I have a vacuum sealer that will seal jars and was wondering if freezing honey would prevent granulation and also possible fermentation of some thin honey that I extracted from too much uncapped comb. Also, will freezing affect taste?

-- Don (hihilldon@yahoo.com), August 19, 2001

Answers

it wont stop granulation,, as to the fermentation,, you would have to have gotten yeast into it for it to ferment. Why not just feed that back to the bees,, and extract some when its ready?

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), August 19, 2001.

Pasteurization will stop the granulation and may stop the fermentation as well.

-- Skip in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), August 19, 2001.

Putting honey in a cool place speeds up granulation. That is how we make creamed honey...we put a starter in it and then put it in a cool place to hurry up the process. If you take the frame and hold it flat and give it a brisk shake the nectar will fly out and what is left is the right consistancy to extract. I've never been sucessful stopping the fermentation (which is naturally caused by too much moisture content in the honey) but, have made some super mead (honey wine) and honey vinegar with the fermented honey. :) tang

-- tang (tang@mtaonline.net), August 19, 2001.

Honey granulates best at 57 degrees. So, cool basements are the biggest cause of granulation. Cool temps, such as the fridge, also cause granulation -- however freezing honey will generally stop granulation. Heating will "ungranulate" and high temps can reduce granulation by reducing any small crystals in the honey (these crystals or other particals provide the seed for granulation to occur). Pasturization is not required to stop this process in all honeys -- depends on what the original nectar source was. Some honeys granulate faster than others (even on the comb, making extraction difficult. And, I have some over a year old, with no signs of granulation, which is still raw.

Note, the heat used in pasturization destroys many enzymes in the honey, while the ultra fine filtering done by commercial operations removes any traces of pollen. Between that and the blending done with imported honey, most store honey has no taste - might as well be sugar syrup.

For that "thin" honey - put in a bucket, in a small room with a dehumidifer for a week or so. That should remove enough moisture you are able to keep it properly. If your local club has a refractometer, you can use it to check to see if you have reduced the moisture content to at least below 20%, preferably down to around 18%.

-- K Oland (koland@yahoo.com), August 20, 2001.

I buy honey, 60 pounds at a time and I do freeze some. It never gets real sold but becomes milky, like whipped honey would. In fact, it was the bee keeper, years ago, that told me I could freeze honey.

I never noticed a different in taste, but then, I use it in baking and every morning with cider vinegar.

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), August 20, 2001.

Please don't do it. Freezing the honey will kill the enzymes!

The enzymes are the most important thing about honey. Do not freeze. Do not heat. Be healthy.

-- Rick#7 (rick7@postmark.net), August 20, 2001.