Honey is a highly praised ingredient in the kitchen, thanks to its exquisite flavor, its excellent properties and its versatility as an ingredient for different preparations. From enjoying it by the spoonful, to adding it to yogurt, sweetening desserts or adding a special touch to recipes and sauces.
Honey is mainly composed of sugar, as well as a mixture of amino acids, vitamins, minerals, iron, zinc and antioxidants. It is a natural product, as it is produced by bees using the nectar of flowers. In this regard, considering its nature and artisanal production, it should be noted that honey is one of the few foods that does not expire and does not rot.
That is, you can have it as long as you want without fear of it getting damaged. In addition, it is not necessary to store it in the refrigerator, not even once the jar has been opened. However, we often observe how the honey pot solidifies, crystallizes or presents a kind of foam on its surface that sometimes extends in marble patterns towards the bottom.
The composition of honey consists of water, glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose and other sugars in variable proportions depending on the manufacturer. This depends on the production method, the flowers from which it was obtained, the season and the area of origin of each bottle or brand.
Honey crystallizes because it is a supersaturated solution, since there is a lot of sugar in honey – more than 70% – in relation to the amount of water. Thus, glucose tends to precipitate out of solution, thus changing to a more stable supersaturated state. Its crystallization is determined by the amount of glucose and fructose in the honey, as well as its humidity.
In this sense, honey from combs inside the hive remains uncrystallized for longer than if it is removed from them. Most liquid honeys crystallize within a few weeks of extraction, but since many factors are involved, there are also honeys that never crystallize. In addition, environmental temperature and humidity also influence.
In the crystallization process, the texture of honey thickens and hardens. Sometimes a solid foam appears on its surface that may extend to the bottom of the jar in sinuous shapes, like the look of marble. This can happen due to the air bubbles present in the honey.
Crystallization or foam in honey is not an indication that it has gone bad, but rather it is a natural process that, in fact, demonstrates its artisanal production. Therefore, it can be consumed without problems when its texture changes.
To be able to serve the honey more easily once it crystallizes, we can achieve a more liquid texture by heating the jar in a water bath. Of course, after a short time, the boat will solidify again.
