Why Did My Honey Turn Solid?

HONEY FACTS

Raw & unfiltered honey will eventually turn solid – that’s a simple fact of life. But that doesn’t mean your bottle’s days are numbered.

Crystallized honey is usually light yellow or white, with a consistency somewhere between that of peanut butter and granite, depending on how long it’s been sitting. But it’s still honey, and it definitely hasn’t spoiled or gone bad or expired.

If your honey has turned solid, that means it’s natural honey: raw & unfiltered, just like the bees made it. Many “grocery store” honeys (looking at you, bear bottles) have been superheated to over 150º and filtered to make them look “pure” and clear – but that’s not natural. Heating honey destroys its flavor, as well as some of the amino acids and nutrients that make honey such a special sweetener.

What to Do with Crystallized Honey

You can still eat crystallized honey any way you normally would: spread it onto toast, melt it into honey beverages, or eat by the spoonful. You might even prefer it, because it won’t drip and make sticky messes.

If you do want your honey to be drizzle-able again, it’s simple to get it back by heating it. Either put honey in an open glass jar and set the jar in a bath of warm water (100–120º) or put your honey in a microwave-safe dish and microwave in 30 seconds at a time.

Why Does Honey Crystallize?

The “why” behind the crystallization of honey is simple chemistry. Honey is an ultra-saturated combination of two sugars, glucose and sucrose, and contains at least 70% carbohydrates and about 20% water. That’s more sugar than can naturally remain dissolved. So, naturally, crystals begin to form over time. 

Some honey crystals are fine and smooth, while others are large and gritty. This is largely due to the proportion of the two main types of sugars found in honey: fructose and glucose. While fructose tends to remain dissolved, glucose has a much lower solubility.

A few varietals high in glucose are:

Clover honey (We usually finish a bottle long before we need to worry about crystallizing.)

Lavender honey               Dandelion honey             Wildflower        

Blueberry                           Basswood                          Goldenrod

To sum it all up: raw & unfiltered honey is a natural food and naturally crystallizes over time. If your bottle has turned hard, don’t sweat it. Just heat it up!

Why Did My Honey Turn Solid?

HONEY FACTS

Raw & unfiltered honey will eventually turn solid – that’s a simple fact of life. But that doesn’t mean your bottle’s days are numbered.

Crystallized honey is usually light yellow or white, with a consistency somewhere between that of peanut butter and granite, depending on how long it’s been sitting. But it’s still honey, and it definitely hasn’t spoiled or gone bad or expired.

If your honey has turned solid, that means it’s natural honey: raw & unfiltered, just like the bees made it. Many “grocery store” honeys (looking at you, bear bottles) have been superheated to over 150º and filtered to make them look “pure” and clear – but that’s not natural. Heating honey destroys its flavor, as well as some of the amino acids and nutrients that make honey such a special sweetener.

What to Do with Crystallized Honey

You can still eat crystallized honey any way you normally would: spread it onto toast, melt it into honey beverages, or eat by the spoonful. You might even prefer it, because it won’t drip and make sticky messes.

If you do want your honey to be drizzle-able again, it’s simple to get it back by heating it. Either put honey in an open glass jar and set the jar in a bath of warm water (100–120º) or put your honey in a microwave-safe dish and microwave in 30 seconds at a time.

Why Does Honey Crystallize?

The “why” behind the crystallization of honey is simple chemistry. Honey is an ultra-saturated combination of two sugars, glucose and sucrose, and contains at least 70% carbohydrates and about 20% water. That’s more sugar than can naturally remain dissolved. So, naturally, crystals begin to form over time. 

Some honey crystals are fine and smooth, while others are large and gritty. This is largely due to the proportion of the two main types of sugars found in honey: fructose and glucose. While fructose tends to remain dissolved, glucose has a much lower solubility.

A few varietals high in glucose are:

Clover honey (We usually finish a bottle long before we need to worry about crystallizing.)

Lavender honey               Dandelion honey             Wildflower        

Blueberry                           Basswood                          Goldenrod

To sum it all up: raw & unfiltered honey is a natural food and naturally crystallizes over time. If your bottle has turned hard, don’t sweat it. Just heat it up!