If you keep honey in your pantry, there's a high chance you've had some crystallize from time to time. It's commonly assumed that crystallized honey means it's no longer good, but that's not the case at all! Crystallization is natural and will occur after so many months of storage, especially during temperature change. Definitely don't throw your honey away when it happens because it's still delicious.
Crystallized honey can be eaten as is and makes a tasty spread on toast. But you might need honey in its liquid state for baking/cooking reasons. So we're going to talk about decrystallizing that honey!
By the way, I'm convinced that "decrystallize" isn't a real word, but I'm still going to use it. Also, it's fun to say.
How To Decrystallize Honey
Reviving crystallized honey is easy and involves the use of a small few things.
- 1.5-quart sauce pan
- Some water, roughly 2 cups
- Your stove
- A spoon
- A glass jar for the honey (unless your honey is already in a glass jar and you're looking to decrystallize what's left in the jar it came in).
If your honey is in a plastic bottle or tub, you'll have to move it into a glass jar.
Start by grabbing the amount of honey you want to decrystallize. I had about two cups of crystallized honey and took one cup of it to liquefy. I used a 16-ounce wide-mouth mason jar.
Fill the small sauce pan about halfway with water. You'll want enough water to cover a good portion of the honey, but it won't need to cover all of it. The heated water will still work its magic.
Bring the pot of water to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Carefully place the uncovered jar into the water and let it sit there until it reaches a liquid state! Stir it occasionally to help the process along.
The photo below shows how the honey started to look after five minutes in the water. You can see it's started to decrystallize.
This is after 10 minutes in the water. Liquefying, but still thick and crystal-like.
This is after 15 minutes. Kinda hard to notice differences between the photos at this point, but most of it is ready.
And finally, this is the 20 minute mark. When stirring, there wasn't a hint of thick, crystallized honey left.
It's worth noting, the timing depends on the amount of honey and temperature of the water, so this process could be done quicker or it could even take longer. Once it's ready, remove it from the heat and allow the honey to reach room temperature.
And now you've got some liquid honey again! Tightly seal it and keep it stored at room temperature. The honey should stay in its liquid form for a while. If it crystallizes again, you could technically repeat this process, though I'd be hesitant to do so. Heating and re-heating the same honey repeatedly could degrade the quality over time. If you need to decrystallize honey, go with a smaller amount so you'll know it will be used up within a couple of weeks.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you make a purchase through them. By purchasing through these links, you are helping support this site at no extra cost to you! I only recommend items and services I personally use and love.
More Kitchen Tips
Reader Interactions
Comments
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hi Marissa! Did you know that honey is one of the very few foods that never spoils (well twinkies might not either)...so many people think that when it crystallizes it should be tossed!
It's true! I love spreading crystallized honey on toast. So good! Also, I wouldn't be surprised if twinkies lasted for centuries. 🙂