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Author Topic: Creamed honey  (Read 4823 times)

Offline Beth Kirkley

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Creamed honey
« on: June 18, 2004, 12:30:36 am »
Has anyone ever made creamed honey? I read up on the process, and I think I may have made some by accident.

Last Febuary we harvested a couple frames of honey. We had it sitting aside in a sealed box in the kitchen before actually extracting it. I think I remember seeing some slight crystalization, but not sure if I'm remembering right. Anyway, we had sold a quart jar of honey to some friends the day we extracted it - on my daughter's birthday. (It was a fun aspect of the birthday party - showing the friends how the honey comes out of the comb.)
Well about a week or less later, these friends said the honey thickened up. I thought they meant it got some crystalization on the edges. They said - no, it turned THICK. I was confused as to why, and secretly thought they must have left the lid off and it got hard. I told them - just heat it up in the microwave, or better in a pot of water, and it'll get smooth again.

WELL.... I just got to see the honey tonight! Hadn't bothered to ask to see it before cause I thought it was just crystalized. It's creamed though! It looks like smooth butter. I actually feel bad about it, even though I know the honey is good, and actually creamed honey tends to get a higher price tag. I offered to give them a new jar, and they're fine with this one.

Is it possible I made creamed honey on accident? It was Febuary when we took the frames. And not all of it was capped. And I know the frames had sat for a day or two, but I thought we had it in the kitchen.

Beth

Offline Finman

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Re: Creamed honey
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2004, 01:34:50 am »
Quote from: Beth Kirkley
Has anyone ever made creamed honey?


Quote from: Beth Kirkley
Has anyone ever made creamed honey?


I have made it 35 years. In Finland it is sold mainly as creamed.

The honey is mixture of dextrose and fructose. Dextrose will crystallise and fructose is always as liquid.  It depends on the plant  specie, how much dextrose it has, does it crystallise or not. Turnip rape honey is eager to crystallise. Pure honey of  fireweed will not crystallise   http://www.ab.ru/~slava/flora/images/f11430_200.jpg


When you wave or mix the honey when crystals begin to rise, crystals will break down and they will be little crystals and many. If they grow in peace, they will be like sand and few, and they grow together like concrete.

It need to be under 20 C storeroom temperature that process starts. If store temperature is about 14 C, crystallisation process is quick and honey will be very fine. When crystallisation is in the half, you must warm up the honey and can it. After that honey must be in 10-15 C that process goes to the end.

During crystallisation honey you must be mix or wind it that crystals will break down.

If rooms temperature is over 25C, crystals begin to melt back.

In Finland people do not like liquid honey, because it escapes  from spoon to the table.

When you want to start crystallisation, you must mix there 10 % older fine crystallised honey. So process is quick, a couple of days in the temperature 14-17C. The most quick process is at the temperature 17C.

It is easy to make it in the cold room.

Offline Beth Kirkley

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Creamed honey
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2004, 02:20:55 am »
Thank you Finman for such an informative post. I wish I had a picture to show of this stuff, but it does look just like creamed honey. The thing is, could I have made it on accident? It seems to me that it takes a careful process to get it right.
I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter, but I'm actually embarrassed about the honey. It looks like face cream. :) It's not what people here are used to. Atleast not in this area of the US.
If I had been trying to make creamed honey, I probably couldn't have done better. But that wasn't my plan.

Beth

Offline Archie

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creamed honey
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2004, 05:45:19 am »
good morning Beth,

I make a lot of creamed honey.  I buy a small jar of creamed honey from the super market and use it as a starter.  I mix my honey with the starter in a large mixer for about 20 minutes and then bottle it and let it set in a cool place for a couple of weeks.  

Sometimes I mix some cinnamon to taste.  This is GREAT on toast or english muffins.

Archie
Honey, Vermont sunshine in a bottle.

Offline Robo

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Creamed honey
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2004, 09:53:59 am »
Creamed Honey is crystalized honey.  

Creamed Honey just has much smaller crystals as to not give a gritty feel.  Unless you seeded it with small crystals, or ground some crystalized honey to use as seed,  my bet is you just have crystalized honey.


If it is creamed honey, which I highly doubt, when you put it on your tongue, you should not be able to feel any grit.

My bet is they stored it in too cool of a place and it crystalized.

Many folks prefer crystalized honey, including myself. It is much easier to add to tea or coffee than liquid honey.  It is quite natural for pure honey to crystalize,  use it to your advantage by letting your customer know.  They feel better knowing they are getting pure honey.
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work." - Thomas Edison



Offline Beth Kirkley

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Creamed honey
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2004, 10:42:02 am »
We don't have creamed honey in the stores here Archie, but the cinnamon in it does sound good. I also saw on the net other flavors, such as rasberry. I wonder how it would sell around here? I might look more into this jar of honey from my friends, see if it could make a good starter, and use local blackberries mixed in (we have tons of blackberries in our yard).

Robo - I agree, it seems very unlikely that it would be creamed. Crystalized would be possible, and probably the correct labeling of it. I used some in my coffee last night and it scooped out just as smooth as a heavy mayonaise. I didn't try any on my tougue, so I'll have to try that. If it's smooth, I'm definately going to trade them a jar of honey for a small amount of this to use as a starter.

Beth

 

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