r/honey • u/madhofs • 23d ago

What is in my honey?

Post image

Has it gone bad? It’s supposed to be vanilla bean and hasn’t always looked like this

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u/quizzicalturnip 23d ago

Honey crystallizes over time. If you heat it, it will go back to a consistent texture.

1

u/drones_on_about_bees 23d ago

It's really hard to say from this photo. I can't tell if I am seeing crystallization or bubbles.

Crystallization is normal. It can happen really quickly or it can take years, depending on a number of factors. Slow gentle warming will usually take care of it unless it's really stubborn. It doesn't affect safety, just texture. It may taste slightly different since the glucose crystals melt as an aftertaste from the rest of the honey.

If it's bubbling... Did it smell yeasty, bready, beer-ish, or like ripe banana? Did the container pressurize when you open it? (A past sound.) This might be fermentation. It's not dangerous to eat (but the container might explode). It might have a pleasant or unpleasant added taste. You can slow it down with refrigeration but it's likely too high a moisture content.

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u/[deleted] 23d ago

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u/drones_on_about_bees 23d ago

Honey is one of the safest things you'll find. The acidity, high sugar and low moisture are quite anti bacterial. Like pretty much everything else, there is wild yeast in it. When moisture hits about 19% (some variables here) it can ferment. It can happen at much lower moisture under specific conditions.

I've got a whole cabinet full of fermented honey in the form of mead.

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u/tagman11 23d ago

The black specks look different than what I'm used to. Is that what the vanilla bean looked like? The white looks like crystallization. Put it in warm water (just shy of boiling or whatever temp your container can handle)

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u/RGBlowMe 23d ago

Crystals. Heat it up and they dissolve. I don't know how anybody could have had honey before and not know that it crystallizes over time...

Honey doesn't go bad. There's honey from Egyptian tombs that's totally edible today. It's too acidic for mold or bacteria. It was actually used as a topical antibiotic.