Set honey

[Amari]

Don't forget to keep a jar labelled with the year. Never open it, do that every year for comparison and memories!!!!!

How can you compare if you never open them? Maybe keep a jar each of both spring and summer honey each year? By now I would have 96 jars. Waiting for the ton...

 

[Amari]

View attachment 22997this is the label I put on my jars. I have blocked out my village and one controversial word to prevent arguments!!!!!!

Not 'raw' shirley?

 

[HARoberts]

View attachment 22997this is the label I put on my jars. I have blocked out my village and one controversial word to prevent arguments!!!!!!

That’s great, thanks

 

[HARoberts]

Don't forget to keep a jar labelled with the year. Never open it, do that every year for comparison and memories!!!!!

Great idea, thanks

 

[enrico]

Not 'raw' shirley?

Doh! You guessed

 

[HARoberts]

Set honey is crystallised honey, HAR, but has set so quickly that the grain (as Firefly pointed out) is undetectable.

Any plant in the brassica family will cause crystallisation and the miles of hedge mustard inside the North Circular could be the source.

Where are you in London? Oak and beech are no good for bees and I don't reckon much in a forest sets quickly. More likely that you have some ivy in the mix; ivy is dark honey and sets quickly and smoothly. When did you extract?

Yes it could be ivy. I’m in east London on the edge of Epping Forest.

 

[Mint Bee]

I just started out sell set honey as now one else was, and my honey always sets quickly. locally some beekeepers jar their honey as soon as harvested so that by the time its been stored and on the shelf it is neither clear running honey or 'properly' set honey (i.e. its one great big lump). I know it's not a big issue to warm up to clarify once bought; it just looks messy and could be easily avoided with a little thought

 

[Erichalfbee]

I just started out sell set honey as now one else was, and my honey always sets quickly. locally some beekeepers jar their honey as soon as harvested so that by the time its been stored and on the shelf it is neither clear running honey or 'properly' set honey (i.e. its one great big lump). I know it's not a big issue to warm up to clarify once bought; it just looks messy and could be easily avoided with a little thought

Never label your jars then it’s a simple process to melt the set honey in a water bath and label as required.

 

[enrico]

I like to sell my honey in the format it will generally settle into. No good buying runny honey if it sets solid in a week!

 

[drex]

Same as Enrico. I do not like to over process my honey. I leave it in buckets for a few weeks until it has shown me its tendencies. If still runny(ish) then it is done as runny honey and if sett then it will be processed as soft set. If my customers ask for a certain type and I do not have any at the time I explain to them and they are happy to take the alternative.

 

[Swarm]

I've yet to meet anyone who wants soft set, everyone wants runny.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Set honey is the same value as runny honey.
A lot of people heat the set honey to 60c and then it stays runny.
Yes it is still Raw under the honey regulations, even though raw has no legal definition in relation to honey. It's either Honey or Bakers Honey.
If the HMF is within limits and the water content it's raw lol. Just shows how little raw means.
The honey you see in cheap squeezy bottles on supermarket shelves that never crystallises is in a lot of circumstances OSR honey that has been heated to 60c.

Yes the customer always asks is it "RAW" the simple answer is yes all honey in the UK is raw.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've yet to meet anyone who wants soft set, everyone wants runny.

I don't really push my soft set, but two of my retailers asked for a customer so I keep a supply for them - it accounts for 20-30% of their honey sales

 

[Swn58]

Hi,
This year my honey was slightly darker than before and now I’ve noticed it has set (it has been stored in the summer house which is cooler than the house). It doesn’t seem to have crystallised as it’s not grainy. Is this considered inferior honey to runny honey? I would be interested to know why this has happened too. I would be grateful for views as this is only my second crop, Thanks

My second crop of honey, from the farm, has set as well and is now opaque. I actually think that it tastes better than the first 'runny honey.' What has caused this I do not know, but I have had it happen before. I do not heat treat my honey in any way and only filter it once. This is so it is truly as 'raw' as possible. I expect that some nectar brought in by the bees will react like this? Late nectar that could cause this is sometimes from seeding brassica in my experience.

 

[Swn58]

View attachment 22997this is the label I put on my jars. I have blocked out my village and one controversial word to prevent arguments!!!!!!

I should have read ALL the posts......as I used the three letter word, that may cause trouble?

 

[BugsInABox]

Set honey is the same value as runny honey.
A lot of people heat the set honey to 60c and then it stays runny.
Yes it is still Raw under the honey regulations, even though raw has no legal definition in relation to honey. It's either Honey or Bakers Honey.
If the HMF is within limits and the water content it's raw lol. Just shows how little raw means.
The honey you see in cheap squeezy bottles on supermarket shelves that never crystallises is in a lot of circumstances OSR honey that has been heated to 60c.

Yes the customer always asks is it "RAW" the simple answer is yes all honey in the UK is raw.

But it doesn’t take much imagination to work out what the customer means. And maybe if so many of your customers ask it’s worth paying attention too.

 

[Nige.Coll]

But it doesn’t take much imagination to work out what the customer means. And maybe if so many of your customers ask it’s worth paying attention too.

I sell honey in bulk mainly.
The customers have no idea what raw means it's a buzz word.
Most of my retail honey is sold unfiltered and unheated.
The honey business is very different from a hobby keeper selling a few jars at the gate..

 

[BugsInABox]

The customers have no idea what raw means it's a buzz word.

I think they mean minimally processed.

 

[Nige.Coll]

Raw, uncooked.
under uk regs anything that has a hmf level lower than 40mg per kg is honey, if it is honey it is raw.
You can pander to the BS if you like and try and screw a few quid more per lb for a meaningless description if you like.
I have no time for BS or those that pander to it.

 

[BugsInABox]

Raw, uncooked.
under uk regs anything that has a hmf level lower than 40mg per kg is honey, if it is honey it is raw.
You can pander to the BS if you like and try and screw a few quid more per lb for a meaningless description if you like.
I have no time for BS or those that pander to it.

You’ve misunderstood me. You’re right in your technical description and I don’t sell anything. But if many honey consumers are asking for something - even if they don’t have the knowledge to understand that the way they are asking means they can be patronised - isn’t it worth trying to meet the spirit of their enquiry rather than just the letter. Realistically they mean minimally processed; you may think it’s BS but it seems they don’t.