# Storing Honey



## highlandview

I bought some honey at Sam's Club for storage and it crystallized. Will sealed #10 cans of honey crystallize? What is the best way to store honey?


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## upnorthlady

Honey needs to be stored in a very warm place. It will crystallize around 65 degrees. You can microwave crystallized honey and it'll stay good for a while. Find the warmest spot in your house and store the honey there (hopefully that spot will be greater than 65 deg!) We have radiant floor heat in our basement, and the temperature on the floor is 80, so that's where we store our honey.


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## Mike in Ohio

You absolutely DO NOT want to microwave honey to get it to decrystallize. Doing so will destroy beneficial enzymes. 

All pure honey will eventually crystallize. It is not something to get overly concerned about. To get it to reliquify just place the container in a larger container of warm/hot but not boiling water. This won't work so well for a very large container (5 gallon bucket for example) or it make take repeating a number of times.

Mike


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## 7thswan

I canned 5 gal. in qt. jars. last summer, it hasen't started to crystallized.


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## glazed

Mike, that is sooo true about never ever microwaving as it destroys all the enzymes in nutrients ... but commercialized honey has already been destroyed so it's not going to matter in this case.


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## WisJim

Honey won't crystallized as quick if cold, also, and it makes a difference as to the flowers that nectar it came from and other influences along the way. Gently warm your honey by putting the jar in warm water is one way to liquefy it. Unless it is rock hard, you should still be able to scoop it out and use it.


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## Wisconsin Ann

Beekeeper here. 
Sealed cans of honey, if kept in a cool place, shouldn't crystallize unless there was a start of crystallization before sealing. I have jars of honey (you don't need to "can" them. Honey doesn't go bad) in the basement from 4 years ago...perfectly fine still. 

If your honey has crystallized, you can get it back to lovely and clear and liquid by putting the jar/whatever in a pot of hot water...like you'd melt wax. Let if FULLY liquefy. Leaving even one crystal will start it all over again quickly.

I was selling honey one time, in quart and pint canning jars, and this lady comes by and taps the lids. well, OF COURSE they didn't "ping" and she's all snooty and says "didn't get a good seal. you'll have to do it over and throw these out". I just handed her my pamphlet from the US Honey Association (or whoever it was) that detailed how honey is antibiotic, doesn't spoil, can be used...and smiled at her and her companion. Companion bought 1/2 gallon and a dozen candles


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## calliemoonbeam

I agree with all the above. I bought honey in a 5-gallon bucket two years ago. Poured it out into quart jars and keep them in the pantry (which is heated with the rest of the house) with no sunlight. No sign of crystallization yet.

When I've had honey that crystallized in the past, I slowly heated it in a pan of hot water on the stove, as Mike and Ann said. I've found that pure honey doesn't crystallize nearly as fast as the "mixed" honeys sold nowadays. Did you know it's legal for honey to be mixed with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and still be sold labeled solely as honey? Unless it says raw, natural, 100% certified organic honey, then it probably has HFCS in it. The last store bought honey I had was Sue Bee, which used to be a good brand, but it was lighter in color, thinner than usual and crystallized in a couple of months. I'm thinking it was mixed with HFCS. 

I now buy my honey from Rudy's http://www.rudyshoney.com/. It's cheaper, tastes much better and still hasn't crystallized after two years.


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## Freeholder

It totally depends on what flowers the nectar came from, as to how fast the honey will crystalize. (My ex is a beekeeper.) I can't remember which flower nectar makes honey that will just about NEVER crystalize, but the wildflower honey we got in New Hampshire, especially towards the end of the summer when the asters were in bloom, crystalized very quickly, often in a matter of weeks. We kept the honey in five-gallon buckets, so when I needed some, I'd go dig the crystalized stuff out of one of the buckets, put it into quart jars, and gently heat them in warm water until they liquified again. 

*IF* you get pure honey that hasn't been adulterated, it will keep literally forever. Buy from a local beekeeper if you can find one. A lot of the honey being sold in the stores, especially the less expensive stuff, has come in from China (often being 'laundered' by shipping to Canada first, then they rebottle and ship into the US), and they can and do add other sweeteners to their honey.

Kathleen


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## stranger

highlandview said:


> I bought some honey at Sam's Club for storage and it crystallized. Will sealed #10 cans of honey crystallize? What is the best way to store honey?


 another bee keeper here,you just bought some honey from Probably China, Argintina, maybe Canada, use it up and buy some local honey, it'll cost more, but it won't be loaded with all kinds of pesticides,herbicides.


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## Mavors

stranger said:


> another bee keeper here,you just bought some honey from Probably China, Argintina, maybe Canada, use it up and buy some local honey, it'll cost more, but it won't be loaded with all kinds of pesticides,herbicides.


Course most farmers, least round here, use all kinds of pesticides n herbicides. Most honey today can never be totally clear as too many people use them and most beekeepers don't have enough land to put their hives where they can control a good 3 mile radius. Wish we could but in Ohio I know it's bout impossible. Oh well.

Still I agree you might as well buy it local and support your local economy instead of china or some such country.  

Eric


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## Randy Rooster

I am a long time bee keeper. All honey will crystalize at some point. Depends on the type of nectar ( flowers) the bees worked to make it. While it is true that your local bee keeper may not be able to keep all pesticides out of his honey, remember that our USDA has much stricter control over what farmers can use on their crops than say China for instance. God only knows what they use there- DDT might be one of the mild ones.


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## highlandview

calliemoonbeam said:


> I agree with all the above. I bought honey in a 5-gallon bucket two years ago. Poured it out into quart jars and keep them in the pantry (which is heated with the rest of the house) with no sunlight. No sign of crystallization yet.
> 
> When I've had honey that crystallized in the past, I slowly heated it in a pan of hot water on the stove, as Mike and Ann said. I've found that pure honey doesn't crystallize nearly as fast as the "mixed" honeys sold nowadays. Did you know it's legal for honey to be mixed with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and still be sold labeled solely as honey? Unless it says raw, natural, 100% certified organic honey, then it probably has HFCS in it. The last store bought honey I had was Sue Bee, which used to be a good brand, but it was lighter in color, thinner than usual and crystallized in a couple of months. I'm thinking it was mixed with HFCS.
> 
> I now buy my honey from Rudy's http://www.rudyshoney.com/. It's cheaper, tastes much better and still hasn't crystallized after two years.



I like the looks of Rudy's website. I might give it a try. The honey I bought at Sam's is Virginia Brand but that doesn't mean it is from Virginia. I have some local honey in the back of my cupboard. The flavor was very strong but it might just be what the bees ate. I think I'll get it out and try it again today as my allergies are bothering me and it might do me some good. When my allergies act up I do the Bragg's vinegar mixed with honey and water. Supposedly anti-inflammatory. The local honey will probably boost the benefits.


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## Ernie

Honey can vary pretty widely in flavor between the years. For example, last year's was very light and almost too sweet with a high water content but the year before was almost a perfect golden with a great taste. 

Crystallized honey IS stored honey. It's just in a form that needs a little prepwork.


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## calliemoonbeam

I actually like the deeper colored, more full bodied honey flavor. That last Sue Bee honey I bought was like Ernie described, very light in color, just way too sweet and had hardly no flavor at all. That's another reason I thought it probably had HFCS in it. 

One of these days I'm going to try some buckwheat honey. They say it has a really strong flavor and most people think it's too strong, but I'm curious and always like to try new things. They say it has more antioxidants and minerals too, so that's good. I also want to try some Tupelo honey, they say it's the best honey there is and the price certainly reflects that, lol. I've read that Tupelo honey will never crystallize.

I just got some shagbark hickory syrup a couple of weeks ago. Someone on here had been talking about making syrup from trees other than maple, and someone else said you could make it from hickory. We have tons of hickory trees, and I like hickory nuts so thought I'd give it a shot. Unfortunately, it's kind of like the Sue Bee honey, not much flavor and just really sweet, lol. Oh well, at least now I know, now just have to figure out how to use it up.


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## Ross

I buy all my honey from local Ontario bee keepers so I know its not a blended mix of chinese honey. If I was in China I'd probably be fine with their local honey.... but I'm not. Glad to hear my honey is safe in the cool basement, it's where I stashed 5 pounds last summer!  I didn't know nuking crystal honey was bad, thanks for the tip! Even if it is a pain to use hot water!


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