[Sca-cooks] honey

[Alec Story]

Crystallization probably has more to do with the nectar source.  I have a
large jar of raw honey from NJ that's almost solid it's so crystallized.

On Thu, Apr 28, 2016 at 10:25 PM, Audrey Bergeron-Morin <
audreybmorin at gmail.com> wrote:

> Also, the (pasteurized) honey that I buy from a local farm doesn't
> crystallize (or it takes a really, really long time), while whatever brand
> I buy from the grocery store always seems to crystallize really quickly.
>
> Audrey
>
> On 28 April 2016 at 10:55, Galefridus Peregrinus <galefridus at optimum.net>
> wrote:
>
> > Yeah, as Bear says, it's pretty much the pasteurization issue. One of the
> > things the confection recipes in al-Warraq call for is heated and skimmed
> > honey. If you use grocery store generic honey, the foam you skim will be
> > yellow-tan with caramel flavor undertones. You'll also have to heat it
> > hotter to cause the foam to rise. Raw unfiltered honey produces white
> foam
> > starting at a lower temperature and produces a lot more foam besides.
> >
> > -- Galefridus
> >
> > > Message: 2
> > > Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2016 13:33:15 -0500
> > > From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
> > > To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> > > Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] honey
> > > Message-ID: <EFBCCE5F0F964025AD52AA10D26EC042 at Vishnu>
> > > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="utf-8";
> > >    reply-type=original
> > >
> > > The difference could be pasteurization.  Commercial honey is often
> > > pasteurized to reduce moisture content and reduce potential
> fermentation
> > > (bacteria doesn't live in honey, but some yeasts do)  It also slows
> > > crystallization.  And commercial honey often has the impurities
> removed.
> > > Raw honey, as from the farm, tends to have a higher moisture content
> and
> > > some impurities even after cleaning.
> > >
> > > Bear
> > >
> > >
> > > Galefridus commented:
> > > <<< Inexpensive
> > > grocery store honey is OK for initial practice, but the higher quality
> > > honey behaves differently and results in a more delicate flavor. >>>
> > >
> > > Ok, I can believe that the generic grocery story honey has a different
> > > flavor, but what do you mean it behaves differently?
> > >
> > > I think that common grocery store honey is honey that comes from bees
> > > feeding on unknown plants or at a variety of plants that the beekeepers
> > > couldn?t really track. Usually clover honey here in Texas.
> > >
> > > Suey, here in the U.S., the food laws and the food labeling laws are
> > fairly
> > > strict, although with a few loopholes. But diluting the honey down or
> > adding
> > > sugar water to it would likely bring the authorities down on anyone
> doing
> > > that. Does your country not have similar laws?
> > >
> > > As others have mentioned, buying from natural food stores might be an
> > > alternative. You can also get specialized honey by mail or on the web.
> I
> > > know some of our local brewers have banded together from time to time
> and
> > > bought drums (30 gallon? 55 gallon?) to get something other than the
> > generic
> > > (here, clover honey) at better prices.
> > >
> > > At one time there was a merchant at Pennsic and Gulf Wars who sold a
> > large
> > > variety of different honeys. Not cheap. :-) But when he went out of
> > business
> > > I bought a lot of small jars of a wide variety of different honeys.
> > > Unfortunately, as a diabetic, I can?t indulge in these as I might like,
> > and
> > > still have most of these. Somewhere.
> > >
> > > Stefan
> > > --------
> > > THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
> > >   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas
> StefanliRous at gmail.com
> > > http://www.linkedin.com/in/marksharris
> > > **** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org
> ****
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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-- 
Alec Story