Candied honey

Candying of honey is an inevitable and quite natural process. Over time, a delicious healing product changes its texture and color, but the taste, as well as the benefits, remain unchanged. If you find a sugar sediment in the once liquid honey at the bottom, you should not blame the sellers from whom the delicacy was purchased - changes had to take place. The sugaring speed depends on the type of honey.

Why honey is candied

May, chestnut, Greek, clover, and acacia varieties retain their original consistency for a longer time and remain liquid, while dandelion heather, sunflower, rapeseed and melilot are subject to faster crystallization.

To understand that the process of sediment formation is normal and natural, it is necessary to identify the reasons for its appearance:

• the main reason why the nectar will be sugared lies in its chemical composition, namely in the three main elements - fructose, glucose and sucrose. It is glucose that tends to crystallize and sugar the product. The more glucose is contained, the faster the density of the product will increase. And vice versa - if the glucose content is low and mainly fructose predominates, honey will retain its liquid consistency for a longer time;

Candied honey

• getting a large amount of pollen into the container when collecting nectar will also speed up the sugar process. The fact is that, in addition to the glucose crystals themselves, the pollen is enveloped by other small particles that fell on it during collection - all this settles to the bottom. The sediment in this case will have a granular structure;
• temperature regime. It has been proven that at a storage temperature of 15°With honey it is sugar slowly. Therefore, if you put it in the refrigerator, the obvious result will be that after a short time it will turn into a solid whitish substance, in its consistency resembling pork fat. If you do not want the delicacy to thicken quickly, it is not recommended to store it in the refrigerator.
• the process of sediment formation is also influenced by the weather in which the honey was collected. If it was collected in hot summer weather, the product will thicken faster, and if the weather was cold and rainy, then vice versa.

Collection of honey

In addition to the natural reasons why honey crystallizes, there are also unnatural ones. So, unscrupulous beekeepers can add water to the nectar, various artificial additives in order to increase the amount of the product. Such a product will remain liquid for a long time, but it will lose its useful qualities. In addition, the practice of rolling out unripe honey to accelerate sales. This also adversely affects the composition of the product and its shelf life. Such honey begins to thicken from the bottom, while its top remains liquid. The answer to the question of how real honey is candied - from below or from above - is unambiguous: evenly.

Can I use candied honey?

Having considered the reasons for the thickening, it is logical to come to the conclusion that this in no way means that the product is unnatural or contains additives in its composition - this process suggests otherwise. It is definitely possible and necessary to eat candied honey, its healing properties and taste will not be affected in any way. But despite the fact that it can be eaten like that, there is still a need to make the product liquid.For example, how to pour honey from a jar into jars, if it is crystallized, the question is very exciting, since it is difficult to do this. But this issue is completely solved at home.

How to make honey run again

So, honey is candied, what to do? There are several ways to make honey liquid.

• a water bath will perfectly cope with this task. There are many ways how to make candied honey liquid using a water bath. For example, we put honey in a small pan, and put it in a larger pan so that it clings to it with its handles and hangs without reaching the bottom. Then pour water into a large saucepan to the level of the surface of the bottom of the small saucepan and heat. Over 45°It is impossible to heat water with water, since the healing properties of honey will lose their strength, as a result of which it will simply turn into caramel. We keep in heated water for about seven minutes, while stirring. After the time has elapsed, we take out the small saucepan, stir the contents thoroughly again - now the honey can be poured, it will become liquid. You can also put a glass jar with the product directly hot (45-50°C) water, without heating the liquid while on fire and without ceasing to stir. After 15 minutes, check the result, the product should become liquid, it can be poured.

Water bath for honey

• put honey in a glass jar and put it near a hot battery, while periodically scrolling the jar so that the nectar melts evenly. This method will take about 15-20 minutes, depending on how hot the battery is.
• Melting honey in the microwave is a very quick way to make it liquid, but also very controversial. The fact is that microwave radiation can destroy most of the healing properties of honey, as well as change its taste. Therefore, this method should only be used in cases where the nectar needs to be melted quickly, for example, it needs to be urgently added to baked goods. Moreover, when baked, it will also lose almost all of its healing properties due to the high temperature, so the method of dissolving it in a microwave or oven will not play a significant role.
• you can resort to using a special device for dissolving thickened honey - a decrystallizer. There are many types of this device, depending on the power, size, and price category. Having bought this device, you no longer have to face the question: what to do if the honey is candied?

Honey decrystallizer

Honey is also good in candied form. It can be eaten, it will not slip away from the sandwich, it can be added to baked goods, as well as to other dishes with which it is combined. However, do not forget that this product is an allergen. It should be noted the incomparable benefits of nectar in the field of cosmetology, it is often used in the manufacture of cosmetic masks, it has high healing properties and does not matter whether it is candied or liquid, since it always requires a small amount, which is easy to crush with a teaspoon. In winter, honey will become a faithful assistant in the fight against colds and a means to strengthen the immune system.