# #Ask Honey become hard but elastic without boiling



## Elv (Jul 30, 2020)

Hi Beekepers! how to dry honey until it is hard enough. is it possible to lower the mouisture to the lowest percent?


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## Akademee (Apr 5, 2020)

That can get complicated since you have to put in additives to keep the honey granular. You can initially dehydrate it while not exceeding 105 degrees F which takes a long time. If you manage to do that, the fructose in the honey is incredibly hygroscopic and will literally pull enough moisture out of the air to reliquify it. Adding lots of Maltodextrin prevents that from happening, but now you have that in your nice honey. You can try freeze drying it as well, but you will run into the same issues.


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## Elv (Jul 30, 2020)

Akademee said:


> That can get complicated since you have to put in additives to keep the honey granular. You can initially dehydrate it while not exceeding 105 degrees F which takes a long time. If you manage to do that, the fructose in the honey is incredibly hygroscopic and will literally pull enough moisture out of the air to reliquify it. Adding lots of Maltodextrin prevents that from happening, but now you have that in your nice honey. You can try freeze drying it as well, but you will run into the same issues.


I understand now and that's makes sense, thank you so much for valuable info
I've mixed it with maltose/malt sugar, and put it in a small pan that is boiled in a large pan with water up to 100 ° C, and then keep it in front of the fan that blows on honey jar. I think every day I will do that, is there a best way? This method is avoid, but what I really need is to achieve a hard solid for making honey skein candy (korean kings dessert).
In the video that I saw on YouTube, the dough is hard, and they said "this is honey and malt, boil and dry, boil and dry for 8 days" and others said "honey 3 days boiling and fermented 1 week" very confusing.


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## Akademee (Apr 5, 2020)

My understanding is that honey skein is more of a candy than a dehydrated honey product. Most of the recipes I know of take the honey and sugar mixture to Soft crack stage (270 degrees F) in order for the sugar content and recrystallization. Taking the sugar/honey mixture to this temperature already puts it at the proper water content for stretching since the temperature is related to its water content when boiling. Pro tip, never stir boiling sugar, it will form huge crystals when it hardens and ruin your ability to stretch it out. Good luck, and keep trying!


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## Elv (Jul 30, 2020)

Oh. I know that. How to reach that temperature? Is it to put it in a pan and boil it? Is there no problem with the honey content?


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