# Freezing honey to stop crystallizing



## Braveheart (May 6, 2017)

Someone mentioned to me that if I freeze honey for a week it won't crystallize. Not sure of the chemistry or if this works and wonder about any changes in the honeys composition. Any thoughts on this?


----------



## Gumpy (Mar 30, 2016)

I had a jar of honey crystallize in the freezer. Was fine when I put it in. Completely crystallized when I took it out a few months later.


----------



## rwlaw (May 4, 2009)

It slows the process, but some honey will crystallize quicker than others. I’ve got a half pint of spectacular tasting honey in the deep freeze from four years ago that’s still clear, but yet there’s some from last year that’s crystallized.


----------



## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Braveheart said:


> Someone mentioned to me that if I freeze honey for a week it won't crystallize?


A week doesn't change anything you leave it in there permanently. As per the others it slows things down.

But don't put liquid honey in the fridge, that speeds up crystalization. Cold enough to make the sugar want to crystalize, but not cold enough to slow everything down enough to overide that.

So honey in the deep freeze doesn't actually freeze, at least in mine, but set the deep freeze on max cold.


----------



## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

I may be giving a little more information here than requested, but here goes anyway:

Honey is a super saturated solution. Which means eventually _nearly_ all honey will crystallize. The intrusion of certain elements (dust, pollen, bits of wax, bee parts, crystals) will increase the rate that honey will crystallize. The type of honey also has a large role, as different honeys will have different compositions of glucose to fructose (locally, sourwood honey is slow to crystallize, if it ever does so, while our tulip poplar can take months to crystallize, and our soybean honey you can almost watch crystallize). In addition, temperature plays a significant role.

According to Dyce (the modern father of creamed honey) the ideal temperature for honey to crystallize in the shortest time period possible is 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The further you go in either direction from 55 degrees decreases the odds/rate that it will crystallize, although slower than it would at 55 degrees. For example, honey will crystallize at 50 degrees and 60 degrees slower than at 55, and slower still at both 45 and 65 than at 50/60, ect. Although it isn't exactly linear like that, but you get the idea. Pushing honey to extreme temperatures on either end of the spectrum will significantly delay crystallization. High end extremes (100+ degrees) delays crystallization just as well as low temps, but can degrade the aromatic qualities of the honey (and will darken the honey over time). If you go even higher, you may be able to destroy some of the crystals (along with super filtration), but will likely destroy the enzymes and amino acids in honey as well. Low end temps not only slow the crystallization process down, but also preserves the aromatic qualities of honey. Which is why most people recommend freezing honey, rather than super heating it, to delay the crystallization process.

But as you can imagine, if you put honey in a standard freezer that isn't too good and is maintaining 20 degrees, you're only 35 degrees away from ideal temp (55 degrees) which is comparable (although not exactly) to maintaining honey at 90 degrees (which is also 27 degrees away from 55). To really get the benefits, you have to go with lower temps, in the range of 0 to -20 degrees. Again, it doesn't exactly work like that, as it isn't linear in both directions, but you get the idea.

_Maintaining_ that temperature is the point though. Not just getting there. Freezing comb honey for 48 hours kills wax moth eggs, but to prevent crystallization you need to keep the honey at a low temp to get the benefits. Once you go back to room temp (or as close to 55 degrees as you'd like) crystallization rates increase again.


----------



## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Question for you Specialkayme, this is something I've never understood, in my life.

Over here, for whatever reason, creaming is done at 57 degrees, just saying that to get it out of the way, the slight difference from 55 is probably not very important.

The standard method to get "soft creamed" honey, is to run the honey into a tank of probably 2 or 3 tons, which has 10% already creamed honey in it. The tank has stirrer blades in it which slowly rotate, and the temperature is held at 57. In 3 days all the honey is creamed and ready to pack. 10% is left in the tank as "starter" for the next honey.
For "hard creamed" honey, the honey is mixed with the creamed honey in the tank, then packed straight away. The packed honey is held at 57 degrees and creams in the pottle, but because it is not being stirred, the tiny crystals mesh with each other and the honey is hard, but still smooth when removed with a knife.

So to the question - Some people here usually hobbyists without the right gear, attempt to cream honey by stirring in already creamed starter honey, but if the temperature is too high, the honey goes into large, unpleasant crystals, even though the starter was normal very tiny crystals. And the inverse, honey that is sitting around in the shed, even with no starter added, if it's winter and the temperature happens to be around 57, the honey will granulate fine, like properly creamed honey.

So understood about supersaturation and the need for a supersaturated solution to crystalise out at a particular temperaure. But why the difference in granule size at different temperatures?


----------



## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

Oldtimer said:


> But why the difference in granule size at different temperatures?


Initially, I'd like to say that I do not, in any way, hold myself out as a creamed honey expert. I've "creamed my share of honey in my day", both on accident and on purpose, and have read about it plenty, but I wouldn't consider myself a master of the craft.

That having been said, my understanding is that temperature as well as seed size will affect the granule size of the end product. As honey quickly granulates at 55 (or 57) degrees, the glucose in honey crystallizes, separates, and forms crystals. A greater percentage of 'starter seed' or honey maintained at as close to 55 degrees as possible ensures that each individual glucose element has the opportunity to form crystals independently. The small, independent crystals, end up creating a smoother product (much like a hand full of 1,000,000 sand grains feels softer than a hand full of 10 marbles, even though the same might take up the same volume). When a large "starter seed' is introduced, or if the honey is maintained at too high or too low of a temperture, the crystals will build on each other, so to speak. Instead of all glucose elements saturating away from the water and fructose at the same time, a small percentage separates away. At that point you have a small percentage of crystals and alot more glucose. The remaining glucose continues to then bind to more of the crystals. The granulation then happens over a longer time period as more of a "chain reaction" than as a spontaneous culture, if that makes sense. 

Although I will say that isn't 100% accurate. I've tasted honey from Europe that has crystallized slowly (not in controlled temps or environments) that maintained a very small crystal size. I haven't seen that happen naturally state side though. The difference may have to do with an extremely high quantity of glucose relative to the fructose, or it may have to do with something else entirely. I don't know.

That is my understanding of it, but if anyone else knows more please speak up.


----------



## sc-bee (May 10, 2005)

I have never creamed a jar of honey, I have however been researching the method of creaming honey in old post. A certain individual know for his creamed honey talks about a process of heating the honey to assure all natural size Crystal are gone and then when the honey reaches a certain temp add the seed. Yes he admits the heating may affect the enzymes but it assures a certain size crystal..the size of the seed...

Anyway back to the OP... will freezing honey completely stop crystallization... well as you have already been told, someone feed you a line of BS...


----------



## Braveheart (May 6, 2017)

Thanks specialkayme for the super info.


----------



## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Agreed, excellent explanation Specialkayme.


----------



## missybee (Sep 6, 2014)

I have some honey in our chest freezer, now for 4 years. It still is liquid. Our chest freezer sits at zero or lower. 
I have some in our normal freezer, it too has stayed liquid. Just a few bottles of our first harvest honey. 

I cream a lot of honey, it sales beautifully at the farmers market. We use a old wine cooler that sits at 55f to cream it. With enough start it creams in just a few weeks. Won first place at the fair the last few years.


----------

