Chestnut honey is candied. Why is honey candied? Why honey is not candied

There are several reasons why honey may not be candied (crystallized). This effect may not bode well and simply indicate the origin of honey. However, sometimes non-candied honey turns out to be of poor quality, which indicates the negligence of the beekeeper.

Good honey, but not candied.

So, let's take a closer look at the option when honey of normal quality costs a month, two, a year and is not candied. The essence of the honey crystallization process is stored in its composition. More precisely, in the two main components of its elements: glucose and fructose. Glucose crystallizes easily and has a sweet taste. Fructose does not crystallize and is 2 times sweeter than glucose. In high-fructose honey, fructose coats the crystals of glucose, sucrose and other well-crystallized sugars, thereby preventing the honey from sugaring. If honey contains less than 30% glucose, then such honey will not crystallize at all.

There are varieties of honey with a low glucose content, such honey is more liquid (at normal humidity) and crystallizes very slowly. If your average room temperature is above +23 C, then such honey can stand in the room for a year in a liquid state. With, such honey will not deteriorate and will also retain all its qualities and usefulness.

The most favorable temperature for crystallization is +10 - +15 C. At higher and lower temperatures, honey crystallization slows down.

Slowly crystallizing honey can be attributed to: honey from sage, acacia, chestnut, (not all, depending on the place where fireweed grows), etc.

Bad honey is not candied.

And now let's consider the options in which situations honey remains liquid, but at the same time its quality leaves much to be desired.

1) Unripe honey. Often, novice beekeepers, without waiting for the honey to ripen in the frames, pump it out in order to make a profit more quickly, or simply do not know when the honey is ripe.

mature honey- this is honey, in which all the main reactions for the breakdown of complex sugars into simpler ones took place and from which the bees evaporated all excess moisture.

When the honey is ripe, the bees close the honeycomb frames with wax caps. When the frame is completely sealed, the honey is ready to be pumped out.

Unripe honey has a high moisture content, and this partially prevents crystallization. Such honey can exfoliate and ferment after a couple of months. Fermented honey has a sharp and sour smell.

2) Not . Honey is very hygroscopic (capable of absorbing moisture). In a warm, humid environment, honey absorbs moisture, which in the first case prevents crystallization and can also lead to fermentation.

3)Not natural honey or diluted. Often in our consumer life we ​​buy substandard products. There are many fakes and honey on the market, someone dilutes honey with sugar syrup, someone adds starch or flour so that the fake is thick and viscous, like honey.

4) When heated, honey becomes liquid. But here you can heat it up to +40 C, no more. At higher temperatures, vitamins and all useful properties are lost. Some sellers, in order to give a marketable appearance to honey, heat and overheat it. Honey becomes liquid and loses its crystallization properties. Such honey will not crystallize at all. The smell practically disappears. The color of overheated honey can be described as dark brown amber. Depending on the degree of overheating, honey is either lighter or darker, but a brown tint is always present in this case.

Recently encountered a new kind of fake. The Chinese bring a certain powder in briquettes, diluted either with water or with some kind of reagent, and honey is obtained in color and smell indistinguishable from natural. Most importantly, as in the chem. laboratories, with a superficial analysis, the results indicate the naturalness of honey.

Advice: How to “force” honey to crystallize?

If you doubt the quality of the honey you bought because it remains liquid for a long time. Find some candied honey (a teaspoon is enough), mix it in some container with a tablespoon of liquid honey, so that you get a homogeneous mass and pour this mixture into a jar of liquid honey. Place the jar in a dry, cool place (+10 - +15 C). After a couple of weeks, if the honey is natural, it will definitely crystallize.

People often ask: "why honey is not candied?". In this article, I tried to give basic answers to the question asked. And do not be upset if your honey remains liquid for a long time, try following the advice given in this article, and you will determine the quality of your honey jar.

24.11.2016 19

Why honey is quickly candied and not candied for a long time, which product has a higher quality, and what determines the crystallization rate? You will find answers to these and other questions in this article.

Should honey be candied?

Most buyers choose golden-colored liquid honey - they consider it the most natural and high-quality. Seeing a whitened, almost or completely solid product, many of us refuse to buy, and in vain. After all, high-quality honey does not remain bright, liquid and transparent for very long.

Most varieties are candied closer to the end of autumn or even earlier - you need to be wary, rather, if this does not happen. If the honey is not candied, it contains artificial (and far from useful additives), or the product has been overheated altogether.

So, should good honey be candied? Yes - definitely. Next, you will learn why this happens, after what time and how to melt candied honey without losing its beneficial properties.

Crystallization: process features

Crystallization is a natural process, but everyone treats it differently. Some people believe that only real honey is candied, others determine the freshness of nectar by consistency, others believe that a quality product cannot crystallize, especially quickly. We can say the following for sure - natural nectar should be candied. The question is how much time should elapse from the moment of collection.

How fast does honey harden? The following factors influence this process:

1. Nectar type.
2. Collection features.
3. Compliance with storage rules.

It is impossible to judge the quality of a product only by its consistency - sooner or later it always begins to sugar. Candied honey is no longer as shiny, uniform and elastic, but as useful as before, it has a composition identical to liquid nectar. Plus, it can be melted down.

Crystallization and quality

Do you think that if honey is candied, then it is of high quality, and if not, then it contains artificial additives (in other words, it is not a natural product)? This is both true and not, since the quality of the product should not be judged by the nature of crystallization alone. Natural honey contains:

• sucrose;
• glucose;
• fructose.

When glucose takes the form of crystals and begins to settle, the process of crystallization occurs. It always occurs in the direction from the bottom up - this is how the whole mass gradually solidifies. Honey candied quickly - what does this mean? It contains a lot of glucose - the lower its content, the slower the sugaring process occurs.

A fresh product can be candied in a glass jar a month after harvest, or maybe only a quarter later, that is, closer to autumn. The rate of crystallization does not indicate the quality of the product - the course of this process is influenced by the type of sugar, the time of collection of nectar and the correct storage conditions.

Why is nectar not candied?

Candied honey does not always occur. Honey in a glass jar has been standing for a long time, but still retains a liquid consistency? It means that:

1. It contains a large amount of water - 17% or more. Sometimes beekeepers deliberately dilute nectar with water, because they know that buyers like the liquid product more. Will he sugar or not in principle? Of course, it will just happen much more slowly.
2. There is little or no pollen in the product.
3. The nectar was collected ahead of time - it does not contain a number of substances that are responsible, among other things, for crystallization. Unripe honey may eventually not thicken, but ferment. Have you seen a foaming product? It was assembled earlier than necessary.
4. You constantly stir the nectar - regular stirring delays the crystallization process. This does not mean that it will never thicken - it just will not happen soon.
5. At low temperatures, the crystallization process stops. At the same time, it is better to melt crystallizing honey than to freeze it and thereby deprive it of a number of useful properties.

What kind of honey is never candied? One that contains syrups and other additives that melt the crystals.

Varieties with slow crystallization

Why honey is not candied, we found out. Separately, one should consider varieties that are distinguished by prolonged crystallization. These include:

• acacia nectar - it thickens for about two years. The reason is the high content of fructose and water;
• the linden variety most often takes on a pasty appearance, but does not become thick;
• chestnut honey will become thick only after six months or a year;
• the May variety contains a large amount of fructose and remains liquid for a very long time.

These types of nectar like to add to tea and other hot drinks. But keep in mind - if you put honey in boiling water (which many do), then it loses a number of useful properties.

Reasons for sugaring

Honey is candied as a result of the fact that glucose settles in the form of small crystals. The following factors influence this process:

1. The amount of water in the product - if there is a lot of it, the crystals appear slowly, and vice versa.
2. The presence of dextrin - if this artificial polysaccharide is added to the product, it will thicken slowly.
3. Air temperature - honey actively begins to be candied at an air temperature of about 15 degrees (when it is higher or lower, these processes occur, but more slowly).
4. The presence of pollen particles - they also affect the crystallization process (there is pollen in honey - crystals form faster).

These factors only affect the rate of crystallization - after a certain time, the product will thicken in any case. The problem is that once it's sugared, it's hard to use. What to do? You can always melt candied honey, which is difficult to pick out of a jar, only partially dissolves in tea, and is not suitable for making desserts or adding to cosmetic masks. Learn how to do it right below.

How to make honey liquid?

Some varieties of honey are candied 2-3 weeks after harvest - for example, sunflower or rapeseed. They become hard and hard to get out of the jar. Using candied honey is inconvenient. What to do? Melt. It just needs to be done right.

Simple ways to make solid honey liquid:

• take two pans - one large, the second not very much (needed for a water bath). Pour in large water and bring it to a boil, make a small fire. Dip a small saucepan into the water of a large saucepan, put a jar of honey in a small one. At the same time, small dishes should not reach the bottom of large dishes - place it on the handles on the sides. The water should be hot, but not boiling, so there is no need to make more fire. After a quarter of an hour, honey should already be melted;
• take one saucepan, fill it with water, bring it to a boil and put the jar of sweet treat directly into the hot water. Previously, it is better to put a metal stand on the bottom of the dish;
• put the jar of honey in the microwave and heat it slowly. This method is the easiest and fastest, but using it, you risk depriving the product of its most valuable qualities.

Now you know how to make candied solid honey liquid. The main thing is not to overheat it - at temperatures above 50 degrees, all valuable substances are destroyed, and simple sugars turn into caramel.

How to make honey liquid in a maximum of half an hour? The main thing is not to take a large jar - the nectar that needs to be melted should be heated in a microwave or in a water bath in a small container. Wait until the crystals dissolve in a three-liter jar, you will be a long time.

Moreover, there is no point in this - now a large volume will melt, but after a month or two the product will again become thick or solid. Heat exactly the volume that you plan to use in the very near future.

Video: candied honey or crystallized honey.

Effective ways to slow down crystallization

Any nectar can be melted. But many people are interested in the question of how to slow down the crystallization process, so that later the product is not subjected to heat treatment.

So that the nectar does not thicken as long as possible:

1. Do not buy it for the future - if you take cans of three liters, you will constantly have to melt the product. Do you eat one liter at most per year? Do not take more - better next summer, buy a new jar.
2. Store the nectar in a dark place protected from the sun. Under the influence of sunlight, the structure of the product is destroyed.
3. The air temperature in the room should not be less than -10 and more than +5 degrees - otherwise the honey will quickly thicken.
4. Observe the humidity regime - the optimal indicators of air humidity are 60-80%.
5. The ideal dishes for liquid honey are wooden, earthenware, ceramic or enameled. In glass, the nectar thickens rather quickly. In principle, it is better not to store the product in a metal container - it will oxidize with the formation of compounds harmful to health. Glass jars must first be washed and dried well - only then it will be possible to pour nectar into them. Be sure to close the jars tightly.

You can store the product in the refrigerator - you just need to monitor compliance with the temperature regime. Lightly candied nectar can be quickly melted to the desired consistency and stored in a place whose conditions comply with current requirements.

Perhaps there are not many people who do not like honey. Preparing for the winter, we try to get a sweet treat, which is also a very healthy product. And there are always many questions. Should the product be thick or liquid, and in general, To understand the issue, let's look at the topic in more detail.

Should honey be sugared or not?

Opening honey in winter, we are sincerely upset when we find that it has become candied. By the same principle, we acquire sweetness, believing that the liquid product is better, fresher and healthier. Many even in winter prefer to buy exactly the honey that retains a liquid consistency. But this is fundamentally the wrong approach. A similar mistake in reasoning is made by many due to inexperience, not knowing the answer to the logical question, why is honey sugared?

Crystallization of a product is a completely natural process that occurs in natural substances. It is he who is the best characteristic of quality. Why does honey sugar quickly? It is worth knowing that even in apiaries, with long-term storage of honey in combs, the process of crystallization begins. This is very good, because it is in such a product that all useful substances are stored.

How fast does honey sugar? A good quality product should change its consistency by the beginning of winter. At first it becomes a little cloudy, and then an upper sediment forms, which gradually turns into crystals. After sugaring, honey first becomes hard and then soft. All this speaks of the naturalness of such a product.

Different varieties of honey outwardly look completely different after thickening. Some of them resemble butter, while others become like grains of sugar. No matter how the crystals look, any honey should be sugared. If you buy sweetness in winter or late autumn, then you should focus on its consistency. By this time the honey should show signs of sugaring.

Why do some varieties take a long time to sugar?

Why do you think honey does not sugar for a long time? Monosaccharides inside the sweet product are its main value. Their ratio is quite large. It is for this reason that honey begins to sugar over time. And yet there are varieties that remain liquid for a very long time without changing the original structure.

It is worth highlighting a number of reasons why the product does not thicken:

1. Monosaccharides are a combination of grape and fruit sugar. When the second type of sugar predominates in the product, honey loses its ability to crystallize.
2. To obtain precious nectar, some unscrupulous beekeepers feed bees with sugar syrup, which leads to a poor quality product. It is commonly referred to as a surrogate. It stays liquid for a long time.
3. Honey after heat treatment loses not only all its beneficial properties, but also the possibility of crystallization. Overheated product sometimes acquires a dark tint.
4. In addition, honey cannot be candied with a high water content. This situation is possible with improper storage of the product. If the technology is broken, then the nectar begins to absorb moisture, which leads to the loss of certain properties.
5. Frequent stirring of the product can also interfere with the crystallization process. Sellers use this technique to make their product look more attractive for a long time.
6. Natural honey, diluted with sugar syrup, becomes liquid and does not thicken further.

liquid varieties

Why does honey sugar so slowly? In nature, there are liquid varieties of honey. The rate of crystallization depends on the variety of nectar, that is, on the type of plant from which the pollen was collected. In any case, each product variety has a mixed composition with a predominance of one species. It is on this that the rate of crystallization of honey depends.

Some species are extremely slowly candied, but it cannot be said that they do not crystallize. Such a statement would be incorrect. All varieties thicken and candied, but do so at different rates. Lime, May, acacia, chestnut and Greek species are distinguished by slow processes. Such varieties remain liquid for a long time, without losing a beautiful shade.

Reasons for crystallization

To answer the question why fresh honey is sugared, you need to understand what processes take place inside it. All saturated solutions, which include bee nectar, cannot maintain a uniform structure for a long time. An excess of one or another substance, according to the laws of physics, tends to turn into a precipitate. Honey contains a large amount of glucose, which is quite poorly soluble in liquid. It is because of it that white flakes appear - crystals. The ratio of fructose and glucose levels affects the rate of crystallization. With a large amount of fructose, the product will remain liquid for a long time.

The speed of processes is influenced by storage temperature, air humidity, degree of maturity, processing before packaging. The optimum crystallization temperature is 15 degrees. Below four degrees and above twenty-seven, processes are suspended until better times.

The most popular varieties of sweet nectar

One of the most popular types of honey is lime. It belongs to the fine-grained white varieties. Such nectar retains its consistency for a long time - almost three months. Linden honey can be viscous or moderately viscous. The rate of thickening of the product depends on this to a greater extent. After crystallization, linden honey becomes like porridge.

There are no large crystals. After a certain period of time, you can notice the stratification of nectar into two parts. The top layer will have a more liquid consistency, and the bottom layer will be thicker. But with all this, linden honey will never become hard. That is his specialty.

May honey is no less popular. Sometimes it is also called flower. The time of its crystallization largely depends on the plants from which the bees collected pollen. By the way, May nectar is always a quickly candied product. So, for example, blueberry flower honey thickens within three weeks. And nectar from sage - within a month.

Is it true that nectar is sugared in grains?

Why is honey sugared in grains? Because glucose collects around the particles, forming crystals. And the process always starts from the bottom. After all, it is there that heavy particles of impurities or pollen fall. But gradually the crystallization process covers the entire product.

Does honey have to thicken or not?

Honey should definitely thicken. Regardless of the conditions under which it is stored and all other factors, a natural product must crystallize sooner or later. The process of thickening can occur even a week after collection, or maybe after a few years. It should be noted that after three years of storage, only artificial honey can remain liquid. This is proof of its unnatural origin.

Everyone, probably, faced such a situation when a fresh product immediately thickened. Why does fresh honey sugar quickly? Sometimes nectar literally immediately turns into a sugar clot. However, there is no need to worry about this. Early ripening types of honey may well crystallize quickly. In addition, the following factors affect the thickening process, which we mentioned earlier:

1. The presence of mechanical impurities and pollen.
2. High glucose content.
3. Adding old honey.

All these factors are not something terrible and do not give reason to consider the product bad. It is much worse when honey does not thicken, which indicates its unnatural origin.

To form a crystal structure, honey needs a fulcrum. It becomes particles of pollen or other substances that fall during the pumping of nectar.

Experienced beekeepers who know many of the secrets of the product give some advice on how to keep the original look of honey. Initially, it must be kept for about five weeks at zero temperature. And after the jar can be sent for storage to a place whose temperature does not exceed 14 degrees.

When should honey thicken?

Many consumers are interested in why honey thickens, but does not sugar? And how fast should it crystallize? It is difficult to give exact answers to these questions, because they simply do not exist. It all depends on many factors that affect the processes of thickening - the type of nectar, its purity, pumping and storage conditions. Varieties that candied the fastest include sunflower, rapeseed and buckwheat honey. They begin to crystallize just a few weeks after pumping.

Linden, sweet clover and buckwheat nectar also quickly thickens. Heather, honeydew, chestnut honey crystallizes more slowly. Such varieties may not be candied throughout the winter. The record holder in this matter is the acacia product, which retains its structure for up to several years. This is the reason why he is so popular.

How to return honey to its original state?

Some people do not really like candied honey, preferring to use viscous nectar. If the consistency of the product is important to you, then it can be returned. This is done by heating. This method is actively used by nectar traders in the markets. To keep the presentation of honey for a long time, it is heated. However, excessive overheating leads to the loss of all useful properties. In addition, honey acquires a characteristic brown hue. An overheated product forever loses its ability to be sugared, and there is no longer any benefit from it.

How to make nectar liquid?

In order for the nectar to become liquid again, it must be heated in a water bath. To do this, we need two pans of different sizes. It is necessary to pour water into a large one and send it to the fire. After boiling the liquid, it is worth reducing the intensity of the gas to a minimum. We lower a smaller pan into a large container, after putting a towel on the bottom, and put a jar of honey in it. The water should be very hot, but not boiling. Within fifteen minutes, the honey will again become liquid. But it is worth remembering that at temperatures above +40 degrees nectar loses its properties.

The second way to liquefy honey is a bit easier. We lower the jar of nectar into a pot of hot water. After a while, it will become more rare. You can also heat the product in the microwave. This method is the easiest and fastest, but also the most dangerous, since you will not be able to control the temperature.

Experts do not recommend heating all the honey that you have. If you really want liquid nectar, make a small portion so as not to spoil the whole mass. Moreover, in the future, the product will thicken again anyway.

Instead of an afterword

Honey is a wonderful natural product that should always be in the house. But buying sweet nectar always comes with a lot of questions. We hope that in our article you have found answers to them, which will be useful to you in the future. And now the acquisition of nectar for you will become an easier task. After all, now you know why fresh honey is sugared, which means you should not be afraid of it.

The crystallization process of honey is amazing. And how quickly does a natural product thicken and after what time? Do you want to know which honey does not crystallize longer than others, and which one does it faster than others? Right now in our article, read the answers to these and other questions.

Natural sweet gold contains a mixture of sugars: glucose, sucrose, fructose. Crystallization of honey occurs when glucose settles in the mass in the form of crystals - hence the name of the process. People usually just say "thickened" or sugared. A fresh, recently harvested product can thicken quickly because its glucose content is at a high level.

And vice versa, the smaller it is, the longer the mass will be liquid. A varietal product, like a liquid one, settles over time, that is, it crystallizes. Sunflower, buckwheat, mustard, sweet clover, chestnut and dandelion bee nectar crystallize most quickly.

Of course, certain proportions of sugars depend on the variety of the product, the habitat of the bees, the plants they pollinated, and even weather conditions. For example, on air humidity, and this parameter is also important for the moment of pumping out. The damper the air, the more liquid the mass will be.

The most liquid varieties are clover, acacia, May (from different honey plants). The thickest are heather, coniferous, wild bee. In its pure form, it is extremely rare to find them on sale, and their cost is very high. The average crystallization time of a typical product is from one to two months when stored in a closed container.

Should a natural product turn into crystals?

Crystallization of honey is a natural process. Much more suspicious if the product, declared as natural, does not want to thicken at all. This is an undoubted confirmation that honey was diluted, and very strongly. Also, a similar consistency indicates the immaturity of the mass.

However, if storage is carried out at an even temperature and the container is properly closed, the mass may not be sugared for years. Many are interested in why it crystallizes at all, and if there is a catch here. The answer is simple: since it contains fructose, it must be sugared.

How quickly the process occurs depends on the storage temperature, variety and quality. Also, if the product is moved from a cool room to a warm place and left there, it will thicken after a short period of time.

How long does it take for a product to undergo this process?

Depending on the variety, the process can take place both very quickly and slowly, up to a year or more. For example, natural buckwheat almost always becomes thick within a month after harvest. Approximate candied time may slightly prolong storage in a cool place.

If you store the product incorrectly (this applies to all varieties), do not expect it to remain liquid. Good honey should be well stored, and then the question "why did it freeze so quickly?" will not occur.

Linden natural, for example, crystallizes after a couple of months at room temperature. The same time is spent on the thickening of flower honey, which is also called herbal honey. And the wild product - stone, collected in mountain crevices or deep in the forest, by its nature should be very thick and sugar almost immediately. Do not think that you bought a fake if the product became thick immediately after purchase. Look for information in different sources, watch a video on how the liquid is sugared correctly.

Which species does not lend itself to crystallization?

The natural mass made by bees from the nectar of fireweed and willow-herb may not crystallize for years. When this happens, don't worry. If you are selling the product mainly for sale, and not for yourself, tell the buyers the truth. This will only improve the quality of the product in their eyes.

Dispel the myth that any bee product, no matter what variety it is, must harden and form crystals. Fireweed honey, stored in a dark pantry at an even temperature, can be liquid for a year, or two, or more.

Video "Professional about the crystallization of honey"

A certification authority specialist talks about what sugaring is and why it happens.

Honey is a tasty, healthy natural product. Fresh honey is in a liquid syrupy state. Over time, even following the basic recommendations for storage, it begins to sugar. The process proceeds due to the chemical composition of the product. Fully crystallized honey remains tasty and healthy.

Prevention of honey crystallization

Natural honey is subject to the process of crystallization. To slow it down, you can perform the following manipulations:

• Heat up;
• Filter (pass the syrup through a sieve system);
• Comply with storage conditions.

Any natural product is not able to be stored in a homogeneous state for a long time. Sugars start the process of crystal formation. To prevent rapid sugaring of nectar, it is important to pump it out in a timely manner and store it properly. In a liquid state, it will be stored for a month or longer, depending on the honey plants.

Reasons for crystallization

The composition of natural honey includes various sugars:

• Fructose;
• Sucrose;
• Glucose.

Crystallization is a natural process in which the physical state of a substance changes from syrupy to more solid, while retaining all the valuable and useful properties.

Interesting. Crystallization occurs when monosaccharides begin to settle on the bottom and walls of the vessel. People say that honey candied or thickened.

There are several types of consistency, based on the size of the crystals:

• Fine-grained - crystals up to 0.5 mm in size can be distinguished;
• Coarse-grained - the size of the crystals is from 0.5 mm and above, they differ well;
• Creamy consistency - honey of a homogeneous mass, the crystals are almost invisible.

Reasons why honey crystallizes:

• Influence of honey plants (floristic composition). Depending on the floristic composition, honey is distinguished by organoleptic characteristics: color, taste, smell;

On a note! Different varieties will have their own candied speed. For example, nectar from dandelion flowers begins to settle after 3-7 days. Product from herbs - after 2-3 months.

• The temperature at which the product is stored. If stored at a temperature of +14 to + 27 degrees, then the nectar will almost not thicken. At a temperature of +4 and below, it begins to thicken, the processes of molecular diffusion slow down, crystallization begins;
• Physical influence (mixing, rest). If you mix honey, then the intergrown crystals will disintegrate, while their number will increase, which will speed up the thickening process;
• The proportion of water in the composition. Water content affects the degree of crystallization. If the nectar contains 16% water and more than 30% glucose, then the product undergoes strong crystallization, becomes like a “stone”, retaining its beneficial properties for many years;
• Influence of crystallization centers. After the formation of the first crystals - "primary" on the bottom and walls of the vessel, new ones begin to attach to them, forming new structures;
• Additional processing before packing. In the presence of impurities (protein, pollen grains, mineral salts), the sugaring process is accelerated;

Reasons for crystallization

• Air humidity. When stored in a humid place, the crystallization process slows down, as the nectar absorbs moisture, which prevents the formation of crystals;
• degree of maturity. Distinguish between unripe and mature honey. If it is collected before the cell is closed, then it is considered immature, it has not completed all the necessary processes that make the nectar mature;
• The ratio of sugars. Glucose tastes sweet and crystallizes easily. Fructose is sweeter than glucose and does not undergo the sugaring process. If the percentage of glucose does not exceed 30%, then honey will hardly crystallize.

Crystallization time

Each variety differs in external, taste characteristics and crystallization rate. Some varieties are more susceptible to this process due to the chemical composition of the product, which is affected by honey plants.

How quickly natural honey crystallizes, varieties:

• Nectar, which was collected only from the flowers of Ivan-tea and white locust, can be stored in a liquid state for years and not undergo a crystallization process;
• Buckwheat - always candied after 4-5 weeks. If stored in a cool place, it may reduce the rate of sugaring;
• Lime - is considered one of the most useful, elite honey. In the liquid state, the color is white, a greenish tint may be present. Remains liquid up to 2-3 months. It will thicken for several more months;
• Flower varieties crystallize almost immediately (1-2 weeks). Nectar within a month can become solid, completely consisting of crystals.

Important! With improper storage of any variety, the timing of honey crystallization changes: the process of thickening and the formation of grains begins to go faster.

Does natural honey crystallize?

Natural nectar, due to its chemical composition, begins to “candied” over time. If it remains liquid for a long period of time, without the formation of sediment, then most likely the product is not natural, it contains additives. The reasons why the bee product does not crystallize:

• Wrong technology for collecting nectar. Inexperienced beekeepers sometimes begin to pump out honey that has not undergone all the basic reactions that are characteristic of mature honey. The finished product of the bees is packed with wax caps, such nectar is ready for assembly. The immature bee product is characterized by a high moisture content, which prevents crystallization. After a few months, honey begins to ferment, quickly deteriorates;
• Non-observance of storage conditions. Nectar is a hygroscopic product, it can absorb moisture, therefore, when stored in warm rooms with high humidity, it does not crystallize, it begins to deteriorate;
• Diluted or not natural nectar. Counterfeits are often found on the shelves in stores. Manufacturers add dyes, flavors, sugar syrup, starch or flour to make the product thick and viscous, like honey;
• Overheated honey. Sometimes, in order to keep the nectar in a liquid state longer, it is heated. If you do not follow the heating technology, the product overheats and loses all its useful properties at the chemical level.

On a note. Does real honey crystallize? Most often, natural nectar is subject to the natural process of sugaring. If the product causes you doubts and does not crystallize for a long time, then it can be checked for naturalness. It is necessary to take a teaspoon of candied bee nectar, mix with a teaspoon of liquid to a homogeneous consistency and pour it into a jar with the composition to be checked. If the product is natural, of high quality, then in a couple of weeks the crystallization process will begin.

Does natural honey crystallize?

Why honey crystallizes quickly

Fresh nectar can be candied for several reasons:

• Percentage of water. The bee product has a low water content. The less moisture, the faster crystals begin to form;
• Increased glucose content. If the nectar contains more than 30% of this sugar, then it begins to quickly harden with the formation of small grains;
• The air temperature in the room where the product is stored has a direct impact on physical and chemical processes. At a temperature of 15 degrees, an active process of sugaring honey begins;
• No dextrin. Artificial polysaccharide, which is added to the nectar, helps to keep the product in liquid form, prevents the formation of crystals. If the crystallization process is active, then this indicates the absence of an artificial polysaccharide;
• presence of pollen particles. If there is pollen in the syrupy nectar, the crystals form faster.

On a note! The reasons for sugaring a natural product are different. Most often they do not affect utility. Solid honey can be stored for several years.

Which honey does not crystallize

When purchasing honey, you want to be sure of the quality of the product. It is useful to know which type of honey does not crystallize and why:

• Natural nectar collected from certain flowers may not be candied for a long time. If it is made from fireweed (ivan tea), linden, acacia, then it is stored in a syrupy state for years. Therefore, if the beekeeper is selling this variety, it is recommended to inform the buyers so that they do not have doubts about the naturalness of the product.
• If honey is sold on store shelves, then this product is also most often not candied, since it contains almost no natural sugars (glucose, fructose).

Honey that does not crystallize for a long time can be checked for naturalness at home. It is worth stirring a spoonful of honey in a mug of warm tea. Wait 30 minutes. If sediment has formed at the bottom, then there are impurities in the product. The second way is to check with iodine. A teaspoon of nectar must be dissolved in water and a drop of iodine added there. If the solution turns blue, then it contains flour or starch.

Crystallization of honey is a natural process that almost all types of natural products undergo. At the same time, valuable qualities are preserved. The question: whether natural honey should crystallize cannot be answered unambiguously. Most often, nectar is subject to sugaring. If a product purchased in a store is in doubt, then it can be checked for naturalness at home. You can independently influence the acceleration or deceleration of the process, but it is worth remembering that with intervention, especially when heating honey, you can lose the beneficial properties of a tasty product.