You can restore cloudy or crystallized honey to its original state by placing it in a pan of hot tap water. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes and it will be good as new.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a half-gallon container of honey that has solidified. Can it still be used? How do I liquefy it again?
By Sandy from Bandon, OR
First, you may want to save some out--I love crystallized honey as a spread. It won't drip from toast or sandwiches like liquid honey does. Then, simply warm the remainder. You can use the microwave, or sit the jar in hot water, and stir periodically.
Pure honey will keep for ever so don't even consider tossing it out. Honey can be softened by placing the container in hot water. since it is such a large container I would only soften a small amount at a time.
Thank you everyone for the feedback! Throwing the container in the dishwasher did the trick, then I measured it out into more manageable sizes and gave part of it back to the daughter with instructions to reliquify if necessary. :-)
Just put the container in a large pot with some water around it and turn the stove burner on low for a while. It will make the honey liquify again.
Put it in a container of hot water for a while. Otherwise you could try microwaving it on low for a short amount of time also.
I don't recommend heating it in a microwave, this can actually cause the liquified honey to recrystalize even faster, plus if it's in plastic, it may not be healthy to microwave teh plastic. Slowly heating it up in a pan of water on the stove is a good way to reliquify it.
Also squeeze a bit of fresh lime or fresh lemon on the amount you need it will work to soften it quickly just a quick mix and it is liquid.
Do not put honey in microwave, ever!!!!!!! The microwave will kill all natural and healthy properties of the honey.
honey is the most perfect food in the world. It will never spoil. It takes just a little hot water in a pan to turn a jar of honey back from sugar to liquid. This works with any amount of honey. Set the jar or container into the hot water keep water warm. stir once in awhile. Best honey is not clover honey but honey that is gathered by the bees from wild flowers and flowering trees. Darker the better for me. Honey needs only to be strained. Never needs to be boiled or heated for any reason. It Just does not spoil.
You do realize that microwave ovens use radio waves don't you? They are not "evil radiation" like some people seem to think.
how did you put it in the dishwasher?
It is my understanding that the microwave will indeed kill most of what is good for you in honey if you try to liquify it in this manner.
Miss the buckwheat honey Mom used to buy in the comb.
Hard to find now...stores don't want to bother with anything that doesn't come in a jar.
Use the "soften" feature on your microwave. This feature is to soften butter without melting it. I put mine in the microwave in its original paper bag for 2 minutes, then used a butter knife and scraped and sugar came off the chunk in perfect form.
How do you keep honey from turning to sugar?
By Tonya from Langley, WA
Some honey turns to sugar and some doesn't. When that happens the thing to do is put the container in a pan with some water in the pan and bring it to a boil, then turn the burner way down to let it simmer, until the honey liqufies. My former in-laws used to let a bee keeper keep his hives on their farm and in return they were given several gallons of honey, in the natural form, which in turn became sugary as it sat.
Unprocessed(raw) honey is going to crystallize not matter what. It's normal & it doesn't hurt the honey, it's not bad. In one of the archived posts, someone said it's because water gets into it, but that's not what causes it(although it CAN cause it to go bad),it has to do with the amount of glucose(sugar) in the honey. Heating it up will fix the crystallization, like others have said.You can put the jar in a pan of water on the stove, or microwave it. Stir it occasionally to mix. However, the more times you heat it, the more it degrades the quality of the honey.It also allows yeast & bacteria to start growing & the honey can go bad.
Earlier posts say to store it at room temp,that cold temp is bad.Not true. If it is raw, unpasturized honey, storing at room temp can cause it to crystallize faster & separate into layers of crystallized sugar & liquid-and the liquid can grow bacteria & yeast,going bad.You can store it at room temp, but keeping it in the fridge or freezer is best. I have honey that is +20 yrs old in my freezer, in quart canning jars.
It's become very dark with age,but is delicious. I keep a small jelly jar in my fridge or on the counter & re-fill from the freezer as it empties by scooping out what I need into a microwave safe bowl & heating it just until it starts to liquefy. If the honey in my little jar crystallizes, I don't re-heat the whole jar. I just scoop out what I need & heat that in the microwave, that way it doesn't keep heating the larger amount & degrading it.
Those little plastic honey bear containers are cute, but impractical because if the honey gets hard,you can't get it out. It is best to store your honey in an airtight jar or container with a wide mouth so you can scoop out what you need.
My gr granddad was a bee keeper for the last 30 yrs of his life. He taught my mom some of what he knew about it. Also, my mom allowed a bee keeper to keep hives on her property for many years. He had hives all over the state of AZ & would harvest it then sell it on a large scale in Phoenix. In return for allowing him to use her property,he gave her a few gallon jars of honey every time he harvested-fresh mesquite honey is the absolute best!! He's the one who told us to store it in the freezer & not re heat it too many times. I also found info by googling that backs up this info, such as [Download Missing]
Set the jar in water and bring to boil. Shut off and let sit. No need to remove the lid. The honey will not turn to sugar again. I have done this a lot of times. I've even sat honey jars on a register in the winter and let the furnace bring it back.
Some people say to store the bottle upside down!
My Mom says it works.
I once briefly heated a plastic honey bear style jar in the microwave for about 12 seconds with the lid on. As I removed the jar from the microwave the top exploded off the jar from the expanded hot air in the jar and blew extremely hot honey everywhere. Fortunatly not in my eyes, but what a mess. I was finding sticky blobs for days. Never heat an enclosed container as the air will expand and can blow it up!
I have had my jar of honey for quite some time. Is there a way to soften honey to get it out of a jar?
By Gail Ledwith
I've placed my container of solidified honey into very hot water. Every now and then I stir the honey, and I replace the water as it cools. It takes a little time, but it works.
I take the lid off and microwave 1 minute at a time,stirring each time.
Place enough water in pan to come almost halfway up the jar bring water to a boil remove from heat and place jar in it stir every so often. Or you can, if as glass or plastic jar, place in microwave for about one minute each time take it out replace lid and shake it up, repeat if needed. Warning though honey super heats and gets hotter longer and stays hot longer than other liquids.
I do the same as Keeper. I don't think I even go a minute with it, just check it every 15 or 20 seconds, so much easier than getting a pan out , etc.
Can we eat honey which was kept in fridge, it is crystallised now?
By rd
Yes you can eat it its great on toast!
If you want to un-crystalize it its easy. If in a glass jar just boil a small pot of water. Once to a boil take off heat and place jar without lid in the water stir every so often. If it's in a plastic jar just transfer to a glass jar. Honey if if raw or pure will never go bad and doesn't need to be kept in the fridge. Some of the store bought stuff that has expiration dates and says keep refrigerated means that either they feed their bees corn syrup or added it during the processing and isn't totally "pure".
You can set it in a pan of hot water and it will melt. You will also have to keep changing the water. Depending on the container, you could even but it in a pan of water and bring the water to a boil.
I keep my jar of honey on the cook stove and the warmth from the stove keeps it from crystallizing.
How do I soften hardened honey?
By Nancy
Heat it, opened, in the microwave for a few seconds at a time until softened.
I microwave in 10-second intervals.
Has anyone any idea why every time I make parsley honey, once the jar has been opened it has started to crystallize and doesn't stop til fully crystallised in the jar. Each batch made turns out the same. Yes, everything is sterilised before hand.
By Jan
According to a post up above honey that has more glucose in it will crystallize more quickly or more frequently. That could mean you have a very very excellent type & composition of honey!!! but it obviously has to do with composition in it so consider it something unique & enjoyable! from reading all the posts it's clear that any kind of heat will keep it soft or make it get soft again. apparently refrigerating it or freezing it will keep it from crystallizing as well you could experiment that way too and maybe you'll find out another unique reaction based on your unique honey! Describe how it's made if you get a chance. I would enjoy hearing!
I have a jar of clover honey that was clear when I bought it, but has turned a dark brown color. Is it safe to eat?
By Bob
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
How can you rejuvenate, crystallized and hard honey? Thanks, Joe
Set your jar of honey in a pot of boiling water, lid off and up to crystallization point. Soon the honey will return to its original consistency. How to stop this I have not been completely successful but, I graduate the jar down to the amount of honey and this seems to help. . .
Set your jar of honey in a pot of boiling water, lid off and up to crystallization point. Soon the honey will return to its original consistency. How to stop this I have not been completely successful but, I graduate the jar down to the amount of honey and this seems to help. . .
