Runny Honey : Creamed Honey

[Jack Straw]

I have

Taken my 25lb bucket of solid, mainly rape honey. Heated it to 42c for 48 hours and it became clear and runny, filtered through a metal strainer. Allowed to cool
Put 5lb of seed into the warmer for 2 days at 42c until that too became runny, allowed to cool
Mixed both together stirring 6 times over 2 days
Jarred

I now lots of jars of clear runny honey. This was completed some time ago and it is remaining clear and runny

I am not sure of the definition but I was expecting (and hoping for) soft set honey - more like a peanut butter consistency that stays on your knife but spreads easily and is opaque not see-through

How do I go from solid rape honey to soft-set honey or have I done it and am I just being impatient and need to wait a bit longer

Thanks

Jack

 

[Tremyfro]

I think you destroyed the crystals in your seed honey by heating it too much. It only needs to be heated enough to mix it in. I'm not sure what will happen to your honey now...eventually it will crystallise but with what size crystal...it is hard to say. I expect someone with the knowledge will be along soon to help. I would add more seed but only warm it a little...so you can get it out of the jar.

 

[For want of a better word]

At 42 degrees over that length of time I think you will have a cooking honey... with a high HMF level.

Seed should be added at about 16 degrees and allowed to set at a constant 14degrees

However there are many expert honey processors who would disagree who have been producing set honey by the pound for a much shorter time than I have!

Yeghes da

 

[Erichalfbee]

Yes, you have melted all the seed crystals. You need to heat the seed only just enough to enable you to stir it into your runny honey.
You'll have to start again.

 

[Thymallus]

Buy a creamer, don't let your set honey fully dissolve, o/n is fine. You want the fructose dissolved and glucose still as crystals. Thrones over sized potato masher type does and excellent job, takes 10 minutes for a 50lb bucket and produces a lovely creamed honey that stay spreadable for the rest of its life. Chemists tell me the action of the creamer is to get the glucose crystals surrounded by the fructose and so it an't fully set again...(that's the abbreviated version of events).
I've found the drill attcahment creamers introduce too much air....or at least in my hands they do and you end with a froth on top of the honey. May just be of course.

 

[For want of a better word]

Buy a creamer, don't let your set honey fully dissolve, o/n is fine. You want the fructose dissolved and glucose still as crystals. Thrones over sized potato masher type does and excellent job, takes 10 minutes for a 50lb bucket and produces a lovely creamed honey that stay spreadable for the rest of its life. Chemists tell me the action of the creamer is to get the glucose crystals surrounded by the fructose and so it an't fully set again...(that's the abbreviated version of events).
I've found the drill attcahment creamers introduce too much air....or at least in my hands they do and you end with a froth on top of the honey. May just be of course.

You just have to practice screwing the honey very slowly... bit like in scuba diving... if you come up too quickly air bubbles will form!
Mas despacio ... mas despacio, as the chap in L'Estartit used to drill into us novice divers.... diver training in the Med in the 60s!!

Yeghes da

 

[Madge]

...
I've found the drill attcahment creamers introduce too much air....or at least in my hands they do and you end with a froth on top of the honey. May just be of course.

I rather like the froth. I skim it all off from the settling tank, and keep it for myself, and every now and then I'll have a frothy spoonful without anything else. Am I alone in liking it?

 

[Eyeman]

I rather like the froth. I skim it all off from the settling tank, and keep it for myself, and every now and then I'll have a frothy spoonful without anything else. Am I alone in liking it?

We marketed for a while as honey scum. It's a bit like candy floss and punters went wild for it. Unfortunately we couldn't produce it in sufficient amounts so now only for family and friends.

 

[itma]

...
Put 5lb of seed into the warmer for 2 days at 42c until that too became runny, allowed to cool
...

That is the problem.

The "seed" is there to deliver 'starter' crystals of an appropriately small size.
Those crystals set off the crystallisation of the rest.
So you don't want them re-dissolved ...

You need to
- warm the bulk honey to make it completely runny. 40C should be enough. A bit of occasional stirring helps. Then strain it through your finest filter while it is warm (so it strains easily) and take out anything you haven't managed to redissolve.
- then let it cool. It holds the heat! So it takes a while. And you want it down to 25C or below - the whole bucket.
- once it is almost cool enough, start gently warming the seed. You just want it to flow, but you need the crystals - so likewise it wants to be at about 25C, not more, and as soon as its loose enough to be mixed, use it!
- then you can mix the seed into the bulk. (The bulk has to be cool enough that it doesn't risk melting the seed!)
- once it has started to set, you can set about jarring it.
- and if you then store it at about 14C (wine cellar temperature!) for a few days you will maximise the speed of setting and the fineness of the crystals, thus the smoothness of the honey.

I'd suggest that you lay your hands on some more seed, and have another go.
Since your bulk honey isn't crystallised, you don't have to liquify it, just warm it enough to get it out of the jars with minimal wastage, and then pick up the recipe, and mix with the warmed-to-just-fluid seed.

 

[Jack Straw]

Many thanks

Thanks for the advice.
I will empty out the jars and start again with a new seed
Kind regards
Jack

PS - This is now the third or fourth question I have posted regarding soft set honey so I appreciate your patience and willingness to help a beginner

 

[psafloyd]

At 42 degrees over that length of time I think you will have a cooking honey... with a high HMF level.

Seed should be added at about 16 degrees and allowed to set at a constant 14degrees

However there are many expert honey processors who would disagree who have been producing set honey by the pound for a much shorter time than I have!

Yeghes da

I'm no expert, but when I did it, it was 16º-ish, but not a constant temperature and it was good for more than a year before separating ever so slightly. By which time, all but a couple of jars were long gone.