Product Care and Guidance
These are some of our tips and tricks on what to watch out for and how to get the most out of your Hewers Honey.
Shelf Life and Storage
Best Before not Use By:
It is a legal requirement for us to mark our products with a best before date, however any honey with moisture content of 18% or less shouldn't technically spoil. It is not a use-by date - so you do not need to throw out any Hewers Honey that has passed the marked date. Honey that has passed its marked date may display less enzyme activity when analysed and may begin to lose its flavour but it shouldn't "go off".
Heather Honey is unique in its nature and it may begin to exhibit fermentation, often identified by an odour that is different from normal and a slight "tanginess" to it's taste, like what you might expect from a cider. There shouldn't be any change in the safety of consuming the product, it may however not be to your taste. We recommend trying to use up any fermented honey in cooking, its great for caramelised fruit or sweetening baking.
Storage:
To ensure that your Hewers Honey remains as good as possible for the maximum amount of time, do not refrigerate it. Honey will not spoil if left un-refrigerated, so simply keep it in a warm dry cupboard. Refrigeration will only accelerate the crystallisation process and make your honey less spreadable and harder to handle.
Good Honey In't Runny
(forever)
Crystallisation:
Firstly, don't panic! If you start to notice your honey turning cloudy, or white/off-white crystals forming (usually starting at the bottom of the jar). This is the natural crystallisation process occurring and is a sign of a high quality honey.
As we don't subject our honey to harsh or excessive filtering, tiny pollen grains are left suspended in the liquid honey. These pollen grains offer sugar crystals a surface to begin forming around, which will slowly cause the liquid honey to "set".
Creamed Honey:
An exception to the above rule is creamed honey, which has been crystallised in a controlled and deliberate fashion. Creamed honey exploits the crystallisation process while combining it with a mechanical mixing process to make the sugar crystals that form as small as possible, this allows the honey to be left for much longer while remaining spreadable and easy to work with. Creamed honey can be melted using the methods below, but it may subsequently re-crystallise at a faster rate and will not return to its original, creamed state.
Re-Liquefying Your Honey:
To reverse the crystallisation process, all you need to do is gently heat the honey to 40-45℃, but ideally no more than 55℃. The easiest way to do this is to stand the jar(s) in a pan of warm water. You can boil the water on the stove and remove it from the heat, or boil the kettle and then fill the pan - make sure to leave enough room for the water to rise when the jar is added. Alternatively, simply place the jar atop a radiator while your heating is on (though this could take some time).
Though we discourage it, if you're in a real hurry, simply remove the cap from the jar and microwave on medium power (600w) for 30 seconds. Remove and give it a stir - repeat a second time if the honey hasn't fully liquefied. This can denature the natural enzymes in your honey, so we suggest using this only as a last resort.