My heather honey is crystallising. Why?

[user 1914]

I'm puzzled as to why my heather honey is crystallising. ITLD explained in a post in September that pure ling heather honey is slow to crystallise. But mine is doing so now.
I'm keeping it in jars in the unheated garage.
I think that it is pure ling heather. It was collected in August from moors above Skipton and at our honey show, our experts liked it. It's very jelly like and had large bubbles.
I put the hive on the moor with little by way of stores. I didn't get much, only 8 lbs off the hive.
Probably I have to accept that there must be other honey in there, but has anyone any other suggestions?

John

 

[Into the lions den]

I'm puzzled as to why my heather honey is crystallising. ITLD explained in a post in September that pure ling heather honey is slow to crystallise. But mine is doing so now.
I'm keeping it in jars in the unheated garage.
I think that it is pure ling heather. It was collected in August from moors above Skipton and at our honey show, our experts liked it. It's very jelly like and had large bubbles.
I put the hive on the moor with little by way of stores. I didn't get much, only 8 lbs off the hive.
Probably I have to accept that there must be other honey in there, but has anyone any other suggestions?

John

You are talking several months already. Nothing wrong with that. If you did not 'stabilise' it immediately after bottling then no matter how pure I would expect to see considerable crystallisation by now even in a perfect sample.

From your description it seems like an excellent sample.

100% purity of sample is almost unobtainable anyway as the bees will visit other plants and include traces of that in both the honey and more especially the pollen. Our very best cut comb ling from virgin combs only analyzes at approx 85% ling by pollen analyses.

 

[johnnythefridge]

I am not an expert, but I believe that temperature is a factor. The colder the storage, the more likely that crystallisation will take place.

 

[oliver90owner]

The colder the storage, the more likely that crystallisation will take place.

Sorry fridge, but just not true. You may have known that if your screen name was 'deepfreeze'

 

[Into the lions den]

I am not an expert, but I believe that temperature is a factor. The colder the storage, the more likely that crystallisation will take place.

Crystallisation in honey has an optimum level at which it proceeds fastest, and an ambiet temperature somewhat below normal room temperature is the level it happens quickest at.

Fresh comb honey destined for sale at a later time (sometimes even years) is commonly deep frozen to prevent the onset of crystallisation, even in very large quantities. Once had a contract extracting job on behalf of a comb honey importer whose client 'offshored' their packing contract for chunk honey, and the price of the bulk honey moved up so much it became profitable to have it extracted. One of our girls did the work and it ended up with 27 tonnes in barrels. All had been deep frozen for three years.

Freezing kills all stages of both wax moths too btw.

 

[Dishmop]

I have two Kilner jars in my kitchen which contain honey from the same hive taken out about 2 weeks apart.

One jar has crystalised twice and the other has always been nice and clear.

I just stand the offending jar in a slow cooker and give it a good stir.

 

[Easy Beesy]

Optimum temp for crystallisation is 14C. Other factors will determine how fast/slow it occurs.

 

[user 1914]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like
I need to learn how to stabilise honey and
the garage wasn't a great place to store the honey, at a bit below room temperature

 

[BeeJayBee]

Should it be gently heated to re-liquefy it?

 

[johnnythefridge]

Another factor for crystallisation will be foreign bodies or irregularities in the inside surface of the storage container. Either of these will promote crystallisation.

 

[user 1914]

Johnny
Thanks
I used new jars and washed them first. I can't do much more.
I didn't filter the honey greatly, just used a coarse mesh and fine mesh. So presumably there could be pollen and other bits in the honey.
I was in Harvey Nicholls in Leeds on Friday and I noticed that the Scottish heather honey they sell looked lovely, beautifully presented and no sign of crystals. I suppose I ought to buy a jar to see if it tastes as good as mine.

 

[Into the lions den]

Johnny
Thanks
I used new jars and washed them first. I can't do much more.
I didn't filter the honey greatly, just used a coarse mesh and fine mesh. So presumably there could be pollen and other bits in the honey.
I was in Harvey Nicholls in Leeds on Friday and I noticed that the Scottish heather honey they sell looked lovely, beautifully presented and no sign of crystals. I suppose I ought to buy a jar to see if it tastes as good as mine.

Will await outcome with trepidation lol...........

I don't pack it (used to up to 11 yrs ago till we shut down the packing side) and by the time it has reached the shelf it has gone though three hands.

See our heather honey in several major brandings around the country...........all leave here very much the same............and hits the shelves very much different. All down to the handling/mishandling by the various packers. This HN product will have been recently packed and stabilised by a quick reheat in the jars prior to shipping out but will eventually start to go, probably with a few large crystals.

A very easy product to spoil due to the way the gel does not convect away from the walls of the drums/buckets/jars when it warms, so heating needs to be more gentle and prolonged.

 

[user 1914]

Thanks for the advice. I am encouraging members of my club to have a go at the heather as we have access to a good moor. But I need to build up my own knowledge too, as I want members to get a return for the effort.

I thought that the honey from Harvey Nick's might be yours. I haven't bought a jar yet but definitely will now!

 

[VEG]

downhill john I would remove the postcode from your details you never know who is watching.

 

[BeeJayBee]

downhill john I would remove the postcode from your details you never know who is watching.

 

[AndyTh]

My heather honey in jars has crystallised also, so can I return it to its former clear colour by reheating? If so, does anyone have advice on whether a honey warming cabinet would do, and what temperature and duration would be needed?

 

[user 1914]

downhill john I would remove the postcode from your details you never know who is watching.

Beejoyful, thanks, good point

 

[user 1914]

My heather honey in jars has crystallised also, so can I return it to its former clear colour by reheating? If so, does anyone have advice on whether a honey warming cabinet would do, and what temperature and duration would be needed?

Andy
Well I can confirm that you can liquify crystallised heather honey, as following ITLD's post, I've done so today, both this year's (semi crystrallised) and last year's (solid). However i did so in an oven at its lowest setting and the honey reached 57 degrees C, which I've been told is too hot. So a warming cabinet will offer better control and a lower temperature. As to what is the correct temperature, I've seen 40 degrees mentioned, but I'm a beginner so wait for an expert.
John

 

[Hivemaker.]

You can also re-liquify it in the comb if it granulates as well, without damaging the comb.

 

[AndyTh]

Downhilljohn,
Thanks - I have tried to re-liquefy my crystallised heather honey and succeeded! My oven is too unreliable to hit 40 or so degrees, so I emptied an unused deep freeze, hung an electric light inside and left a 40lb bucket for 3 days inside. It worked a treat; the temperature didn't exceed 40 degrees C. This has restored the honey to its former clear brown/red colour complete with those distinctive bubbles. Thanks for the guidance (and also advice from ILTD).