Why stratified honey? Why honey quickly candied? How to return it to its former state
Often bought honey varies in color, it becomes unpleasant to the taste and even forms a foam. Such signs indicate that honey is “fermented”. Fermented honey is unfit for further consumption. What can be done if fermentation is in its initial stage? In this case, the substance can be reanimated by heating. Use unprocessed honey is absolutely impossible!
Causes of honey fermentation
- yeast fungi;
- immaturity;
- non-compliance with temperature storage.
If there is at least a small part of the yeast in the product, the probability that the liquid may ferment is very high. Why?
If impurities are added to the product, a fungus can enter it. Careless sellers sometimes sin in a similar way to increase the quantity of their goods.
How is the immaturity of honey determined? Nectar collected by bees can contain up to 70% moisture. The nectar brought to the hive is processed into honey and then folded into cells of honeycombs. In the next few days is the evaporation of moisture from the honey. In the finished product its content should not exceed 15–20%.
Then the bees begin to seal the honeycomb. This signals the beekeeper that the product has matured. If the beekeeper pumped out the honey, without waiting for the end of the ripening period, the product will go on sale clearly immature. In this substance, a high percentage of moisture, which can further provoke fermentation.
Non-compliance with the storage rules may also lead to fermentation of the substance. In a poorly closed container, located in a damp room, the product will definitely ferment.
Product Rescue Options
Is it possible to eat such honey? It is possible, but after appropriate processing, such a product will no longer have any useful properties. If the fermentation process is started, the bee product will only be disposed of. What to do to avoid such a finale? Can I use a recycled product?
The first step is to remove the foam from the honey.
You need to do the following: you first need to remove all the foam from the soured product, then you should put it to warm up on water bath, on moderate heat for about 40 minutes. Thus, you can stop the spread of further fermentation.
There is no such syrup. Why? Such a substance is a little like the initial product and can become a provocateur for heartburn, bloating. With this syrup, you can make homemade cakes. Can also be used for cosmetic masks.
Grandma's recipe from childhood
Pour into a bowl 100 g of warm honey, 200 g sour cream, half a teaspoon of soda, slaked with vinegar. Stir well. Add 2 cups of flour and break two eggs. Knead until smooth. You can add vanillin to smell. Pour the dough into a parchment-laid form and put it to bake, in an oven preheated to 180 ° C. Bake until golden brown (35–45 minutes). Put to cool in the oven.
Take out the cake and cut it in two cakes. Prepare sour cream. To do this, 200 g of sour cream, beat well with a glass of sugar. Spread cold cakes with cream, put together a cake and let it soak. Top can be poured glaze and decorate with berries. Enjoy your meal!
In conclusion, it remains to add: when buying honey, be sure to ask the seller for a quality certificate.
Store honey in a cool place in a hermetically sealed container. Try to process the fermented product immediately, until the fermentation process has passed on to all the liquid. Before processing, remove all the foam from the product in order to preserve the remaining honey.
Eating such a product for food, even if it has been heat treated, is impossible! Use in baking or cosmetic purposes. Recycled honey no longer has beneficial properties and is strictly prohibited, it can cause stomach pain, heartburn and abdominal distention. Be healthy!
- from homemade honey?
The forums and chat rooms often feature the question "why fermented honey." The fermentation process is usually triggered by inappropriate storage conditions or early collection. Such a product becomes unusable.
But do not get upset, even fermented honey can be saved if it is subjected to heat treatment in time. Consider the causes of the fermentation of amber dessert and measures to save it.
Why honey wanders: causes
The fermentation of honey is caused by yeast contained in it. The souring process is characteristic of an immature product, which is also stored in inappropriate conditions - at high temperature or high humidity of the room.
Can mature honey ferment? With improper storage even the most quality product can sour. The process is irreversible for sealed varieties, if they are kept in high humidity conditions. After fermenting, they will begin to bubble, and their cells burst.
Early collection and increased humidity
What does the term “immature product” mean, and how does fermentation begin? The nectar collected by bees from plants includes about 60% moisture. Returning to the hive, they process it, turning it into honey, and then putting it into honeycombs. For several days we are working on the evaporation of moisture from it. The finished product contains from 14 to 20% of water, and this figure is considered the norm. The final stage is cell sealing. The frame, sealed at 1/3, means that the product is mature. Thus, mature honey is when the product goes through the whole process of transformation from nectar to honey, and the amount of water in it ranges from 14-21%.
An immature product goes on sale in cases when beekeepers pump it out without waiting for the moisture to evaporate. The volume of water in this product is more than 21%. This is how fermented honey is formed.
Common causes of fermentation - premature collection or improper storage.
2-3 months after harvesting, the honey begins to crystallize, slowly modifying into a thick, homogeneous mass. At the same time, it can stratify. There are several reasons for this:
- A mature product with a moisture content of 19-21% can form a small liquid on its surface, 1-2 cm thick. This is due to the ratio of glucose and fructose in it. This process is not terrible and does not threaten with fermentation. The taste and smell of amber dessert remain original, and the consistency is homogeneous.
- Unripe honey with moisture that exceeds the permissible rate (above 21%) will release more and more fluids every day. Having settled on its surface, it will soon become covered with foam, spoil the taste and make the consistency loose and heterogeneous. The presence of excess moisture and explains why honey fermented.
Improper storage
Attention! Even the most natural product can ferment, if not provide him with appropriate storage conditions.
A common mistake is an open or not tightly closed container. Being in such a container, honey absorbs all the moisture from the environment, is filled with excess water and begins to ferment. It can also sour:
- at high temperature - from +20 0 С;
- when exposed to direct sunlight;
- when stored in a metal container;
- when kept in places with high humidity.
Attention! Often the process of fermentation is subjected to a fake product, which is mixed with water, sugar syrup or lower quality varieties. Fermented honey is not allowed.
It's all about the structure
The quality of honey depends on its structure. Candied product with a high moisture content sours much faster than liquid, freshly pumped. This is explained by the fact that during the crystallization of glucose an intercrystalline liquid is formed with an excess water content. It appears due to the fact that glucose crystals simply cannot bind all the water present in honey. Therefore, along with the crystal layer, another one appears - liquid, in which fructose prevails.
The excess moisture contained in the product provokes fermentation.
As a result, glucose settles to the bottom, and fructose (intercrystalline liquid) floats to the surface, creating favorable conditions for the development of yeast bacteria.
Measures to save the fermented product
What to do if honey is fermented? To save such a product is possible, only it will be completely devoid of all its useful properties. And if time does not take action, it will become completely unfit for consumption.
Sour amber dessert must be subjected to heat treatment. First remove the top layer so that fermentation does not spread to the whole mass. After that, warm the honey in a water bath at a temperature of 60 0 C for 30-60 minutes. These actions are designed to at least slightly extend its shelf life.
Fermented product should be heated in a water bath.
Attention! The resulting honey syrup can be put in pastries and creams. To use it in its pure form is not recommended - it will cause heartburn, bloating and discomfort in the stomach.
We hope that with our help you will be able to determine why honey fermented, and take timely measures to save it.
Are you one of those millions of women who are struggling with being overweight?
And all your attempts to lose weight did not succeed?
And have you already thought about radical measures? It is understandable, because a slim figure is an indicator of health and a reason for pride. In addition, it is at least the longevity of man. And the fact that a person losing “extra pounds” looks younger is an axiom that does not require proof.
Hello!
I have morning now, and you? Starting the morning with honey is pleasant and good for health.
The wife is now on vacation, baked a whole plate of pancakes. I do not know about you, but I love pancakes with honey.
I especially like to add not homogeneous, but that honey that has already exfoliated.
Friends laugh that I love candied, and in this there is nothing like that.
Think of poor quality or improper storage?
Nothing of the kind, any honey sooner or later exfoliates. Why this happens, I will tell in this article.
1) during storage in some honey varieties already crystallized, a transparent or dark liquid may appear on the surface (the taste is the same honey, not sour, without signs of fermentation, such liquid may be 1-2 cm). This is due to the amount of moisture contained in honey (the rate of moisture in honey is up to 21%):
- if the amount of moisture does not exceed 14-19%, honey practically does not give such detachments (such honey is conventionally called “dry”), the crystallization of such honey is dense, solid
- if the amount of moisture is 19-21%, then more liquid honey may appear on the surface, with prolonged storage, its amount may increase, crystallization of such honey is soft
- it is important that the process of detachment and the specified amount of moisture in both cases does not affect either the quality or the beneficial properties of honey. Such honey in both cases can be stored for a long time without losing quality. This honey can be eaten.
2) honey of different varieties is added to the tank where honey is stored.
In this case, often, one kind of honey exfoliates from the other.
3) stratification of adulterated honey is different from the above cases. NOT natural honeybought in a liquid state, it begins to delaminate almost immediately after purchase, within a week.
In this case, the layers are usually non-uniform.
4) when stored in immature honey (honey that was pumped out without allowing it to ripen in the hive, it has more moisture than 21%), liquid may appear on the surface. The taste quickly becomes sour. In the honey there are signs of fermentation. Such a liquid may be half or more of the entire mass of honey.
This is due to an overabundance of moisture contained in honey. Such honey is initially considered to be of poor quality. Fermented honey cannot be eaten, and it is simply not tasty, sour.
4) when honey is stored in a tightly closed package in a room with high air humidity, a liquid may appear on the honey surface - an overmoistened layer in which the fermentation process can begin.
What caused the bundle?
Why stratified honey?
This is due to the property of honey as hygroscopicity, i.e. the ability of honey to absorb moisture from the surrounding space. To prevent this, store honey in tight-fitting packaging.
Very often, with the arrival of spring and especially the beginning of summer, one can observe such a picture: last year’s “sat down” honey begins to split into two phases: from above it becomes dark and liquid, and light and “candied” from below. Let's see why this is happening and whether it should be alarming when buying honey.
Often, people mistakenly assume that if the honey is stratified, it means that it was pumped immature and there was a lot of moisture in it, which began to rise to the top. I myself thought so before.
In fact, the signs of immaturity of honey are completely different, if the honey did not have time to ripen when it was pumped, and it began to deteriorate, you can immediately see it by the way honey begins to foam and bubble strongly (do not confuse with individual air bubbles that enter the jar when packing honey with a fluid consistency), it has a sharp unpleasant smell and the lid swells like sour yogurt.
The delamination of natural mature honey can be explained by objective scientific knowledge. Any honey consists of glucose and fructose, which have different physical properties.
Thus, glucose is prone to rapid crystallization, whereas fructose does not crystallize at all. And even if outwardly honey seems to us a homogeneous oily consistency, this impression is deceptive. In fact, fructose molecules are located around glucose molecules, which creates a kind of uniform consistency of honey.
It is interesting that in each honey its ratio of glucose and fructose. When this ratio is close to unity, such honey quickly "sits down" and is not prone to subsequent stratification.
Usually, “dried” lime honey retains its shape for a long time, and if a liquid layer forms at the top, then in very small amounts. But buckwheat honey is prone to delamination, because it contains far more fructose than glucose.
If you store the "dried" honey for a long time in a warm room, above 24-27 grams, then the fructose starts to float upwards, forming a dark liquid fraction, and the more fructose in honey, the more tangible this separation will be.
Lighter glucose remains below. Here is another answer to another question, why buckwheat honey is very dark when it is liquid and becomes lighter in the process of crystallization.
Watch a video about honey for beauty:
Therefore, if you see last year’s exfoliated honey on the shelf of a honey store in spring or summer, especially buckwheat honey, do not be alarmed, this is just a sign of honey's naturalness and only the result of its storage in a warm room, although the type of honey is not commercial.
Now we already know that honey with a high content of fructose has a tendency to stratify. Whether honey will stratify, it depends on the storage temperature and storage time.
Attention!
With long-term storage of honey, fructose molecules that are in a liquid state rise up, forming a layer of liquid honey. Glucose is in a crystallized state and remains at the bottom, making up a second solid or pasty layer.
Fructose differs from glucose not only in color, but also in taste - its taste is sweeter. The higher the storage temperature of honey, the faster the honey will split. Such a bundle - a sign of natural honey. To avoid stratification, honey must be stored at a temperature below 15 ° C.
Another reason honey is exfoliated is moisture (the water content in honey). If honey has a moisture content of more than 21% honey, the honey is stratified and begins to ferment. It is possible to distinguish fermentation from simple stratification by swelling of a jar of honey and the constant formation of foam on the surface of the honey, as well as a sour taste.
In this case, the beekeeper hurried with the pumping and pumped out the honey with a high water content.
And the third case of stratification is the mixing of two different types of honey. If two varieties of honey, which have a different color and differ in terms of collection, are mixed, then such honey will also separate.
The situation is familiar to some honey lovers, when in a jar bee honey is liquid from above and candied at the bottom (that is, crystallized, or sat down). One of the possible reasons for this condition, but not the only one, is the heating of honey, in which not all the crystals dissolved and which then simply settled to the bottom. But this is not the only reason, so it is not necessary to unequivocally say that honey was heated.
At least, it is not necessary to say that honey has overheated. If it is melted, it does not mean that it is overheated. At observance of admissible temperature, there is nothing terrible in melting honey.
When the natural honey was melted, but they did not wait for the complete dissolution of the crystals and a separation of honey was obtained. Here is a photo of honey (for clarity, the jar is highlighted by a lamp), which was underexposed:
I’m wrong with this, I repeat, there’s nothing. In America, half a century ago, honey was heated during packaging, for sale in stores. The question is only in compliance with the technology, because you need to melt the honey correctly.
If such a situation manifests itself massively - for example, on a store shelf all the banks with honey (of a particular manufacturer) are such, then it is highly likely that the honey was heated before being packed but did not withstand the technology - and the honey was not completely melted.
source: kakmed.ru
Unripe honey
Why honey is stratified?
The following reason for stratification is also possible, when honey on top is liquid — it is the immaturity of honey. When honey is pumped out of the framework, which is not fully sealed.
But here again there are nuances. What does the immaturity of honey mean? Honey is considered as such if its water content is more than 20%.
According to GOST honey, by the way, the mass fraction of water should not exceed twenty percent.
It is also believed that immature honey is fermented, that is, sour. But it can be that in one container (in particular, in a three-liter jar) there will be honey with a humidity of 15-17% and 19-20%. It is impossible to call it immature, since honey passes GOST by the mass fraction of water. In addition, there are no signs of fermentation (honey did not begin to bubble and push the lid).
How can this be? During the pumping of honey into the total capacity (flask or tub) there is honey with not fully sealed frames. It is thinner than honey in sealed cells and therefore floats to the top. When packing in three-liter jars such honey goes first. As a result, in a glass jar is honey with different humidity.
Such cases are observed by beekeepers, when from ten cans spilled from one flask in one or two then stratification is observed. As a rule, it is in the banks that were poured first - honey was thinner there, that is, with a high water content (but quite acceptable).
I think beekeepers would agree with me, as this is not uncommon. You can, of course, remove such honey in a separate container and then use it as a feed for the bees, or don’t pump out the honey at all from such a framework, or don’t put such honey for sale, but eat it yourself. Will this honey be unripe? There is no definite answer. If fermented, it means immature. If you do not ferment, then everything is in order.
In the case when the beekeeper pours honey from different batches, a separation is also observed. For example, honey was poured over the banks and one was filled in half, but the second half was supplemented in a week from the other pumped out batch. But this is rather an exceptional case.
What to do if honey exfoliated?
Perhaps there are other reasons for stratification, when the honey is liquid from above and sugared below (discussed by beekeepers at beeforums): mixing different types of honey, loosely closed containers, high humidity of the room, the presence of padovyh elements, ingress of fresh nectar into honey (when the frame is “Allowed” to pump), storage in the sun, very long storage (several years), high temperature drops and others.
Therefore, each single case of honey stratification should be considered individually.
Acquired liquid honey may, after a short period of time, form a thicker fraction, which settles to the bottom, and more liquid in consistency, on the contrary, rises to the surface. There is no trace of crystallization.
In this case, most likely, they sold you an immature beekeeping product. It is almost impossible to determine the degree of its humidity, on which its maturity depends, at home. It depends on it the possibility and conditions of ripening nectar: it could provide the appropriate temperature regime and withstand a certain period until the natural evaporation of excess moisture.
However, if you notice a stratification of liquid honey, then soon you will have to expect other unpleasant evidence of an immature product: foaming and subsequent fermentation. It is better to use it exclusively for the preparation of the intoxicating drink.
Regrading
Honey exfoliated, what does it mean?
Liquid honey of different pumping times, even if it is the same variety, for example, acacia, can be divided into different layers when mixed in one dish: the denser will go down and the light will stay on top. Especially, when different varieties were mixed in the same jar.
This is due to differences in the chemical composition of the same product: Pumped out at different times under different weather conditions, and, especially, from different nectariferous plants, it will have a different specific weight.
Of course, quality standards do not allow such re-grading. However, if there are no traces of fermentation, and later the process of crystallization begins in the bank, then it can be used: it has retained all its beneficial features.
Honey is a unique product with a number of positive properties. It is eaten in pure form, adding to various drinks and dishes. Amber product is used in many recipes for body care products at home. AT traditional medicine It is one of the most effective drugs used alone and in combination with other products. Properly selected honey has high quality, a large list of useful properties and a long shelf life. But there are several reasons why honey is roaming.
Does honey roam
The very idea that honey can ferment seems unnatural. Beekeepers and lovers of this sweetness know that the product can be preserved for years and not lose its taste and useful properties. Moreover, during the excavation of the tombs of the pharaohs, they still find tightly closed vessels with honey, quite suitable for human consumption.
To the question “Can honey ferment”, experienced beekeepers will confidently answer: “Yes”. Let us consider in more detail the reasons for the fermentation of this product:
Honey fermented: what to do?
Fermented honey is definitely a change not only in taste, but also in chemical qualities. Benefits for the body, it will not bring, and if you eat it a little, you may experience swelling, heartburn, and other problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
If honey is spoiled from top to bottom, then it cannot be saved, and it is better to get rid of it. If fermentation is only at the initial stage, then it can still be partially used, but not in therapeutic purposes, since the beneficial properties are practically zero.
To prevent damage to the entire product, it is necessary to carefully assemble the top layer, the rest is heated in a water bath for 30 minutes at a temperature of about 100 °. After this treatment, the product no longer possesses. healing propertiesand most of the vitamins have collapsed. But it can still be used to prepare baked goods and drinks, and when added to the marinade for baked meat, the dish will have a golden crisp.
If your honey has increased in volume, a froth has formed on the upper part, as if honey has been whipped with a mixer, an unpleasant smell has appeared - all these are true signs of honey fermentation.
Why fermented honey ?:
- High humidity of honey, i.e. the beekeeper was collected immature honey
- In the honey hit perga. In the composition of perga there is a natural yeast, which can cause the fermentation process, which is used by lovers of mead. But there is one thing - honey should not ferment with normal humidity.
- Low-quality nectar (late padevy or heather honey), which is poorly stored, got into honey.
- Incorrect storage conditions. Honey is hygroscopic, i.e. very well absorbs moisture from the environment. If you close it loosely and store it in a damp room, there is a high probability that it will ferment.
- The dishes were not sufficiently dried.
5%, with this, according to GOST, the maximum moisture content of honey is allowed at 21%. Usually our honey does not exceed 18%.
Why the humidity is so high - it is not clear, this last batch was pumped out already when the stores (additional floors) were removed from the hives, when the bees practically cease to carry nectar, and must have time to process all the honey, i.e. it cannot be immature. It cannot be excluded that the bees purposefully did not process the honey - this is quite possible due to the vagaries of nature.
The end of summer in central Russia is usually capricious - it rains and cold, then the sun came out and reminded that it was summer outside. And in these sunny days, the beekeeper is in a hurry to remove the framework with honey from the hive, because autumn and winter are ahead, you need to remove extra honey, reduce the hive so that the bees do not have to “heat” a large room. And at this time, and the bees, seeing the rays of the sun, after sitting in beehives on cloudy days, with a friendly crowd fly into the forest or on the meadows to collect more honey for the winter. And it turns out that the framework may be freshly collected nectar, which the bees have not had time to process. And he, with a high degree of probability, can cause fermentation.
There is a possibility that a part of the dead one has got into the honey, we will try to hand over the honey to check the honeydew to the laboratory. Maybe then it will clear up. In general, bees are not recommended to leave the honey in the winter, because The bee's digestive system is not very well treated, the bee can be emptied, from which the humidity in the hive rises in winter, the temperature drops, and during mass emptying, the bee family can die during wintering.
Frames with perga pumped separately, getting the so-called "Composition Polyanka" - honey with a high content of bee bread (some of our customers specifically order it, but are warned in advance that it is stored poorly). Therefore, the perga as the cause of fermentation of these 2 flasks is also excluded.
What to do with fermented honey?
Most of the honey can be saved from fermentation. To do this, remove the top foam "cap", preferably removing a couple of millimeters of a layer of normal honey. Since honey is dense, it pushes water into the upper layer, so the remaining honey will be thicker with normal humidity. It is better to transfer it to storage in a cooler room.You can eat foamy “cap”, but due to the fermentation process that has begun, unpleasant sensations are possible, it is better not to do this. If the fermentation process is already long enough - the formation of acetic acid is possible (of course in small quantities), which is also undesirable for digestive system. We recommend to look at and put the fermented "cap" in a peaceful direction.
And be sure to contact the beekeeper who sold you this honey. Often the beekeeper simply does not know that he sold you such honey, because it tasted and structured at the time of the sale was normal, but it takes some time to ferment. A beekeeper who values his reputation will surely offer you to exchange honey for another, or return your money.