Should honey harden? Which honey is right. Let's start with the background

Perhaps there are not many people who do not like honey. Preparing for the winter, we try to get a sweet treat, which is also a very healthy product. And there are always many questions. Should the product be thick or liquid, and in general, To understand the issue, let's look at the topic in more detail.

Should honey be sugared or not?

Opening honey in winter, we are sincerely upset when we find that it has become candied. By the same principle, we acquire sweetness, believing that the liquid product is better, fresher and healthier. Many even in winter prefer to buy exactly the honey that retains a liquid consistency. But this is fundamentally the wrong approach. A similar mistake in reasoning is made by many due to inexperience, not knowing the answer to the logical question, why is honey sugared?

Crystallization of a product is a completely natural process that occurs in natural substances. It is he who is the best characteristic of quality. Why does honey sugar quickly? It is worth knowing that even in apiaries, with long-term storage of honey in combs, the process of crystallization begins. This is very good, because it is in such a product that all useful substances are stored.

How fast does honey sugar? A good quality product should change its consistency by the beginning of winter. At first it becomes a little cloudy, and then an upper sediment forms, which gradually turns into crystals. After sugaring, honey first becomes hard and then soft. All this speaks of the naturalness of such a product.

Different varieties of honey outwardly look completely different after thickening. Some of them resemble butter, while others become like grains of sugar. No matter how the crystals look, any honey should be sugared. If you buy sweetness in winter or late autumn, then you should focus on its consistency. By this time the honey should show signs of sugaring.

Why do some varieties take a long time to sugar?

Why do you think honey does not sugar for a long time? Monosaccharides inside the sweet product are its main value. Their ratio is quite large. It is for this reason that honey begins to sugar over time. And yet there are varieties that remain liquid for a very long time without changing the original structure.

It is worth highlighting a number of reasons why the product does not thicken:

1. Monosaccharides are a combination of grape and fruit sugar. When the second type of sugar predominates in the product, honey loses its ability to crystallize.
2. To obtain precious nectar, some unscrupulous beekeepers feed bees with sugar syrup, which leads to a poor quality product. It is commonly referred to as a surrogate. It stays liquid for a long time.
3. Honey after heat treatment loses not only all its beneficial properties, but also the possibility of crystallization. Overheated product sometimes acquires a dark tint.
4. In addition, honey cannot be candied with a high water content. This situation is possible with improper storage of the product. If the technology is broken, then the nectar begins to absorb moisture, which leads to the loss of certain properties.
5. Frequent stirring of the product can also interfere with the crystallization process. Sellers use this technique to make their product look more attractive for a long time.
6. Natural honey, diluted with sugar syrup, becomes liquid and does not thicken further.

liquid varieties

Why does honey sugar so slowly? In nature, there are liquid varieties of honey. The rate of crystallization depends on the variety of nectar, that is, on the type of plant from which the pollen was collected. In any case, each product variety has a mixed composition with a predominance of one species. It is on this that the rate of crystallization of honey depends.

Some species are extremely slowly candied, but it cannot be said that they do not crystallize. Such a statement would be incorrect. All varieties thicken and candied, but do so at different rates. Lime, May, acacia, chestnut and Greek species are distinguished by slow processes. Such varieties remain liquid for a long time, without losing a beautiful shade.

Reasons for crystallization

To answer the question why fresh honey is sugared, you need to understand what processes take place inside it. All saturated solutions, which include bee nectar, cannot maintain a uniform structure for a long time. An excess of one or another substance, according to the laws of physics, tends to turn into a precipitate. Honey contains a large amount of glucose, which is rather poorly soluble in liquid. It is because of it that white flakes appear - crystals. The ratio of fructose and glucose levels affects the rate of crystallization. With a large amount of fructose, the product will remain liquid for a long time.

The speed of processes is influenced by storage temperature, air humidity, degree of maturity, processing before packaging. The optimum crystallization temperature is 15 degrees. Below four degrees and above twenty-seven, processes are suspended until better times.

The most popular varieties of sweet nectar

One of the most popular types of honey is lime. It belongs to the fine-grained white varieties. Such nectar retains its consistency for a long time - almost three months. Linden honey can be viscous or moderately viscous. The rate of thickening of the product depends on this to a greater extent. After crystallization, linden honey becomes like porridge.

There are no large crystals. After a certain period of time, you can notice the stratification of nectar into two parts. The top layer will have a more liquid consistency, and the bottom layer will be thicker. But with all this, linden honey will never become hard. That is his specialty.

May honey is no less popular. Sometimes it is also called flower. The time of its crystallization largely depends on the plants from which the bees collected pollen. By the way, May nectar is always a quickly candied product. So, for example, blueberry flower honey thickens within three weeks. And nectar from sage - within a month.

Is it true that nectar is sugared in grains?

Why is honey sugared in grains? Because glucose collects around the particles, forming crystals. And the process always starts from the bottom. After all, it is there that heavy particles of impurities or pollen fall. But gradually the crystallization process covers the entire product.

Does honey have to thicken or not?

Honey should definitely thicken. Regardless of the conditions under which it is stored and all other factors, a natural product must crystallize sooner or later. The process of thickening can occur a week after collection, and maybe even after a few years. It should be noted that after three years of storage, only artificial honey can remain liquid. This is proof of its unnatural origin.

Everyone, probably, faced such a situation when a fresh product immediately thickened. Why does fresh honey sugar quickly? Sometimes nectar literally immediately turns into a sugar clot. However, there is no need to worry about this. Early ripening types of honey may well crystallize quickly. In addition, the following factors affect the thickening process, which we mentioned earlier:

1. The presence of mechanical impurities and pollen.
2. High glucose content.
3. Adding old honey.

All these factors are not something terrible and do not give reason to consider the product bad. It is much worse when honey does not thicken, which indicates its unnatural origin.

To form a crystal structure, honey needs a fulcrum. It becomes particles of pollen or other substances that fall during the pumping of nectar.

Experienced beekeepers who know many of the secrets of the product give some advice on how to keep the original look of honey. Initially, it must be kept for about five weeks at zero temperature. And after the jar can be sent for storage to a place whose temperature does not exceed 14 degrees.

When should honey thicken?

Many consumers are interested in why honey thickens, but does not sugar? And how fast should it crystallize? It is difficult to give exact answers to these questions, because they simply do not exist. It all depends on many factors that affect the processes of thickening - the type of nectar, its purity, pumping and storage conditions. Varieties that candied the fastest include sunflower, rapeseed and buckwheat honey. They begin to crystallize just a few weeks after pumping.

Linden, sweet clover and buckwheat nectar also quickly thickens. Heather, honeydew, chestnut honey crystallizes more slowly. Such varieties may not be candied throughout the winter. The record holder in this matter is the acacia product, which retains its structure for up to several years. This is the reason why he is so popular.

How to return honey to its original state?

Some people do not really like candied honey, preferring to use viscous nectar. If the consistency of the product is important to you, then it can be returned. This is done by heating. This method is actively used by nectar traders in the markets. To keep the presentation of honey for a long time, it is heated. However, excessive overheating leads to the loss of all useful properties. In addition, honey acquires a characteristic brown hue. An overheated product forever loses its ability to be sugared, and there is no longer any benefit from it.

How to make nectar liquid?

In order for the nectar to become liquid again, it must be heated in a water bath. To do this, we need two pans of different sizes. It is necessary to pour water into a large one and send it to the fire. After boiling the liquid, it is worth reducing the intensity of the gas to a minimum. We lower a smaller pan into a large container, after putting a towel on the bottom, and put a jar of honey in it. The water should be very hot, but not boiling. Within fifteen minutes, the honey will again become liquid. But it is worth remembering that at temperatures above +40 degrees nectar loses its properties.

The second way to liquefy honey is a bit easier. We lower the jar of nectar into a pot of hot water. After a while, it will become more rare. You can also heat the product in the microwave. This method is the easiest and fastest, but also the most dangerous, since you will not be able to control the temperature.

Experts do not recommend heating all the honey that you have. If you really want liquid nectar, make a small portion so as not to spoil the whole mass. Moreover, in the future, the product will thicken again anyway.

Instead of an afterword

Honey is a wonderful natural product that should always be in the house. But buying sweet nectar always comes with a lot of questions. We hope that in our article you have found answers to them, which will be useful to you in the future. And now the acquisition of nectar for you will become an easier task. After all, now you know why fresh honey is sugared, which means you should not be afraid of it.

Honey is a product that is known to each of us since childhood. It is used to treat many diseases, to maintain the general condition of the human body. All this is due to the composition: it contains up to 80% glucose, fructose, sucrose, vitamins B, E, K, C, as well as carotene and folic acid. Calorie content is 328 kcal, in composition it is close to human blood plasma.

When a bee product is purchased, it is transparent and viscous, but after some time, for unknown reasons, it becomes thicker and lighter in color. The question involuntarily arises: what happened, and have all the valuable and useful properties been preserved? The answers to these questions are important, because some people who are far from beekeeping think that if honey thickens quickly, it means that it has deteriorated and is unsuitable for food. Often, an expensive and useful product is thrown away, and a fresh, liquid one is bought instead.

This article will discuss the reasons why the product thickens and crystallizes, what determines the density of honey, how to store it correctly (what is the dependence of the quality of honey on storage conditions), so that it remains liquid for a long time.

Honey thickens and sugars: reasons

Honey is an amorphous substance, since its state is between a liquid and a thick consistency of matter. It contains 20% water, over time, the moisture gradually evaporates, and the honey begins to sugar and harden.

If the mass contains large grains of sugar, then the product contains a lot of sucrose. The presence of small crystals and a delicate texture indicate a high content of fructose in the mass.

Important! It is often believed that the bee delicacy should be in a sparse form. But this is a delusion, since it is useful in any condition. The presence of sugar crystals does not make it less valuable and nutritious.

Any honey tends to thicken, regardless of the variety and storage conditions. Consider how quickly this happens, and what factors are considered most favorable for its crystallization.

Why does honey thicken

The main reasons why honey thickens are:

• A high percentage of glucose and fructose, low water content - the glucose content in honey, regardless of its variety, sooner or later leads to its thickening over time. The presence of water in the bee product gives it a viscous state. It is clear that the more it is, the more liquid it becomes. Therefore, this point should be kept in mind when buying honey.
• Non-compliance with storage conditions - honey begins to thicken when it is stored not in a cool place, but in the living quarters of a house or apartment. Under such conditions, the crystallization process will begin much earlier.
• The delicacy has long been acquired and stored for a long time - even if all storage conditions are observed, it will gradually thicken and crystallize.

Important! The water content of honey can be determined as follows: if a drop of honey is placed on paper and a wet spot forms around it, then the water content is high and the quality of the product is very doubtful.

Thickening rate of fresh honey

It is known that the pumped-out mass contains up to 20-22% of water, but over time, the process of crystallization occurs. To reliably determine how quickly honey from a fresh crop thickens, you need to know the time of collection and the plants from which the bees collected nectar.

For example, honey masses collected by bees from fields sown with rapeseed, mustard, colza, and buckwheat quickly become viscous. A little longer, the crystallization process takes place in raw materials collected by bees from linden, acacia, and cherry flowers. These varieties are stored for quite a long time, they begin to harden only at a storage temperature of + 10°C to 15°C.

What kind of honey does not thicken for a long time

Visually, the quality of honey can be determined by its consistency. The mass must be homogeneous, without any visible bundles, foreign inclusions. After pumping, honey is transparent and liquid, but over time it becomes cloudy and becomes thicker.

But there are varieties that do not lend themselves to the crystallization process for a long time. So, the most common among them are acacia (it contains 40% fructose, 35% glucose) and chestnut varieties of honey.

Important! When purchasing a bee delicacy in winter, you should not trust if the consistency of the product is liquid. It was either heated at a temperature of 400C to a liquid state, or the bees were fed sugar.

Acacia honey

Rules for long-term storage

In order for the product to remain liquid and not crystallize during storage for as long as possible, the following rules must be observed:

• Since the product has to be stored for a long time after pumping out of the honeycombs, it is poured into clean dishes with tight-fitting lids: glass, wooden, ceramic containers, pre-washed and sterilized.
• It is necessary to store at a temperature from +6 °C to +20 °C. Therefore, often the main reason why honey thickens quickly lies precisely in its storage at a temperature above the intended one.
• Do not store it with products that are sources of strong odors, as the delicacy can absorb them.

It is best to store the bee delicacy in a separate room from other products. Since the jars are quite heavy, shelving should be used for storage with sturdy shelves made of thick board or plywood.

Honey does not thicken: reasons

On a note! The article described that natural masses tend to sooner or later turn into a thick state (i.e., crystallize).

But sometimes honey remains liquid for several reasons:

• high fructose content;
• artificial feeding of bees;
• heat treatment

Interesting. The crystallization process can be accelerated and the liquid product thickened by adding a little candied honey. This is done in a ratio of 9: 1, after which the resulting mixture is slightly heated, then mixed well.

Honey does not thicken

• You can determine when and from which flowering plant the nectar was collected, first of all, by the color of the delicacy. So, linden honey has an amber color, buckwheat - dark brown, flower - has a light yellow tint.

Important! The mass developed by the bees after feeding them with sugar syrup is often similar in color and consistency to May honey collected from flowering cherries, apple trees, bird cherry, pitching, which is held in late May and early June. In order not to buy a fake of this medicinal variety, it is better to plan the purchase of a valuable delicacy for the fall.

• You can check whether liquid honey is natural in a simple way. It is enough to scoop it up with a spoon and lift it up. When the density of the viscous mass is high enough, it flows for a long time in a continuous stream. So, there is no doubt about the quality of the purchase.

If the honey has thickened, this does not mean that the bee delicacy has deteriorated, just a useful sugar content has appeared. Eating thick honey is not only not dangerous, but simply necessary, as it is useful for maintaining the immunity of the human body.

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Why honey is quickly candied and not candied for a long time, which product has a higher quality, and what determines the crystallization rate? You will find answers to these and other questions in this article.

Should honey be candied?

Most buyers choose golden-colored liquid honey - they consider it the most natural and high-quality. Seeing a whitened, almost or completely solid product, many of us refuse to buy, and in vain. After all, high-quality honey does not remain bright, liquid and transparent for very long.

Most varieties are candied closer to the end of autumn or even earlier - you need to be wary, rather, if this does not happen. If the honey is not candied, it contains artificial (and far from useful additives), or the product has been overheated altogether.

So, should good honey be candied? Yes - definitely. Next, you will learn why this happens, after what time and how to melt candied honey without losing its beneficial properties.

Crystallization: process features

Crystallization is a natural process, but everyone treats it differently. Some people believe that only real honey is candied, others determine the freshness of nectar by the consistency, others believe that a quality product cannot crystallize, especially quickly. We can say the following for sure - natural nectar should be candied. The question is how much time should elapse from the moment of collection.

How fast does honey harden? The following factors influence this process:

1. Nectar type.
2. Collection features.
3. Compliance with storage rules.

It is impossible to judge the quality of a product only by its consistency - sooner or later it always begins to sugar. Candied honey is no longer as shiny, uniform and elastic, but as useful as before, it has a composition identical to liquid nectar. Plus, it can be melted down.

Crystallization and quality

Do you think that if honey is candied, then it is of high quality, and if not, then it contains artificial additives (in other words, it is not a natural product)? This is both true and not, since the quality of the product should not be judged by the nature of crystallization alone. Natural honey contains:

• sucrose;
• glucose;
• fructose.

When glucose takes the form of crystals and begins to settle, the process of crystallization occurs. It always occurs in the direction from the bottom up - this is how the whole mass gradually solidifies. Honey candied quickly - what does this mean? It contains a lot of glucose - the lower its content, the slower the sugaring process occurs.

A fresh product can be candied in a glass jar a month after harvest, or maybe only a quarter later, that is, closer to autumn. The rate of crystallization does not indicate the quality of the product - the type of sugar, the time of collection of nectar and the correct storage conditions affect the course of this process.

Why is nectar not candied?

Candied honey does not always occur. Honey in a glass jar has been standing for a long time, but still retains a liquid consistency? It means that:

1. It contains a large amount of water - 17% or more. Sometimes beekeepers deliberately dilute nectar with water, because they know that buyers like the liquid product more. Will he sugar or not in principle? Of course - it will just happen much more slowly.
2. There is little or no pollen in the product.
3. The nectar was collected ahead of time - it does not contain a number of substances that are responsible, among other things, for crystallization. Unripe honey may eventually not thicken, but ferment. Have you seen a foaming product? It was assembled earlier than necessary.
4. You constantly stir the nectar - regular stirring delays the crystallization process. This does not mean that it will never thicken - it just will not happen soon.
5. At low temperatures, the crystallization process stops. At the same time, it is better to melt crystallizing honey than to freeze it and thereby deprive it of a number of useful properties.

What kind of honey is never candied? One that contains syrups and other additives that melt the crystals.

Varieties with slow crystallization

Why honey is not candied, we found out. Separately, one should consider varieties that are distinguished by prolonged crystallization. These include:

• acacia nectar - it thickens for about two years. The reason is the high content of fructose and water;
• the linden variety most often takes on a pasty appearance, but does not become thick;
• chestnut honey will become thick only after six months or a year;
• the May variety contains a large amount of fructose and remains liquid for a very long time.

These types of nectar like to add to tea and other hot drinks. But keep in mind - if you put honey in boiling water (which many do), then it loses a number of useful properties.

Reasons for sugaring

Honey is candied as a result of the fact that glucose settles in the form of small crystals. The following factors influence this process:

1. The amount of water in the product - if there is a lot of it, the crystals appear slowly, and vice versa.
2. The presence of dextrin - if this artificial polysaccharide is added to the product, it will thicken slowly.
3. Air temperature - honey actively begins to be candied at an air temperature of about 15 degrees (when it is higher or lower, these processes occur, but more slowly).
4. The presence of pollen particles - they also affect the crystallization process (there is pollen in honey - crystals form faster).

These factors only affect the rate of crystallization - after a certain time, the product will thicken in any case. The problem is that once it's sugared, it's hard to use. What to do? You can always melt candied honey, which is difficult to pick out of a jar, only partially dissolves in tea, and is not suitable for making desserts or adding to cosmetic masks. Learn how to do it right below.

How to make honey liquid?

Some varieties of honey are candied 2-3 weeks after harvest - for example, sunflower or rapeseed. They become hard and hard to get out of the jar. Using candied honey is inconvenient. What to do? Melt. It just needs to be done right.

Simple ways to make solid honey liquid:

• take two pans - one large, the second not very much (needed for a water bath). Pour in large water and bring it to a boil, make a small fire. Dip a small saucepan into the water of a large saucepan, put a jar of honey in a small one. At the same time, small dishes should not reach the bottom of large dishes - place it on the handles on the sides. The water should be hot, but not boiling, so there is no need to make more fire. After a quarter of an hour, honey should already be melted;
• take one saucepan, fill it with water, bring it to a boil and put the jar of sweet treat directly into the hot water. Previously, it is better to put a metal stand on the bottom of the dish;
• put the jar of honey in the microwave and heat it slowly. This method is the easiest and fastest, but using it, you risk depriving the product of its most valuable qualities.

Now you know how to make candied solid honey liquid. The main thing is not to overheat it - at temperatures above 50 degrees, all valuable substances are destroyed, and simple sugars turn into caramel.

How to make honey liquid in a maximum of half an hour? The main thing is not to take a large jar - the nectar that needs to be melted should be heated in a microwave or in a water bath in a small container. Wait until the crystals dissolve in a three-liter jar, you will be a long time.

Moreover, there is no point in this - now a large volume will melt, but after a month or two the product will again become thick or solid. Heat exactly the volume that you plan to use in the very near future.

Video: candied honey or crystallized honey.

Effective ways to slow down crystallization

Any nectar can be melted. But many people are interested in the question of how to slow down the crystallization process, so that later the product is not subjected to heat treatment.

So that the nectar does not thicken as long as possible:

1. Do not buy it for the future - if you take cans of three liters, you will constantly have to melt the product. Do you eat one liter at most per year? Do not take more - better next summer, buy a new jar.
2. Store the nectar in a dark place protected from the sun. Under the influence of sunlight, the structure of the product is destroyed.
3. The air temperature in the room should not be less than -10 and more than +5 degrees - otherwise the honey will quickly thicken.
4. Observe the humidity regime - the optimal indicators of air humidity are 60-80%.
5. The ideal dishes for liquid honey are wooden, earthenware, ceramic or enameled. In glass, the nectar thickens rather quickly. In principle, it is better not to store the product in a metal container - it will oxidize with the formation of compounds harmful to health. Glass jars must first be washed and dried well - only then it will be possible to pour nectar into them. Be sure to close the jars tightly.

You can store the product in the refrigerator - you just need to monitor compliance with the temperature regime. Lightly candied nectar can be quickly melted to the desired consistency and stored in a place whose conditions comply with current requirements.

For hundreds of years, honey has been one of the most valuable gifts that nature gives to man. Such a product is valued not only for its taste, it is also used in cosmetology and traditional medicine. And many people want to know more about the properties of this healthy and tasty product, in particular, such a property of honey as sugaring raises questions. Let's talk more about this phenomenon and about honey in general.

Peculiarities

Honey is often used as an adjunct to cold and flu medications. It contributes to a rapid increase in the body's resistance, adds energy. Also, this product is widely used as a component for nourishing face and hair masks. It is used for massage and many other procedures. A drink made from milk and honey helps to get rid of a sore throat, has a calming effect on the body, and helps to fall asleep faster. But all the beneficial qualities of honey appear only if you have purchased a quality product and stored it correctly.

Kinds

There are a huge number of varieties of honey. It differs in the type of plant from whose pollen bees produce it. And also by consistency (liquid, in honeycombs, bee bread). We list the most common types of honey.

Lugovoi

It is also called flower. The main distinguishing feature of such a product is a rich and very pleasant aroma. The color of meadow honey is light, golden, and the taste is amazing. In addition, this product is incredibly beneficial for human health. It can be used as an effective prophylactic in winter, during colds.

Meadow honey also helps to strengthen the immune system, get rid of thyroid diseases, restores the functioning of the nervous system and quickly copes with insomnia. It is added to the menu of even young children to protect them from infectious diseases, unless, of course, allergic reactions occur.

Donnikovy

Natural sweet clover honey has a delicate taste and smell of vanilla. To make this honey, bees collect nectar from a well-known medicinal plant - yellow and white sweet clover. Therefore, the product itself acquires healing properties. In particular, such a product helps to deal with abnormalities in the work of the respiratory tract, with coughs and bronchitis. Also, the product is used as a component of the complex treatment of atherosclerosis, hypertension, arthritis, migraine, constipation, etc.

Lime

This is another popular type of delicious, fragrant and healthy honey. Bees collect nectar for it from linden flowers. It contains a large number of miraculous components, thanks to which honey becomes a real healing product. The use of linden honey improves the skin, and thus the appearance of a person, rejuvenates the body as a whole.

Linden honey should be included in your diet for those people who suffer from excessive nervous tension, problems with the heart and blood vessels, asthma, tonsillitis, bronchitis.

in honeycombs

Such honey is considered even more useful than liquid honey, since all valuable nutrients remain in it. The honeycomb contains not only honey, but also beeswax, oils, pollen and propolis. Therefore, honey in combs is highly recommended for people who suffer from diseases of the teeth and gums. Also, such a product helps to remove harmful substances from the internal organs, to improve the functioning of digestion.

Why does it crystallize?

If you have ever had to store honey for a long time, then you have probably noticed that liquid honey can become sugary. This is a natural property of any real natural honey. The only difference is that each species takes a different time to thicken. For example, the sweetness of acacia can crystallize only within a year or even two. While sunflower, buckwheat, dandelion and mustard honey hardens faster than others.

The process of crystallization is due to the fact that over time, glucose and sucrose, which are contained in honey, settle. Thus, the rate of crystallization is determined by the amount of glucose: the less it is, the longer the product remains liquid.

If you prefer liquid honey, and last year's stocks have already solidified, then you can easily melt the product. However, it should be understood that in this case the quality of honey will become worse, and some useful trace elements will disappear. But if you just want to enjoy the taste of this product, and not its healing qualities, then this moment should not bother you.

When is it liquid?

Whatever unscrupulous sellers say, you need to know that only honey that is not natural does not thicken. The only exceptions are honeycombs, since they themselves are a solid natural repository for healing sweetness.

We list a few specific reasons why the product is not candied.

1. Contains sugar syrup. Quite often, unscrupulous sellers dilute natural nectar with cheap syrup. This significantly reduces the cost of the product, but also significantly reduces its useful properties. It is almost impossible to determine “by eye” the presence of sugar syrup in the composition; it can only be established after a special analysis of the product in the laboratory.
2. The honey was harvested ahead of schedule. If the beekeeper hurried and prepared the product before it was fully ripe, the honey is obtained with a high level of moisture. Therefore, natural sucrose may not settle. Moreover, sometimes honey simply deteriorates during long-term storage.
3. The product was remelted. Sometimes sellers re-melt thickened honey after a long period of storage in order to pass it off as fresh. After that, the product not only stops thickening, but also loses most of its useful properties.

Storage rules

Consider the main criteria that a place to store healthy sweets should meet.

• Lack of light. To keep the product as long as possible, it is strictly not recommended to store it under the influence of sunlight. Otherwise, he will simply lose all his healing characteristics. Even if you put honey in the sun for only a couple of days, it will turn into an ordinary high-calorie sweet.
• Dryness. If the room where the product is located is too humid, then it will simply deteriorate, become excessively liquid and sour. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the humidity in the room does not exceed 80 percent.
• Cold. High temperature adversely affects the properties of healing sweetness and significantly reduces its shelf life.
• Purity. Naturally, food products should only be stored in clean rooms. Also, extraneous pungent odors should not be present there, since honey will immediately absorb them.

If you live in a private house, then there is simply no better place to store healing sweets than a basement or pantry. However, there are also better options for apartment dwellers. You can put the jars in a cabinet on the balcony or in a nightstand in the kitchen. Just make sure that it is located away from the stove and heating appliances.

Also, the refrigerator is just an ideal place to store the product. He definitely is in any apartment without exception. In addition, inside the refrigerator is a constant temperature and humidity. Therefore, if you still have doubts about whether honey can be stored in the refrigerator, the answer is definitely yes.

The optimal temperature for storing sweets is considered to be from +5 to +20 degrees C. It is permissible to store the product in warmer places, but the thermometer should not fall below +5 degrees C.

What should be the dishes?

In order for honey to be stored longer, it is important to pay attention to the choice of the material of the dishes in which it will be stored.

• Clay. This material prevents the penetration of sunlight into the container, which means it is great for storing honey. However, pottery is not often found in modern stores.
• Glass. This container is the most common. Glass does not emit harmful substances, is not toxic. However, transparent walls let light through, and this will adversely affect the quality of honey. The way out of this situation is quite simple - buy dark glassware and put the jars in a room where sunlight does not penetrate.
• Plastic. It is a cheap, lightweight and affordable material that is great for short-term food storage. It is best not to leave honey in plastic containers for long periods, as the material can release toxic substances over time.
• Wooden. Linden, birch and beech containers are great for storing sweets. If you want to purchase containers from other tree species, then be sure to make sure that the material will not release essential oils, which will then be mixed with honey.
• Metal. One of the natural properties of metal is oxidation. Therefore, for food storage, you should choose stainless containers that do not contain copper, zinc and lead impurities.

Each material has certain advantages and disadvantages. However, according to most reviews of beekeepers and honey lovers, it is best to store sweetness in dark glass jars.

1. Remember that high-quality honey can only be bought in season. In summer, almost all types of this product are sold. And during the winter and off-season, it is better to buy only chestnut and acacia honey.
2. Pay attention to the texture of the product. If the product is too liquid, flows off the spoon in an uneven and interrupted stream, then it is better to refuse to buy it. Most likely, it was diluted with water to increase volume. This product will spoil quickly.
3. Pay attention to the region of production of the product.
4. If possible, try to always buy healing sweets only from a trusted seller.

If you are lovers of tea with honey, then remember that if you add the product to boiling water, it will completely lose all its healing characteristics. And you will get a sweet, tasty, but more high-calorie drink. Therefore, it is better to eat the product separately, rather than stir it in tea.

Now you know almost everything about the reasons for candied honey, as well as how to properly store such a product.

How to choose and store honey, see the following video.

Why is honey liquid or too thick, what color and consistency should the product be, how to distinguish a fake? High-quality and natural bee sweetness is not so easy to identify at first sight. This can only be done by a professional beekeeper with many years of experience. Cunning scammers have long learned to fake honey and pass off ordinary sugar syrups with dyes and flavors as a valuable product of bee production. In order not to fall for the trick, you need to know what natural honey looks like.

Honey should be bought in spring or summer. This is due to the fact that hardworking bees start work from the beginning of spring and continue it until the last warm days. During this period, "sweet amber" is necessarily liquid: this is how it is extracted from bee honeycombs. Over time, excess moisture evaporates, the liquid thickens. If you want to sell a liquid product in late winter, you should be on your guard. It's most likely a fake.

How to spot a fake

A natural product is certainly candied. This is a natural process. Most varieties are in a "viscous" state for up to 2 months. Record holders are honey from acacia and sunflower. The first is considered the most persistent, it is in a liquid state for up to 3-4 months. The second, on the contrary, turns into a thick mass after 3 weeks after collection.

“Chemical” all scammers in different ways. Someone produces a product with a unique composition with a honey smell and an amber-golden hue from ordinary water and sugar, and someone sells a natural, but poor-quality honey substitute. The hero of the cartoon “Winnie the Pooh” apparently mentioned him: “These are the wrong bees! …they must be making the wrong honey!” This is a product produced by bees that are regularly fed with sugar syrup.

All beekeepers sometimes resort to feeding insects with sugar. On “non-flying” days, when there are showers or strong winds, a sharp cold snap or abnormal heat, the bees do not have enough nectar and pollen. The lack of the main source of nutrition must be filled with sugar. However, many "unfortunate beekeepers" feed insects with artificial sweetness every day. This is bad for the health of insects, but leads to a significant increase in the amount of product. This, by no means, does not mean that its quality will remain the same. The floral aroma disappears, over time, such honey exfoliates and folds.

Thick or liquid

The answer to the question why honey is liquid is very simple. The fresh, just pumped out product has a high water content (up to 22%). After a while, the liquid evaporates, the process of crystallization of glucose (saccharification) occurs. This does not affect the quality in any way and does not reduce its nutritional value. The consistency may be less thick or thicker. It depends on the:

• varieties (acacia honey is considered the most watery);
• temperature outdoors or indoors.

It is better to buy the sweetness of bee production not from dealers, but from the manufacturer. In large cities, specialized fairs or exhibitions are often held, where beekeepers from all over the area come together. They will help you make the right choice, give you the necessary advice on the application and storage rules of the purchased variety. The most popular are buckwheat, linden and flower honey (forbs).

Buckwheat

It is better to buy this variety at the end of July, as buckwheat blooms in the beginning or middle of the month. It has a dark amber hue and an original smell. People call it the "elixir of youth". It is considered the most useful due to the high content of amino acids; useful for skin diseases, stomatitis, gastritis, hypertension, improves immunity.

Lime

Linden blooms in late June - early July. Fresh linden honey can be bought in mid-July. It is distinguished by a bright fragrant aroma, thick texture and a light yellow tint. Linden honey in eastern countries has a delicate taste, while the product produced in European countries has a sharper, “ticklish” aroma and increased sweetness. Used to treat tonsillitis, diseases of the upper respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract.

forbs

Fresh flower honey can be bought from early summer to early autumn. It has a general strengthening effect on the body, increases the protective function. Color and consistency depend on the region in which the apiary is located. The product may be slightly hazy, beige. It is used to prevent the occurrence of viral diseases.

How to melt honey

To return a pleasant liquid consistency, the product can be heated. The temperature during heating should not exceed 40 degrees. Otherwise, useful elements stop their action. During the melting process, a substance dangerous to the human body called hydroxymethyl furfural is produced.

There are three ways to melt honey:

1. Put it next to the stove or fireplace.
2. Heat up on gas (do not forget, the product will lose its beneficial properties and turn into poison).
3. Warm up in a water bath. In this case, the water must be heated to a temperature of 38-39 degrees. Put a jar of thickened honey in warm water. After a while, it will again become transparent and fluid.

What is more useful

What kind of "correct" honey should be - liquid or thick? Someone claims that the product is useful only in a liquid state, while someone is convinced of the opposite. In fact, the quality after crystallization does not decrease. An exception is a violation of storage rules (honey can exfoliate or ferment). A homogeneous mass with large sugar crystals is the norm for a thickened product.

In a liquid state, sweetness is useful only if it has not been heated to a temperature of 40 degrees and above.

Fans of replacing sugar with honey can be given one piece of advice: it is better to eat honey as a bite, and do not stir in boiling water.

It does not matter in what form the honey is - thick or liquid. How useful it is depends on the flowers from which the nectar was brought. It is also important that all the necessary rules are observed during its collection and storage. Buy the product only from trusted manufacturers and be healthy.