Make Creamed Honey

By: Ed Simon

This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2017 issue of BEEKeeping Your First Three Years

You have finished with your extraction and the honey is sitting in your basement waiting to be sold. While it is sitting there it is turning into a semi-solid which requires liquefying before it can be bottled. Here is a product that is easy to make that will help you sell some of that honey.

It’s called Creamed or Whipped Honey.

Creamed Honey is a smooth-tex­tured, creamy, crystallized honey product that spreads with the con­sistency of butter. During manufac­ture, the crystallization process is controlled so the honey crystals are extremely small. This results in an easily spreadable product that will not flow until it warms up.

First a primer on super-saturated liquids.

Definition: Supersaturation is a measure of the deviation of a dissolved sugar crystal from its equi­librium state.

In every day terms, it is a solution that contains more of the dissolved material than could be dissolved by a solvent under normal circumstances.

Small particles called seeds can start the separation of the dissolved material from the solvent. In a solid form these seeds lead to the forma­tion of crystals. The newly formed crystals tend to mimic the shape and size of the seed crystals.

See Wikipedia at http://en.wiki­pedia.org/wiki/Supersaturation for a more complete discussion.

What we actually have is a basic definition of HONEY as a solution of supersaturated sugars in a solution.

SO LET’S MAKE SOME CREAMED HONEY!

Here is a list of the equipment and supplies that can be used to make your creamed honey.

• Honey Non-crystallized Starter culture (Whipped or Creamed)

• Pails
Mixing, with honey gate

• Containers
Jars + lids and tubs

• Supplies
Labels
Shrink wrap
Flavoring (optional)

• Mixing equipment
Spatula, whisk, heavy duty stirrer, electric mixer

Step 1: Honey Preparation

First go to the grocery store and buy a pound or two of commercial creamed honey. You will use this as a comparison to your naturally crystallized honey and eventually as a starter culture for your creamed honey.

Since you already have crystal­lized honey in the basement, why not use it directly? The problem is that it is not smooth. To test this out, place a small sampling of the crystals on your tongue and then run your tongue against the roof of your mouth. Most of the time, the crystals that you feel on the roof of your mouth are like pieces of sand. This is too rough for sale. The crys­tals must be smaller so the creamed honey feels smooth. Compare this to the commercial creamed honey you just bought.

To replace these large crystals you must first eliminate all of them. This is accomplished by heating your honey until all the old crystals are dissolved. Just because you cannot see them, it doesn’t mean that they are not there. Therefore you need to heat the honey for a long time (a week) at 110° or a short time at 140°. Then let the honey cool to 80-85° .

Step 2: Starter Culture

To crystallize honey it is recom­mended that at least 10-20 percent of the initial solution consist of the starter solution (by weight). Don’t worry about the cost of the starter. It will be returned when you repackage it as part of your product. The higher percentage of starter the quicker the creamed honey will set up.

Step 3: Mixing

Mixing two pounds of the com­mercial creamed honey into ten to fifteen pounds of honey is not easy. The lumps just keep avoiding your mixing device. To solve this problem start small. Mix the two pounds into a small portion of honey. Once this is thoroughly mixed, add more honey. Eventually you can pour the thoroughly mixed starter into the remaining container of honey, again making sure it is thoroughly mixed. For ease of use, the final container should have a honey gate that will allow filling jars or tubs. If you are using a pail with a honey gate be sure to get the mixture into the gate area.

Warning: Do not add the starter culture to your honey when it is hot or it will liquefy.

Step 4: Wait

Now comes the hardest part – WAITING – for the mixture to set up. Place your mixture in a cool area where it will not be disturbed and wait. The temperature range that seems to work best for a quick setup is 55 to 58 degrees. I have had the honey set up at 65 degrees, it just took longer.

Step 5: Mixing

Keep an eye on the mixture. First the air that was introduced into the mixture will rise and form bubbles on the surface. Then the mixture will start thickening. Now is the time to skim the bubbles off the surface and remix the solution. This time, you need to be careful to introduce as little air into the mixture as possible. A very sturdy spoon or mixing paddle is needed to stir this thick mixture.

Step 6: Wait Again

Now wait until the mixture par­tially sets. It should be thick, but not so thick that it won’t flow. It has to be able to be dispensed into your final containers.

Step 7: Bottle It

Package your creamed honey. Be careful not to get any honey on the lids. Remember it will still move around since it has not completely set up yet. When finished, set the containers back in your cool area and wait again.

Step 8: Label

Once the creamed honey has set up enough so it won’t move around in the container you can label it and get it ready for distribution.

Here are some additional notes that will be of help to you.

If you are flavoring your creamed honey, add the flavoring during the first mixing. That way it will be evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

For a cinnamon flavor add dry cinnamon powder to the mix­ture at a rate of 1/8 tsp per 10 pounds of honey. It makes a great creamed honey for toast or En­glish muffins. Be sure to remove the excess cinnamon that floats to the top when you remove the bubbles.

• When bottling, you will eventual­ly get to a point where there may be bubbles or foam getting into the jar. This does not look good for sale. But there is nothing wrong with this honey. Set it aside for your own use.

• Make a little extra creamed honey and store it in a bulk container. Use this honey for the starter culture when you make creamed honey again. Be sure you test it for fineness before using it. The more starter culture you use the faster the solution will set up.

• As a test, pour a little of the initial mixture into a small container. Then add some flavoring. This way, if it doesn’t pass the taste test, you have only lost a little honey.

Conclusion

Creamed honey will keep in its creamed form as long as it is not heated. Do not leave it in your car during the Summer or it will turn back into a liquid.