The Malteser bucket is empty. That's what we make and keep the crème honey in. Well, almost all of the jars of non-creamed honey are gone now... and from the last few pots, my partner confiscated some for herself. She wants MORE crème honey. She wants it and I can do the stirring. heh heh But why make crème honey? Well, the simple answer is that it keeps better and longer. You know, if you do nothing to natural honey, it will eventually begin to solidify because the sugar crystal process begins. What makes this crystallized honey so un-attractive is that the sugar crystals are large and begin sending out "dendrites" which connect and bind the crystals tightly. Crème honey has crystals also, but because of the frequent stirring, the dendrites are kept broken and then the seed honey (which necessarily has small crystals) is spread throughout and the honey "copies" the crystals of the seed honey and after time, you end up with an entire pot of honey that has crystallized and is soft enough to easily use. The process is simple enough, but according to Hoyle, stirring must be done once or twice a day, every day until the honey has creamed. This can take between two and three weeks. I do it by hand, so this is why we do not do this for the honey that we pass on to others. to be truthful, no one has ever asked for it, although many folks find it interesting to hear it is made. The first step is to have a bit of "seed" honey to begin the process with. It works like seeding yoghurt, if you have ever made that for yourself. Here. we left the correct amount of seed honey in the bottom of the Malteser bucket, and then just poured in three pots into the bucket on top of the seed honey. You can see on this first foto a pot of our crème honey standing over to the right. The honey really is easier to use, just look at the following series of foto's and see how thick it is. It clings to the knife so easily. See how when some honey drips of the knifeblade that it piles up on the top of the honey in the jar. Here I have been stirring for awhile. It is beginning to mix well, however, you can still see striations of seed honey that has not yet been properly mixed. So then, I shall have to repeat this stirring process every day for the foreseeable future until the bucket's contents are thoroughly mixed and it all looks like what is in the jar. It is raining here today and so I have time to do some postings. I realize that I have touched on this subject before, but this time I am so chuffed that it goes the way it should and without a lot of math and measurements. We sort of have a feel for it now, as we have made several buckets of the stuff over the summer. Addendum: The big-timer honey dudes who deal with kilo's and kilo's of honey, use electrical drills, mounted over the bucket and then fit with special types of beater bits that one can buy from the beekeeping store. I have way too small an operation to do that. I also do not take all that much honey from the bees.
Wow, your creme honey looks better than ours! We haven't made any from the spring flow--it is still very liquid and golden, so we aren't worried about it crystalizing soon. If it starts, I'll be making some. Our method (crude, I admit) is to put the starter and the honey in our blender and pulse twice a day. It just sits there on the counter getting creamier and creamier until it is ready.
Thanks for your reaction to the posting MG. I see what you mean about the way you make your crème honey. You keep it covered don't you? Otherwise it will absorb lots of moisture if there is any in the air. You know that honey is "dry" 18-20% water. That means that it will take up moisture from most anything...like a sponge.
Sjoerd, we keep the lid on the blender and only lift it to test the consistency of the creamed honey (and sneak a taste, I admit ). We always have lots of moisture in the air--82% humidity today!
Ahem .... Sjeord sorry for being so ignorant but what exactly is seed honey? I love both the clear and the cream honey but, as you say, the creamed stuff lasts so much longer. I really like the creamed honey on warm toast.
TONI--I don't know for sure because the commercial honey has has so much filtered out of it-- pollen, crystallization kernels and other things. Well, if it is possible, then it is essential that you have a good seed honey. MG--hee,hee,hee....I know exactly how that goes. Sneaking a taste is one of the bonuses of stirring the honey with a wooden spoon handle. EILEEN--Seed honey is the little bit of creamed honey that is used to begin the process. You know, like making yoghurt--you use a bit of already made yoghurt as a seed to add to the milk in order to get the process going.
I have no idea there is crème honey until the kind young sales lady in the honey shop in Wellington New Zealand explained it to me. At first I thought that Manuka Honey which I had been eating for years is special because it is thick and creamy. Today I learn how to make it, thanks to you Sjoerd.
Yeah DONNA--I think that you'd like it. You're welcome, EILEEN-- Thank you, CHERYL. Glad you liked the posting, KK.
how would one go about making creme honey from scratch if they don't have at least a little bit of creme honey already *I have honestly NEVER heard of this, but i'm fascinated and interested, it looks delicious and beneficial from your original post!*
Right Shaw. What you do is to wait until your honey begins crystallizing on the bottom of the jar. When it is about the thickness of a pink (little finger) you then begin the stirring process. Just stir it for 5 minutes or so, The idea is to get the sugar crystals thoroughly and evenly mixed throughout the entire jar. You just repeat this for 2-3 weeks and Bob's yer uncle! It would be interesting for you if you could buy some honey directly from a local beekeeper there where you live. I used clover honey that had been creamed, perhaps a beekeeper near you could help you with some non-commercial honey or even some non-commercial crème honey. Why not google for some local beekeeper organizations there. Let me know how you go with this, should you decide to try it. Oké?
I'll have to look up someone local, had i known this I would have bought some from the pumpkin patch i went to this weekend. Hmmm seems interesting for certain, thanks for explaining the process I'll also let you know if I get the chance to do it
