How warm do you get your honey?
This is one of the most common questions we get.
Simple Answer: 98.6 degrees F
Why do we warm the honey at all?
We feel that certain honey’s have the best flavor characteristics in their liquid state. In addition, honey is much easier to use as a liquid.
Why 98.6?
Same temp as the human body. The natural enzymes and proteins are kept whole and unharmed at this temperature.
Why honey granulates, crystallizes, or “sugars”?
Honey is a super saturated liquid. There are so many complex dissolved sugars that, over time, crystals of these sugar eventually form making it solid. When you warm the honey the molecules of water expand and make room, once again, for the sugars to dissolve. Our Mesquite honey, has never been heated, which is why it is in a solid state. The nature of the individual crystals in this honey cause it granulate very fine and creamy. We feel that the low moisture content of this honey and its natural creamy texture is a great characteristic and so we don’t warm it.
Our other honeys granulate a bit more course and don’t maintain the characteristic they have when they are liquid. After extraction the honey is put into barrels where it granulates, when we need to pack the honey we warm the barrels slowly (over 48 hours) in a warm water bath to 98.6 degrees F.
pates says on April 9th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Is there a difference between “creamed” honey and granulated honey?
Shaggy says on April 9th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Only slightly, creamed honey is granulated honey that has been “seeded” to produce a very fine grain of granulation. Seeding is a process where you put a small amount of particular kind of honey that is crystalized very fine. This in turn causes the main batch of honey to follow suite in crystal structure. There are a few other tricks, but those are trade secrets.