# Creamed same as crystilized



## deejaycee (Apr 30, 2008)

Creamed honey IS just crystalised honey... but it is honey that has crystalised with such a small crystal size that it feels smooth, not grainy. 

If your seed honey feels grainy on your tongue, so will your resulting creamed honey, as the type of crystals in the seed form a 'template' for the rest of the honey to granulate on. 

Grainy honey can be ground down to make suitable seed honey by literally grinding the crystals up, but that's some specialised grinding right there - far easier to go out and buy a tub of some nicely done stuff to start with.


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## deejaycee (Apr 30, 2008)

Oh, and as far as waiting for it to crystalise naturally, sure you can do that... but you might be waiting an awful long time (some types of honey take months or years), and you have no way of knowing what sort of crystals you're going to get - they could be huge. 

Better off to control the process from the start.


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## BGhoney (Sep 26, 2007)

He told me he just blends anything that crystilizes. It is pretty smooth but not super smooth. I didn't know if what I made out of It would copy that size or the original natural crystal size. It also has a quarter inch of fluff on top, guess he dosnt worry about air bubbles...

I'm checking my little fridge right now to see how warm it can run, just checked it , 49% is that to cold, If I leave it turned off, it will stay between 55 and 62 , which one would be better ?


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## Brandy (Dec 3, 2005)

Supposedly the faster the honey crystalizes the smaller the crystal. But with the quantities that I make I don't have a way of controlling the temperature with a large enough refrigerator so I just let it set up naturally in the basement. So far no complaints and a smooth texture. Temperature is about 60 degrees plus or minus. So if you've got access to a temperature from 55-62 I would vote for that. 
If you use a bottling bucket and wait overnight to fill your jars you will take care of the foam and bubbles that rise to the top when you fill your jars or tubs from the bottom. The foam goes into my coffee the next week. Delicious.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

my understanding (never made the stuff before) is that creamed honey is honey which is first crystalized (thru cooling) and then the long sugar molecules are broken (cut) via a set of blending knives/paddles. 

it is also my understanding that in europe nectar sources are chosen for creamed honey that crystalizes easily.


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

There are a couple of different methods to creaming or spinning honey. Google "dyce method" and you will get a bunch of reading to do.

Basically honey crystallizes fastest at I think 59F. The faster the crystalization, the smaller the crystals. And the smaller the crystals the smoother the creamed honey.

The official method recommends warming the honey to remove any existing larger crystals. Then add your own small crystals, usually from a previous batch of creamed honey. You can also buy a starter from Dadant which is fine dextrose crystals. Those seed crystals are then mixed in well to, and the temps and the tiny crystals will cause fast fine crystalization of the honey.

I usually mix a previous batch in with some of my honey and just put it in the fridge for a bit. It isn't super smooth but it works.

Rick


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## BGhoney (Sep 26, 2007)

I made a batch , super easy , already had 3 beeks make some also. Blended some good quality creamed with my honey 9-1 , put it in the unplugged fridge and in 4 days it was pretty solid, started selling it at 6 days. Trying to keep one jar for starter. Smooth as velvet. Thanks for the help


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

I have spent hours trying to discover how commercial enterprises grind honey with large crystals into finely crystalized honey as a source of seed. The only references I could find mentioned the use of a meat grinder, but further research indicated that this grinder was for mixing the creamed honey and not for grinding the crystals (which would seem obvious). I did find references that mentioned industrial outfits keeping the equipment a trade secret. 
The tongue/mouth cannot detect crystals around 30 microns and below so the goal of a truly fine textured creamed honey is difficult to attain with serial addition of seed from one batch to the next if the crystals get bigger with each subsequent round. 
Has anyone figured out a way to make their own seed honey with a fine texture?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Has anyone figured out a way to make their own seed honey with a fine texture?

I bought a hand flour grinder at the health food store.


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

Michael Bush said:


> >Has anyone figured out a way to make their own seed honey with a fine texture?
> 
> I bought a hand flour grinder at the health food store.


Michael,

Thanks for the info. I think I got this response from you awhile back on another thread. Can you describe the process. What size/brand of grinder? Is the grinding difficult due to the viscosity of the honey?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I'd have to dig it out to find the brand name, but anything that can grind fine flour can grind starter for creamed honey. It's messy, of course, but not really difficult.


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## BoBn (Jul 7, 2008)

Does it work to make it with raw honey? I have a couple of pints of some very smooth and fine crystallized honey that just happened on it's own. Is it worth seeding raw honey, or do I need to heat it?

Thanks,
Bob


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## HVH (Feb 20, 2008)

BoBn,

I think the main reason to heat honey (to make creamed honey) is to prevent fermentation if the moisture content is near 18%. When the glucose crystalizes, the water that it once held is released to the liquid fructose moiety. This has the effect of allowing yeast to grow. If you have raw honey with large crystals and you seed it with small crystals then under unfavorable conditions it is conceivable that your creamed honey could turn out with a course texture. It all depends on the quality and the amount of seed crystals vs. the amount of large crystals already present and the speed at which crystallization occurs. 
I make creamed honey from raw honey that has a low moisture content all the time. 

Good Luck


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