Creamed Honey on Toast - YUMMMMM

Over Thanksgiving, I went to Virginia for a week and left my thermostat on 55 degrees to save on my heating costs. Well, my gas bill wasn't so high but there was an unexpected cost.

I left all of my bottled honey on a table and came home to find that the jars that were harvested over Memorial Day last year had all turned into creamed honey. People prize creamed honey - it's less drippy and easier to spread. In truth, though, it is honey that has granulated. Creamed honey isn't a solid mass. Instead it is a thickened honey that tastes great and is just thick instead of clear.

I wondered why the honey from Memorial Day harvest had granulated and not the rest of my jars. I posted on Beemaster to find out what the other beekeepers had to say about this. Apparently this batch of honey had just the right amount of glucose and "seed" material (pollen grains, for example, that didn't filter out) to encourage its turning into creamed honey. And the temperature at which I left my house (55 - 60 degrees) was IDEAL for making creamed honey.

Interestingly, this honey doesn't have a sandy feel on the tongue. Instead it spreads like regular honey and is fabulous, in my opinion. You can tell that I am using the honey from the jar below. Actually you can heat the honey in a water bath and the granulation will go away, but I don't want to heat my honey so I am going to enjoy it as is.



You can see the consistency in the picture below.



When it is spread on hot toast, it is exactly like non-granulated honey and tastes, as all my honey does, absolutely delicious!


The bread, if you are interested, is a multigrain bread that I made with my grandson.