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> Honey, it's cold. January 13 2016


It's the time of year when folks open their pantries looking for honey because it's wonderful in tea, coffee and cocktails, and it can be a great cough remedy too. Unfortunately, when raw honey has been sitting in a cold, dark pantry, it often doesn't look like it did when it was put there.

In fact, here's a recent e-mail: 

Hi TruBee!

I have a sealed jar of summer wildflower honey in my cabinet. It is sealed, but has been sitting there for a few months while I finish my previous jar. Just looked at it and it has a lot of crystallization toward the top and the honey is a little cloudy. I didn't see an expiration date, so wanted to ask if this is normal over time/ok to eat or if it might be any kind of contamination?

I'd appreciate it if you'll let me know what you think!

Our answer: 

Hi, L--! So glad you wrote to us and didn't throw away the honey. There is no expiration date on the jar because pure honey never "goes bad."

The honey is perfectly fine. Our honey is raw and unpasteurized. Because we don't treat the honey with heat, it tends to crystallize over time. This is perfectly normal, and the honey is safe to eat.

Here's what to do to return your honey to a perfect texture:  remove the lid, and place the honey in a small pot of warm water. Let the water simmer, stir the honey a wee bit, and it will be good as new. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes; you don't want to overheat or boil the honey.

You may be interested to know that some honey vintages tend to crystallize faster than others. For example, our spring vintage rarely crystallizes at all, while our Wildflower Summer vintage (which I think you have) crystallizes quicker, especially when kept in a cold environment. So much about honey, from taste and color to sugar content and crystallization rate, depends on what the honeybees were foraging when they made the honey.

I hope this helps, and please let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks again for giving us a chance to save your honey!