You may have noticed that honeys differ not only in taste and color, but also in texture. Some honeys are thin and runny, others are thick but still smooth and soft, some are crunchy and others have set solid. This post describes what you need to do if you have hard or ‘crunchy’ honey and would like it to be runny and smooth.
The inside of a beehive is warm and has a temperature of around 31-32 degrees. Usually, honey at this temperature is still runny. However, all honeys eventually crystalize and turn hard, especially when the honey cools to room temperature. How this crystalizes will depend on a few factors, and whether the way it crystalizes is good or bad is really just a matter of preference. Personally I like honey that has crystalized solid with a very fine structure, giving a very smooth and soft texture. The other way I enjoy it is while it is still runny – I enjoy drizzling it on my Weetbix for breakfast.
The honey in the pictures below was given to me by my brother. He has a few hives in Te Awamutu, which produce a delicious honey with a taste quite unlike anything my hives make in Auckland or the Far North. If it wasn’t such an expensive exercise I would get a lab test done to see what is in it. But for the honey produced from just a couple of hives, it isn’t worth it. So, I just enjoy the delicious honey with its unique and mysterious taste, and maybe one day find out what it is.
Now, this honey had set solid when I got it, and had a rough granulated texture. Not ideal for the Weetbix. To make it smooth and runny again it will need to be warmed up. Here’s what I did.
I find a large pot that will allow a water level to reach most of the way up the honey jar, and fill it with hot water. Since the pot is going to be on the stove, I put something on the bottom of the pot to keep the jar from contacting the direct heat. In this case I used the lid from the honey jar, but a handful of teaspoons does the same job. All it needs is to keep the jar off the bottom so it (or the honey) doesn’t get damaged by the direct heat.
Make sure the lid is off. I once made the mistake of leaving the lid on a plastic pot I did this too. As the contents warmed up, they expanded and having nowhere to go ended up stretching the plastic pot out in all directions. Not ideal! The lid needs to be off or at least loosened.
Turn the stovetop on LOW – as in LOWEST. This isn’t something you will do in a hurry. Remember, the temperature doesn’t actually need to get all that high to loosen it all up – just into the 30s will do it. Honey that is heated too high will burn (although slightly burned honey has its uses…). Leave it on low and go find something to do for a while. This was a 1kg jar, and I left it for about an hour. As the honey softens around the outside of the jar you can give it a stir to help speed things along a little.
Once the honey is runny, make sure you keep the gentle heat going to make sure all the crystals have dissolved – you will be able to see when these are gone.
And that’s it – the honey has been returned to a liquid state, and ready for my Weetbix. It will thicken as it cools down. Eventually honey will crystalize again, but I don’t know how long that will take. I’ve had honey that has stayed runny a whole year after being softened like this.
So if you have hard or crunchy honey and would rather it be runny, this is what you need to do. Remember – take the lid off, keep the jar off the bottom of the pot, and have a little patience. Enjoy!
