How Do You Delay The honey Crystallization Process?

The fact that your honey turned to crystal is by no means your fault. All honey, if it is real, is naturally dispositioned towards turning to crystal. It just happens. But! There are a few things that we can do to try to slow down the process.We recommend filtering your honey extremely well. We also recommend following the storage guidelines below.One other option that you can do is to pasteurize your honey. The pasteurization process may help delay the crystals, but it will no longer be able to be labeled as raw honey. The high heat used in this process to expel yeast and air bubbles can also eliminate some of the subtle flavors and health benefits.

Filter

Avoiding crystals in your honey starts at the harvest process. Whether you're using the centrifugal force of an extractor or just using the backside of a fork, it's important that your next step involves a filter of some sort.Many beekeepers use two layers of cheesecloth to filter their honey, but any fine mesh screen would work as well. Immediately after extraction you should filter out the small wax particles, bee parts, debris, dust and even some of the pollen from your honey. The more that you can filter out, the longer that you can delay the granulation process. The honey you have is constantly scouring itself for foreign objects to latch onto and build new crystals off of. Crystals need some type of foundation to build on so it's best to avoid this altogether by filtering out as much as you can.

When it comes to the commercial brands, they take filtration to the next level. While your everyday beekeeper may use gravity to help with the filtration process, the commercial guys add high pressure tactics to push the honey through ultra-fine filters. Doing so removes even the tiniest of microbes, micro-nutrients and pollen, which delays their crystallization at the cost of a healthier honey.

Pasteurize

Another tactic that the commercial guys use is that they pasteurize their honey. While most products like milk, juice or canned foods are pasteurized to eliminate bacteria, honey doesn't do it for these reasons.Honey can be consumed whether it's pasteurized or not. It's low humidity and high acidity create an environment that is almost impossible for bacteria to survive in naturally.

The reason that honey is pasteurized is not to eliminate bacteria, but to eliminate yeast and air bubbles. Expelling these two objects, will give the crystals two less things to latch on to and build off of.As a warning though, pasteurizing your honey will also eliminate some of the subtle flavors, healthy pollen, enzymes, antioxidants and polyphenols. 

To pasteurize your honey you can take the following steps:

1. Use a double boiler. Place your honey in the top pot, and bring the water below to a medium heat
2. Using a candy thermometer, make sure that your honey is slowly heated up to 160°F (71°C) for just a moment or to 150°F (65.5°C) for 15 minutes
3. When your honey reaches 160°F (71°C) or your time limit has been met, take the pot of honey off the heater
4. If using glass storage jars, immediately pour the hot honey into them, then screw on the lids. If you allow the honey to rest or cool down, the yeast in the air can find it's way into your honey
5. If you are using plastic bottles to store your honey, you may want to allow the honey to cool down a little bit so you don't melt the plastic
6. Finally, once your honey is back down to 70°F (21°C) then follow the storage guidelines below

Storage

The last thing that we can do is to properly store the honey.When it comes to honey storage, there are 4 main guidelines:

• Store honey at room temperature. Temperature has a big impact on crystallization. There is a Goldilocks temperature around 65°F - 70°F (18°C - 21°C) that you're seeking. Honey stored below 65 degrees will crystallize much faster than honey stored at or above it. While honey stored above 70 degrees can compromise the quality, flavor and color of the honey over time
• Don't store honey with beeswax. Although putting honeycomb in the jar alongside the honey adds a nice design effect, it will undoubtedly crystallize faster. The honey is scouring the jar for foreign objects such as pollen, dust, wax, or even air bubbles to build the crystals on to. By including beeswax in your honey you're giving the crystals a foundation to build on.