Canning honey?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Dina

Executive Chef
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
2,685
Location
Mission, Texas
My dad just gave us a large jar of honey he bought in Mexico. It's been canned for a few months in a plastic jar without a sealed cap. It looks quite dark. :ermm: Wonder if it be okay to eat it or cook with it, or should I discard it?
 
It will be fine. Honey is the one and only food that does not go bad. They have even found some honey in ancient tombs in Egypt that were thousands of years old. They were still fine to eat.
 
So, along the same lines, what do you do with honey that has crystalized? For some reason "nuking" it comes to mind....
 
Yep nuking works. Heating it in simmering water works too. Once it cools it will re-crystalize, but you can just heat it up again as many times as you need.
 
Perfect. Thank you. Not that it matters in this house since my dogs get some of it every other day in efforts to curb allergies next year!!!! No chance for my honey to crystalize!!!
 
The color will depend on the source of the honey (where the bees collected the nectar) and age. I've had some that was a very pale amber and some that was as dark as Maple syrup.

Dina said:
It's been canned for a few months in a plastic jar without a sealed cap.

I assume you mean the jar has a solid lid but doesn't have a "tamper proof safety seal" under the lid like we find on everything here in the US? If so - it should be just fine.

The Sue Bee Honey website FAQ page has some information you might find interesting.

Crystalied honey can be melted in a microvace, or in a pan of simmering water like GB said.
 
Last edited:
Another reason why the honey in question is still good, is that honey is naturally antibiotic. Back in ancient time, people would drizzle a little honey on a wound, and it would not become infected.
 
We have a great honey shop in London with a huge variety of honeys. Its amazing how diverse the flavours and colours even over a relatively small area can be. Honey also makes the most amazing face mask, BTW. Brilliant for all types of skin....oily and spotty or dry and sensitive...you end up with soft and dewy skin, I use it a lot, my skin need all the help it can get.
 
That's a very informative site, Michael...thanks for the link.

We have friends in Mississippi who have a home that is sort of built into a hill. The garage is on the lower level, with a deck that opens from the living room above it.
A swarm of bees found an opening in the ceiling tiles of the garage, and built a hive there, between the ceiling and the floor up above. They have big yard full of flowers, and several acres with assorted fruit trees, so the bees really had it made.
Ruth has horrific allergies to all kinds of things, though, including bee stings, so her husband waited until winter time, when the bees were hibernating, and went in with a shop vac and sucked the bees out. (I tried to get him to call the farm extension service and see if some local beekeeper wanted them, but he didn't want to mess with it. :(
Anyway, after the bees were gone, they collected the honey, strained it out through pantyhose, and put it in canning jars, labeled "Wildflower Honey".
It was heavenly, with hints of roses, lilies and appleblossoms.
 

Attachments

  • ced6.jpg
    ced6.jpg
    43.2 KB · Views: 302
Canning Honey

:angel: Hi , I am trying to find out how to can honey in Quart jars, any ideas on method and timing for altitude of 7000 ft? Thanks, Becki51
 
Too bad "he didn't want to deal with it" since we have a serious shortage of bees and they are vital to our farming industry. He could have called a beekeeper and had someone else do it for him.
 
No need to really 'can' per se, Becki. Strain impurities, pour into whatever you plan on holding the product in and cover and put away. Honey does NOT go bad.

I would, however, suggest you start with sterilized containers.

Ciao,
 
Thanks for the info. As i have over 5 gallon to "putup" this will make it easier for a very "sticky":cool: Job. Becki51
 
Back
Top Bottom