Why orange blossom honey crystallises

It’s the question we get most about the one thing in the catalogue that isn’t fruit: the jar has
been in the cupboard for two months, you open it and the honey is solid, grainy and
paler. The usual reaction is to think sugar has been added or that it has gone off.

Neither. Crystallisation is a natural process and, if anything, it’s a sign that the honey
is real. Here’s what’s happening inside the jar.

What crystallising is

Honey is essentially a supersaturated solution of sugars: there’s more sugar dissolved in it than
the little water it contains can hold in solution. It’s an unstable balance by definition.

Over time, some of the glucose separates from the water and forms solid crystals,
which grow and draw in more glucose. The honey goes from liquid to thick and from thick to solid, and
turns paler because the crystals reflect the light.

Nothing else changes. Not the flavour, not the properties, not the amount of
sugar. It’s the same honey in a different form.

It’s a reversible process, in fact: it can be made liquid again with gentle heat and it will
crystallise again later, as many times as needed. What’s in the jar is exactly the same in both
states.

Why some honeys crystallise sooner than others

It all depends on the ratio between the two main sugars.

That ratio is decided by the flower it came from, not by the packer. Which is why acacia honey can
spend a year liquid and rapeseed honey solidifies in weeks.

The particular case of orange blossom

Orange blossom honey sits in the middle: it usually starts to crystallise between three and
six months, and it does so with a fine grain and a creamy rather than gritty texture. As it’s
harvested in April, a jar bought in summer will normally start to thicken as autumn comes in.

In other words: if it arrives liquid in August and is solid by December, everything is going
exactly as it should. And if the jar you opened last year took longer, that’s fine too: every harvest
has its own exact balance of sugars and no two seasons are identical.

The one that never crystallises is the suspicious one

This is the point worth holding on to, because it runs against intuition.

Honey can stay liquid indefinitely for three reasons, and none of them is good:

• It has been pasteurised. Heating it above 70 degrees dissolves the microcrystals
  that act as seeds, and without seeds crystallisation takes far longer. In exchange, enzymes and aromas
  are degraded.
• It has been microfiltered. Filtering under pressure removes the particles of
  pollen and wax that also act as nuclei. The honey comes out transparent and with no trace of its
  origin.
• It has been adulterated. Mixed with sugar syrups, which don’t crystallise the
  same way.

How to turn it liquid again

You can, and it’s reversible as often as you need. There’s only one rule: gentle
heat.

A bain-marie, which is the right way

A pan of hot water — below 40 degrees, so you can put a finger in without burning
it — and the jar inside, lid off or loose. Stir now and then and in fifteen or twenty minutes it’s
liquid again.

The radiator, if you’re in no hurry

Leaving the jar near a gentle heat source for a few hours works just as well and needs no watching.

What not to do

• The microwave. It heats unevenly and within seconds there are areas above 60
  degrees. It’s the fastest way to turn good honey into syrup.
• Boiling water. Above 40 or 45 degrees the enzymes and volatile aromas start to
  break down, which is exactly what tells orange blossom honey apart from sweet syrup.
• Doing it every week. Each heating cycle takes something off. If you’ll use it over
  months, only liquefy the part you need.

Or don’t melt it: use it as it is

Before heating anything, it’s worth asking whether you need to. Crystallised honey has practical
advantages that liquid honey doesn’t.

It spreads and doesn’t run

On toast, on bread and butter or on fresh cheese, solid honey stays where you put it instead of
running off the edges onto the plate. It’s why creamed honeys are sold exactly like
that: they’re honeys crystallised on purpose.

It measures better

A teaspoon of solid honey is a teaspoon. A teaspoon of liquid honey ends up being twice that by the
time it reaches the yoghurt.

And you can make it creamy at home

If the grain has come out coarse and gritty, there’s a trick: stir the jar with a spoon every day
for a week, or beat it once at low speed. Breaking the large crystals forms much finer ones and the
texture ends up like a spread. Nothing is added.

In baking, it makes no difference

For a dough or a sauce it doesn’t matter at all which state it’s in: it’s going to dissolve anyway.
It only matters in raw uses.

How to slow it down

It can’t be prevented, but it can be delayed:

• Between 18 and 25 degrees. That’s the range where it goes slowest. Curiously, the
  point where it crystallises fastest is around 14 degrees.
• Never in the fridge. The commonest mistake: cold speeds it up.
• Jar tightly closed. Honey absorbs moisture from the air and that encourages
  crystals, as well as potentially fermenting it.
• Out of direct light. A cupboard, not the worktop by the window.
• A dry spoon. A wet teaspoon puts water in the jar, and water is exactly what you
  don’t want.

What is a problem

Honey going solid is normal. These three things aren’t.

Foam and bubbles

If foam appears on the surface, it smells of alcohol or vinegar and the jar looks about to overflow,
the honey is fermenting. That happens when it has too much moisture, either because
it was harvested early or because the jar has been badly closed somewhere damp.

Separation into two layers

A solid, pale layer at the bottom and a liquid, darker one on top is uneven crystallisation. It
isn’t dangerous, but it usually indicates excess moisture. Liquefying and stirring sorts it out.

An odd smell or taste

Properly kept honey doesn’t go off: edible jars have been found in tombs thousands of years old. If
it tastes fermented or burnt, something happened earlier.

Orange blossom honey, and why there’s only one chance a year

It comes from the orange blossom, which lasts three or four weeks in April. It’s
the only window in which the bees can make it, and it’s the same blossom that will give the following
winter’s oranges.

It’s sold all year because, kept properly, it lasts years without losing anything. It’s the only
product in our catalogue that doesn’t depend on the month you order it, and
it’s also what keeps the lemon company when
there are no oranges in summer.

Our jar is one kilo, raw and unpasteurised, so it
will crystallise. When it does, you know what it means.