Soft set honey question

[Levitt53]

On 9th January I tried to make some soft set honey with 2 jars of summer honey that I had left (wasn't collected). This honey had granulated but not completely set. I used the dyce method as per Stuart from the Norfolk Honey Company's video on youtube. So the seed was made from some spring honey that had set completely and I ground it down with a pestle and mortar. The bulk of the honey was heated to 150 degrees and kept that was for 15 minutes then rapidly cooled in the freezer to around 70 degrees and which point the seed was mixed in and then it was jarred fairly soon after that. My plan was to eat one and keep one to use as a seed in the spring.

The honey hasn't set as I expected. It is lovely, looks nice, but it would still pour out of the jar, albeit slowly. I was keeping it in my kitchen which does get quite warm as we have an aga. Maybe this was why it hasn't set properly. I moved it last night and it is a little harder today but still not 'set'.

My questions is why hasn't it set properly? I don't fully understand the science behind this but I can think of two reasons - firstly it was made with not completely set summer honey, or secondly it was a bit too warm in my kitchen for it to set properly. Will it will work to make soft set honey in the spring with what I assume will be fully set spring honey as we always have OSR around here?

Thanks

 

[Ian123]

As to why it’s not set it could be honey used as a base could be amount of seed or type, if you’ve had it in a room with an aga that would be my first suspect simply put in an unheated garage for a week and I would bet that does the trick. Normally my soft set is pretty much all osr I may scavenge a few boxes of spring crop from some other sites but I don’t mix summer honey in with the osr as I prefer the contrast of a white/pale osr soft set and a dark summer runny honey.

 

[Levitt53]

Both the seed and the summer honey were stored in the kitchen but the one I used as a seed was set fairly solid. It was more the soft set that I wondering about whether it affected it. It wasn't too near the aga and it's not that hot in here due to outside temperatures but it doesn't get cool. Do you put your soft set in a cool place to set it or does it normally set at room temperature? I think I'll stick it in the garage and see what happens.

 

[Erichalfbee]

14 degrees is the oft quoted ideal temperature. It should set at any temperature but take longer.
I always leave my soft set in the shed at the bottom of the garden in summer and the sun room which has a thermostat set at 15 in the winter. Jars usually take a week or two.

 

[Ian123]

Yes I put the soft set in a cool place to set it’s often a bugger trying to do a batch for a summer event. I will extract and filter osr before going into buckets that’s the time to keep it in the warm room and allow air to rise over a few days, then it’s any place to store. By the time you come to use it just scrape off the white froth on the top and warm it just enough so it’s manageable in the bottling tank there’s no need to get rid of all the crystals. You can then cream/mash it for a couple days until the point you start to wonder if you can get it in the jars. I tend to find that also reduces frosting that was discussed a few days ago.

 

[Levitt53]

Thanks both. It sounds like it's just been a bit too warm to set so I'll put it in the garage and hopefully it will set nicely. It was only last year I decided to sell honey so it's been a bit of a learning curve. A bit like this whole beekeeping malarkey!

 

[masterBK]

If the honey had more fructose than glucose in it then not likely to set very well. Also Honey with honeydew in it often doesn't set too well.

 

[Millet]

This year i have found that nature fling's us the odd wild card...i had some lovely runny honey that eventually set creamy and set after around eight weeks..i thought it was going to be runny but i was wrong..
I used this honey to seed some Oil Seed Rape mixed honey and it produced some lovely soft set after two weeks..
I tried to do a bucket of this honey as soft set on its own..i went through the same procedure of stirring every hour and so on...but this lovely soft set honey turned crystallized and like concrete..i have no idea what happened but the bees are going to take the blame .. ..

 

[Levitt53]

The garage seems to have done the trick. It's been back in the house for a few days and is still lovely and the consistency I would have expected.

The longer I do this the more I feel that I don't understand honey at all. There is oil seed rape all around us every year and in the last four years I have had completely runny honey. This year it all set including the summer stuff (although not as much as the spring stuff did). I am definitely going to get some of the granulation stickers.

One other quick questions - do you sell your soft set for more than your runny honey, seeing as the process is more time consuming.

 

[Ian123]

I’ve always sold soft set and runny at the same price but you should charge a decent price for the lot!!!! I generally find if you put the jars together runny will out sell the set but if you offer a taste then it’s not far off 50/50. Many consider rape purely sweet and rather bland, fact remains jo public rather like sweet/bland

 

[ericbeaumont]

do you sell your soft set for more than your runny honey, seeing as the process is more time consuming.

Same price; the customer doesn't see the extra work. I sell both (though I do not actively produce soft-set, as it would constitute processing and scare off the raw brigade) and if they're in doubt, I suggest that a bland runny honey is good in herbal or fruit tea because it won't conflict with the flavour of the tea; a runny with or without flavour is practical for porridge; for spreading on toast, set honey with or without flavour is useful as thicker honey doesn't fall through the toast.

As Ian suggests, ask proper money. Don't rush to offload it quickly; if you sell a max size of 12oz/340g rather than 1lb/454g jars you'll raise the value and your return. Why not wait until the Burwell Carnival in June, and take a stall? Burwell Museum might sell some, or the Museum Mill, though they'll want a % and prefer a regular supply. The ilivehere website reckons Burwell is relatively affluent with a slightly older population, though the reviews further down are less kind to other towns: Amble: the population of 6,022 is now almost entirely related and Sutton-in-Ashfield: avoid eye contact and you’ll be just fine gives you an idea.

I agree with Ian: the GBP palate prefers bland sweet honey, but bear in mind that supermarkets have trained us for years to expect such monotony (helps when they throw in a bit of sugar). You have a pure, local product that'll warm their hearts, especially as you'll have a taster jar on the table.

 

[For want of a better word]

I’ve always sold soft set and runny at the same price but you should charge a decent price for the lot!!!! I generally find if you put the jars together runny will out sell the set but if you offer a taste then it’s not far off 50/50. Many consider rape purely sweet and rather bland, fact remains jo public rather like sweet/bland

jo public rather like bland



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huSP7PtctC4

With apologies to Khalid my best friend at school!!

 

[Newbeeneil]

The longer I do this the more I feel that I don't understand honey at all. There is oil seed rape all around us every year and in the last four years I have had completely runny honey. This year it all set including the summer stuff (although not as much as the spring stuff did).

Last year one of my apiaries was completely surrounded by rape and the spring honey steadfastly refused to crystallise all year but this year when the rape was about 1/2mile away it went solid within a month of harvesting!

On another point, I gave a "bee talk" to a local gardening society last night with some honey tasting. I set out 8 honeys - 6 runny, 1 set and 1 comb and the one every one raved about was the set one!
I find normally the set ones are the last to sell.

 

[herman1VB]

Newbeeneil, at what year did you start producing honey?