Soft set honey fermented

[ROACHMAN]

I had a 30lb bucket of OSR honey that I decided to make into soft set honey.

The water content was 18% when extracted

I put the bucket in the warming cabinet or 2 days at 40 deg C.

The texture of the honey was similar to ice cream, I then mixed it with a honey mixer attached to a drill for 30 seconds.

I then jarred it, everything was fine for a couple of weeks, the jars then started to leak - they were fermenting

There did I go wrong?

 

[Hachi]

You aint having a lot of luck fella to my reckoning that's 80lb honey gone t*ts up for you this year.

It must have got moisture in it somehow or your meter is up the duff! Have you seen what the reading is now by putting it over the meter again?

 

[oliver90owner]

If not as Hachi suggests ...

Not completely melted. Some crystals were low moisture and some liquid was too high and it was this latter component that fermented.

RAB

 

[ROACHMAN]

If not as Hachi suggests ...

Not completely melted. Some crystals were low moisture and some liquid was too high and it was this latter component that fermented.

RAB

Correct answer Rab, The liquid bit can be up to 4% higher than originally bringing it into the danger area.

The question is why doesnt this happen to all soft set honey made this way?

 

[oliver90owner]

Because...larger crystals settled a little leaving the high moisture bit on the surface.

Well I do it this way. The main lot - the bucket of honey - would be heated sufficiently to completely liquify it, then seeded with a small amount of finely crystallised honey after cooling below a temperature where the seed might go liquid.

I once got caught out by part-melting a bucket of OSR honey and only bottling the liquid part. Lesson learned, never had fermenting honey since.

As an aside, I always assess my buckets (and jars) of set OSR honey for sufficiently low water content. A dry surface means it is OK and will not ferment; any sign of wetness and it will likely ferment in a short while, dependent on storage conditions.

RAB

 

[itma]

Well, on the bright side, that is one heck of a lot of mead waiting to be made ...

 

[Hombre]

Following on from what RAB has said, if you have liquefied your honey and put it through a fliter and have a significant amount of crystals left in the filter, then I suggest that you scrape it off, put it into a clean bowl and melt it in a microwave and then pop it back through the filter (whoosh), otherwise you will be taking out the really low moisture part of your honey, pretty much like RAB has already explained.

If you doubt this, then don't add it back after melting, but let it cool in the bowl and notice how much thicker it seems . . . then melt it and stick it back through the filter.

 

[ROACHMAN]

Following on from what RAB has said, if you have liquefied your honey and put it through a fliter and have a significant amount of crystals left in the filter, then I suggest that you scrape it off, put it into a clean bowl and melt it in a microwave and then pop it back through the filter (whoosh), otherwise you will be taking out the really low moisture part of your honey, pretty much like RAB has already explained.

If you doubt this, then don't add it back after melting, but let it cool in the bowl and notice how much thicker it seems . . . then melt it and stick it back through the filter.

That all makes sense, I followed the link below, doesnt seem to work though !


http://rotatingtechnology.co.uk/BeeginnersFAQ/Honey/1HoneyFrame.htm