Have I made soft set by accident

[Tonyatcwfarm]

Background is
3 hives on double brood 2 are single nationals
No honey to extract in August so I decided to leave until last week
We got a spell of excellent weather late august into september so on Monday 8th I extracted 25lb
They have still been packing it in over the week so yesterday I extracted another 30 pounds though there was probably 20 to 30lb crystalised in the frames so I gave them back to the hives they came from under the brood box after misting with water
I combined the honey with the first batch and mixed
When I went out today the bucket of honey was a mixture of regular honey and clumps of set honey,doesn't taste or smell like ivy but my guess is nothing else is going to set that quick
I stirred the honey to break up the lumps and filled 40 1lb jars
3 hours later most of the jars are set but not solid
There is a fine grain feel and it tastes good even though I'm not a honey lover
I had planned oN putting some in the local shop later in the week but I kinda need to know what to call the product if I'm asked
Questions I need answering
How long would take to know for sure if it's soft set?
Is heating the jars futile if they contain a honey that sets that quick?
Thanks

 

[Jimy Dee]

Sorry, no idea. I never heard of "soft set" honey until recently. I always thought is was either run honey or simply crystalised. It is crystalised to some degree so just sell it as crystalised honey - let others be debating whether it is soft set or otherwise.

 

[pargyle]

Call it 'Honey'... people will either buy it or not ... and will either like it or not ... Likelihood is that it's the ivy honey that's started the crystallising but it's not a problem if the strong taste has been diluted a bit with your 'normal' honey.

I actually like a soft set honey on my toast ... you may well find that it sells well.

 

[masterBK]

Jimy Dee. Have you not heard of the Dyce process? Granulated honey either naturally set or soft set (don't like the term creamed). Then there is seeded soft set.

 

[Jimy Dee]

MBK - never heard of it. I will google it. Thanks.

 

[YorkshireBees]

For me the simple answer is:-

If it's setting (ie crystallising) and it's soft when set (ie spreadable) then it's soft set.

I never need to seed my Spring honey as invariably it contains a decent amount of OSR honey and sets rock solid by itself. By gently heating it in a warming cabinet and stirring to break up the large crystals then letting it set again I produce soft set.

I have no experience with Ivy honey as I have never taken a crop so late in the season.

As an aside there are always 2 categories in Honey shows, 1 for soft set and another for Naturally set Honey.