, propolis, enzymes, and antioxidants have been rendered useless.  Some folks say this happens at 104F.  So, stay safe and don’t go over 100F. If you can’t be exact, aim at 95F for some “wiggle room”.

The problem is that once the honey cools, it will start its march back to crystallization.  After a few sessions of heating and cooling, the honey will start to lose its consistency and its aroma.  Because of this it’s best if you only heat the amount of honey you want runny.  Leave the rest in the container.

 

Quote

NeedleInA if you lived closer to me, I would gladly take all of the cans of honey off your hands, and reimburse you what you paid originally for it. I would open each one, after chilling it in the fridge for about 12 hours, scoop out the crystallized honey, trim away any rust then put the remaining honey into wide mouthed 1/2 pint jars, then store them in my DIY cupboard that is in my bedroom. We cannot consume more honey than that in a 3 month time period.

I looked in my lower cupboard where I put some honey I bought at the Saturday Open Market nearly a year ago. It is UNprocessed, local raw honey, but unfortunately it was packaged in a plastic jug container. It has crystallized, and I can no longer get any out using a long handled Ice Tea Spoon. So will have to cut the top of the jug off, re-package the honey into the jam jars I have. [with out heating it up] Bought two dozen of the wide mouth jam jars to use in a RS Evening Meeting as emergency lights. Empty one glow in the dark stick into a jar. Put the lid on and shake. Instant emergency light that if it gets tipped over will not burn the house down.

Never did the emergency presentation, so don't need 2 doz of the jars myself. four will be enough.

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17 hours ago, Iggy said:

See my post above yours somewhere. No, not ALL honey will crystallize. Only UNprocessed honey will. If you heat a #10 can of crystallized honey to make it ALL runny, then you will be ruining the remainder of it.

Carborendum, please post links to your sources regarding all honey will crystallize.

I'm not sure why you're asking me this.  You're agreeing with me on this point.  Obviously if you put enough additives into it so as to change the nature of the honey to where it isn't really honey anymore, yes, it is conceivable that it will not crystallize.

As far as "ruining" the remainder... If you consider those other constituents as highly important, I'd agree.  But I personally don't put much stock in that sort of thing.  To each his own.  But if you keep it at 100 F, then it will either take MUCH longer or you'll see it start to crystallize within the week again.

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8 hours ago, Carborendum said:

I'm not sure why you're asking me this.  You're agreeing with me on this point.  Obviously if you put enough additives into it so as to change the nature of the honey to where it isn't really honey anymore, yes, it is conceivable that it will not crystallize.

As far as "ruining" the remainder... If you consider those other constituents as highly important, I'd agree.  But I personally don't put much stock in that sort of thing.  To each his own.  But if you keep it at 100 F, then it will either take MUCH longer or you'll see it start to crystallize within the week again.

I am asking you because you stated ALL honey. In the grocery stores, they carry products they call honey and they really are not. Pure Unadulterated honey will crystallize. Crystallization of the honey is a GOOD thing, not a bad thing.

Heating crystallized honey at a higher temp than 95 degrees F will ruin it. It will kill all of the wonderful traits of it. There is really no reason, health-wise to render pure honey so that it will never again crystallize.

Good for you that personally you don't feel that ingesting pollen is not important. quote: "But I personally don't put much stock in that sort of thing." end quote. Do you have seasonal allergies? If you do, consuming pure, raw honey from local bee farmers will assist you in becoming immune to allergy attacks. Also pure, raw honey is more than just to immunize you from pollen allergies. It is also an analgesic, antibacterial and has antifungal properties 

 

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Factories allow honey to crystallize if it sits before they can jar and sell it. When they are ready to liquefy and jar it, they heat it to 130 degrees. (Source: "How It's Made: Honey"). 

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  • 6 months later...

There is so much good information. Often the best place to source the information is straight from a business owner. This quote is from honeytraveler.com. You will find some amazing and insightful information.

Scott says:

"I am assuming that the honey you purchased has crystallized and you would like to soften it up to eat. Gently heating it up in very warm water (hot to the touch, not burning – 110 degrees F.) in a loosely sealed jar will prevent a lot of the volatile components of the honey from evaporating. If you don’t actually heat the honey over 95 degrees F., then the enzymes should not be harmed. Even a little higher temp for a short period would be ok, but should be avoided.

The interesting thing is that you won’t have to actually heat the honey every time you use it—assuming you eat it within a few days. When you heat the honey, you are not melting it. It will not harden up again when it cools. You are actually decrystalling the honey, not melting it. It will take some time to actually recrystallize, sometimes quite a while. Stored at around 70 degrees F. will keep it liquid longest.

Nevertheless, if you had a large amount of honey, then you might want to separate out a smaller amount just to make handling easier. I have so many honeys I eat them very slowly, so I store my rarer honeys in the freezer to keep the longest and then take out what I want to use. The everyday honeys sit on the counter for quick access! ?"

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  • 2 years later...
Guest Gomezaddams51

Back in the late 60's our school cook got hold of a bunch of stored up Honey; the stuff they put in government fall out shelters..  Clyde (not her real name, us kids gave her that one..not to her face though, the assistant cook was one of the bus drivers) used to whip honey and peanut butter together and also honey and butter and they were put in bowls on each of the tables to take as much as we wanted.  We got tired of peanut butter cookies. They pretty much put peanut butter in everything. 

Back in the every early 90's my mother died and I inherited all her food storage.  She had two but metal cans of honey.  There was a guy who had bees and used to sell honey.  It was all local.  I think they got the cans back in the late 60's and I have it right now in 2019...  There must be 50 pounds of honey in the one tub I have left.  One developed a leak back in the late 80's so we opened it ate lots of honey.  I still have my mothers how to cook with honey cook books.

I read somewhere that honey will kill germs.  Not sure about all the fine points but supposedly if you spread a light bit of honey on a wound it will not get infected.

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