Hi all. It's cold this morning. In front of me I have two 1kg plastic buckets of honey. one from woollies & one from the health food shop. One has turned 'candied' in the cold and one is still smooth & golden.
I was told by someone in passing that if the honey doesn't go 'candied' in cold days then it's had sugar syrup added.
So - why has one bucket of honey succumbed to the cold and the other is still smiling?
I had a friend who was a bee keeper he said it was the % of the two different sugars collected by those wonderful creatures, glucose and fructose and if there is more glucose then fructose in the honey it will crystalise easier especially when cold. Simply put the crystallized one in the sun, don't microwave it or boil it.
I had to look twice at the Author of this post to see if I may have written it unknowingly. I was having these same thoughts this morning as I was scraping candied honey into my porridge.
A beekeeper told me on the weekend that a good way to tell if the honey is real genuine is to turn the container upside down, and if the air bubble rises very slowly it is good honey.
I don't buy Capilano or Allowrie honey. I know an Apiarist from whom we buy our honey in 3.5 kg buckets and I know they have the real deal and it is Australian, because I go to his sheds to buy it, where he does the extraction. He does sell some to Capilano.
I know his honey is all Australian also because I know where he keeps his bees (some of which are kept on our block in northern NSW) and we have the assurance that it is pure Australian honey which is not adulterated in any way with honey from overseas (Farm gate purchase, so to speak).
If the honey is extracted, strained and then bottled, it is the most pure form you can get. I kept bees for some years when I was a young fella, and I know that is the process this bloke uses for the honey he sells to us and to Capilano. Capilano pasteurise it because they have the facilities to do so. However, there is currently a takeover bid on the table for Capilano (and Allowrie), so that wil change the goal posts for those who buy their honey from the supermarkets.
-- Edited by Dave1952 on Sunday 19th of August 2018 03:47:24 PM
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Dave (Nutgrass)
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Carpe Diem - Seize the day!
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As a kid our honey came from our grandparent's farm several times a year, in 4 gallon kerosine tins (maybe bigger, can't be sure). These were safely stored in the garage and one of us kids would decant few pounds and this was divided again for cooking and table use. When it wasn't stinking hot, sometimes it candied, sometime it didn't and it didn't need to be aged or the weather especially cold. Kebbin's comment now make sense of my own experiences.
Honey should be stored at room temperature in a cupboard not in a cool place as this will crystallise it. Everytime it is heated I believe it changes the flavour, either way once it cools it will start to crystallise again, so I just put up with it now.
If you want good, pure honey, stay away from the supermarkets. Go to Farmers Markets, bakeries etc that sell directly from the Aussie producers. You will then get pure honey, not honey pots filled with additives. You will taste the difference immediately.
Use by dates on pure honey is total BS. honey that doen`t goes candy is not pure, so the big honey companies are giving faulse information on their lables.
