Honey is a classic Russian delicacy. Especially - during the oil season, when freshly baked hot pancakes can be dipped in honey.
Honey is also irreplaceable as a remedy for colds. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to know how to properly store this amazingly healthy and tasty product. In this article, we will tell you how to injure honey, including honey in combs.
Beech, cedar, linden, birch barrels are also suitable for storing honey. You can store honey in enameled dishes, as well as in milk cans. Ceramic containers with enamel on the inner surface are also suitable.
Do not keep honey in jars and jugs made of copper, lead, zinc or alloys of these metals. As a result of the interaction of the metal with the acids contained in honey, extremely harmful substances are formed that can cause serious poisoning. Do not store honey in iron cans as this will spoil its taste. For the same reason, you should not take honey out of the jar with metal spoons, and even more so leave it there for a long time. It is better to put some honey in a small container with a wooden spoon and eat it from there.
Since honey perfectly absorbs all odors, you should not store it together with strong-smelling substances: paints, acetone, kerosene, etc. In addition, to avoid fermentation, it is better to keep honey away from salt, which retains moisture in the air.
If honey is poured into glass jars, it is better to store it in a dark place, as it darkens quickly in the light, and this can reduce the quality of the honey. In case you need to melt crystallized honey, you need to put it in a water bath. However, you only need to use the amount of honey required at the moment, since in the melted state it can ferment quickly.
How to check honey for naturalness?
At home, honey is best stored in a refrigerator or cellar. Allowable temperatures up to - 20 degrees. This will not affect its taste and medicinal qualities in any way. In winter, honey is generally found mainly in crystallized form. If you bought liquid honey in winter, it is most likely fake or overheated honey.
The higher the storage temperature of honey, the more useful properties it loses. Therefore, try to store it in a cool, dark place without strong odors. The optimum storage temperature should be below 20 degrees.
To keep the honey in the combs for a long time, the combs must be cut into pieces and placed in clean containers, and the top must be tightly closed with a lid. Such honey can be stored both in the refrigerator (at a not very low temperature), and in a dark and cool room.
Honey in combs is good because it contains very useful wax and is simply irreplaceable for colds. If ordinary honey is immediately swallowed, then the honeycomb can be chewed for a long time, which helps very well with sore throats and colds. Alternatively, the honeycomb can be sliced and eaten with tea and rolls.
The benefits of honey
During World War II, honey was used to treat infected wounds. This helped stop the infection and saved many lives. It turns out that honey helped to defeat fascism.
The most expensive honey in the world costs 12,500 rubles. It is produced in Israel. Alexander Goroshchit, a native of the Soviet Union, guessed to feed the bees with Siberian Ginseng extract, which gave the product simply amazing qualities.
And in ancient Greece, the inhabitants explained the immortality of the gods by the fact that they feed on honey, nectar and milk. However, even today many people believe that the use of honey contributes to the prolongation of life.
Thus, honey is not only a delicious delicacy, but also a useful remedy that can help with many diseases. With its help, you can prepare a truly royal treat even from a slide of pancakes, if you pour them over with honey.
You can also add it to a cosmetic mask, and then honey will help keep the skin youthful and fresh. The main thing is to properly store this wonderful product. It should be kept in a cool, dark place in a glass, enamel or ceramic container with a tight lid.
The editors of the site advise you to buy honey from trusted sellers and be healthy.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen
Nature has presented people with a unique delicacy - bee honey. If a person cares about his health, he stocks up on this healing product for a whole year. For months, jars of honey have been patiently waiting for their turn. But if stored improperly, honey can lose its beneficial properties in a short time. And vice versa: if the storage conditions are fully met, the product does not lose its value for several years.
Honey is stored in liquid form or in combs. The photo shows a special spoon-spindle for honey
Storage... In order for honey to delight with taste for a long time and retain its beneficial properties, it must be stored in the right place. The product is negatively affected by direct sunlight, dampness, odors, and high temperature. The best option is a dark and dry place away from radiators and stoves.
Closed cabinets are perfect in the kitchen, in the pantry, in the cellar. Neighborhoods with aromatic products should be avoided. The recommended storage temperature is from 6 to 20 ° C.
Tableware... The choice of container depends on the expected shelf life. For long-term storage, it is better to give preference to glass, ceramic, wooden containers made of beech, birch, linden or stainless steel containers of the highest quality.
Honey is stored for the longest time in a tinted glass container. A prerequisite for storage is a tightly closed lid. Copper, aluminum and galvanized containers are strictly prohibited. Containers made of wood rich in essential oils should also not be used. Before filling, the container should be cleaned with baking soda, rinsed with running water and dried thoroughly.
For long-term storage, use glass jars with tinted glass
Many are interested in the answer to the question, how long is honey stored at home? Subject to the correct regime of temperature, humidity and lighting, this period reaches a year. In extreme cases, honey can be consumed after two years, but it will not bring significant benefits.
If honey has been in unsuitable conditions for several weeks, its shelf life is significantly reduced.
In plastic containers, honey can be kept for up to several weeks. After standing on a brightly lit balcony for a couple of hot days, the healing product will turn into a useless sweet mass. There will be no harm from it, as well as benefit.
Storage in the refrigerator does not deprive honey of its useful properties, however, at low temperatures it becomes sugar faster, becomes more solid, and absorbs moisture and foreign odors. But if there is no other way to place honey in a cool, dark place, then a dry-freeze refrigerator and a hermetically sealed glass container can save the situation.
There are clear guidelines on how to store the honeycomb. In sterilized glass jars with a tightly closed lid, the product retains its properties for up to a year. The storage area should be dry and dark. You can increase this period to 2-3 years by flooding the honeycomb with fresh honey and sealing the jar with melted wax. The temperature range should be 3-10 ° C, the humidity level should be no more than 60%. Sudden temperature changes should be avoided. Suitable places for storing honey in combs are basement, cellar or refrigerator.
Honeycombs are stored in sealed jars for up to a year.
We offer a video on the topic of the article:
Text: Olga Kovalenko
4.8333333333333 4.83 / 6 votes
Found a mistake in the text? Select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Honey is a delicious healing delicacy. An important quality of a tasty beekeeping product is the ability to maintain its healing properties for a very long time. However, few people know the secrets of storing honey in a city apartment, which will allow it to maintain excellent quality.
Honey is eaten, added to baked goods. It is used not only in the treatment of colds, but also in many other diseases. On the Internet, you can find countless recommendations on how to store natural honey. They all agree on one thing: a properly selected container will preserve the taste and healing qualities of the product. In addition, such utensils will increase the duration of their storage.
Note! One of the properties of honey is hygroscopicity, therefore, immediately after purchase, it must be poured into a container with a tightly fitted lid.
Suitable cookware:
It is forbidden to keep the beekeeping product in zinc, lead or copper containers. As a result of contact of honey with metal, harmful substances are released, which can end in disaster: lead to severe poisoning. The aluminum can only be used for transporting honey. It is not recommended to take a barrel of pine needles. The ban also applies to oak. It is unacceptable to use dishes made of synthetic materials.
How to store honey at home (in an apartment)
So, when buying honey, you must not lose your vigilance. You must refuse to purchase if it was originally in an unsuitable container.
Important! Keep honey in a clean container. You cannot pour it into an unwashed container where old honey used to be. The film of the previous product will ferment the new one.
After purchasing honeycombs, many people pour honey from them into a jar. You do not need to do this, as it is better retained in the frame. Therefore, it is recommended to cut the honeycomb into pieces and put them in a sterilized glass container with a tight lid.
The advantages of this type of storage:
Another option is to place the frame in a plastic bag and wrap it in an opaque cloth. But at the same time, you should inspect the package approximately every week so that moths do not start in it.
In addition, the "commodity neighborhood" is carefully selected, since wax has the property of absorbing all pungent odors.
Crystallization (sugaring) is a natural process. The resulting glucose crystals go down, and gradually the beekeeping product becomes harder. There is no need to worry as candied honey does not lose its properties. On the contrary, only a natural product can be sugared. It is directly related to the glucose content of honey, as well as storage conditions. What can not be said about the fake.
If you can enjoy fresh honey for longer, delaying its sugaring. To return him to a liquid state, it is worth warming up in a water bath.
Tips for Avoiding Sugaring
To prevent sugar crystals from forming in the honey mass, it is recommended to purchase honeycombs right away. Then cut them into pieces and put in different glass jars, and put on tight lids on top.
You can sometimes warm honey in a water bath. However, care must be taken that the surface of the container does not come into direct contact with fire. The temperature of the heated product should not reach 40 ° C.
note! Hot processing of honey reduces its healing properties.
The ideal temperature, which will have a beneficial effect on the state of honey, preserving its best characteristics - from -6 ° C to 15 ° C. If this figure is higher, then chemical processes will inevitably begin, in which toxic substances are released. In a too cool room, honey will harden, which is undesirable for him. Cold will also negatively affect the quality of the product, but not so much. Frequent changes in temperature will cause uneven crystallization of honey.
Important! The sun's rays, as well as high temperatures, are detrimental to vitamins, enzymes, and bactericidal substances found in honey. After that, the sweet medicine will turn into a common treat.
To understand where it is desirable to store honey, you need to evaluate the chosen place. It should be dry enough with a moderate temperature. And it should be dark in it.
In room conditions, it is advisable to put honey in the refrigerator either on its bottom shelf or on the door (away from the freezer). This household appliance does not have temperature extremes, high levels of humidity, sunlight, which will contribute to better preservation of the product.
PayAttention! Refrigerators that have a dry freeze system are considered an excellent option for storing honey.
There are pantries in the Khrushchevs. Such a small room with no heating or windows is also a valid place to store honey. As for a private house, the best place would be a cellar. Both light and temperature conditions are observed here.
When choosing a storage location for a sweet and transparent beekeeping product, you need to exclude the kitchen area, since there is a high temperature here. In winter, not a very suitable place - living quarters that are heated.
Storage location in the apartment
The most vulnerable place are the loggia and the balcony (even with glazing). It is hot there in summer and too frosty in winter. In addition, humidity increases significantly during the seasonal rains.
It is undesirable for honey to be adjacent to many specific smelling products:
The honey storage room should be isolated from harmful substances that have a poisonous odor.
Compliance with these recommendations does not guarantee that after some time there will be no problems with the beekeeping product. The most common of these is delamination. This is when the thick part of the product sank to the bottom, and the watery part remained on top. Most likely, an unripe product was pumped out of the honeycomb. Despite this, the medicinal and taste characteristics of honey have remained the same. It can be mixed and eaten.
When stored properly, honey will be beneficial for a long time.
But the white foam on the top of the product should alert you. Here you need to figure out what kind of foam it is, or rather, when it arose. If this happened soon after buying honey, then it is safe for health. The white foam is most likely the result of poor filtration. If it appears after a long time after storage, it means that the dishes with the honey mass were poorly closed and moisture penetrated inside. The fact clearly indicates the fermentation process. It is forbidden to use such honey.
For your information! Small amounts of fermented honey (4–5 g) can be added to baked goods. This will give it a delicate scent.
Many people believe that after a year, honey ceases to be an effective remedy for colds, moreover, it can harm health. However, this assumption is not true. Naturally, in a year the product will change: it will have a different texture, color, and a specific smell. But its properties will remain unchanged.
Usually on packages with ready-made honey, the shelf life is clearly indicated. It is 1 year old. However, even after 2 years, delicious honey can be safely eaten.
Any beekeeper will recommend making honey stocks in combs. The frame is stored in a sterilized glass jar for 12 months. If fresh honey is poured into the container (directly onto the honeycomb), then sealing with molten wax and a lid is put on, then the shelf life will increase to 10 years.
If honey is stored, observing simple rules, even after 2-3 years it will not lose its healing properties. Experienced beekeepers are confident that the shelf life of honey will be unlimited if you strictly follow the rules for its storage. This is facilitated by the preserving properties of natural honey. This fact has been scientifically proven. During one of the archaeological excavations, an amphora with a viscous composition of golden color was discovered. Expert analyzes have shown that scientists have found natural honey. Surprisingly, after several centuries, the bee product could still be consumed.
For your information! In a hive of wild bees, molasses can be stored for many years. By its shade, beekeepers recognize the age of the bees living inside.
So, the best conditions to store honey are a moderately cool place, a complete absence of sunlight, a container (preferably made of glass) with a tight-fitting lid. In order to enjoy a fresh beekeeping product for a longer time, all of the above requirements must be clearly fulfilled.
Honey is a unique product given to us by nature itself. This bee gold pleases not only with the wonderful taste of fragrant herbs and fragrant flowers, but also gives the human body its healing power. It contains many trace elements that are essential for maintaining health. In order for the nutritional composition and beneficial properties of the product to be preserved for more than one year, it is important to answer the question - how to store honey at home?
In nature, honey is protected by toiling bees. These amazing insects, with the movement of their wings and bodies, maintain an ideal microclimate in the hive - in winter, the thermometer does not drop below 10 degrees, and in summer it does not rise too high. But how to store honey in an apartment or a private house?
In such conditions, it is very important to observe the correct temperature regime and other rules. A temperature that exceeds the threshold of + 37-38 degrees is destructive for natural sweetness, in this case enzymes are destroyed in it, and a large proportion of macro and microelements no longer bring initial benefits to the human body. Too low temperatures do not destroy its healing properties, but change its structure and color.
The optimal temperature regime for storing bee gold ranges from -6 to + 20, in this case the vitamin and other healing qualities of the tasty product do not evaporate. It is desirable that the temperature where the healing delicacy is kept constant, although small differences will not spoil either the taste or the color.
In order for the honey delicacy to become thinner and softer, it can be heated in a water bath, but the heating temperature should not exceed 40 degrees, otherwise the healing value of the sweetness will greatly decrease.Honey very strongly absorbs moisture from the environment and retains it, so it must be stored in a place where the humidity does not exceed 60%. For this reason, unripe honey or, more correctly, nectar, is not stored in apartment conditions, since it contains a large percentage of water, which leads to fermentation. Such a product must be consumed as soon as possible.
If you do not take this factor into account and keep mature honey in a damp pantry or cellar, then bee sweetness will be overly saturated with water vapor and sour. There is another side of the coin - it is too dry air, in this case bee gold thickens, drying out and crystallizing right before our eyes.
At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the indicator of humid air of 60% is not equivalent for all types of honey. For example, fragrant acacia honey also remarkably withstands 75% water vapor in the air.
If the bee product has changed its taste, and the pleasant aroma has become sour, then the humidity has been exceeded and the honey is most likely fermented. In this case, it is better to use it in baked goods. You can also enrich cosmetic masks with a natural composition with it.Most of the medicines of traditional and traditional medicine are stored in a shaded area and honey is no exception. Both artificial light and sunlight negatively affect the quality of the bee product. If he is under the influence of the hot sun for more than two days, then most of the active substances are destroyed, and at the same time the antimicrobial qualities of the healing product are reduced.
Thus, in an apartment or private housing, the corner for the preservation of bee gold should be not only cool and moderately dry, but also protected from any light.
Bee honey, like a sponge, rapidly absorbs foreign aromas. Products with a pungent smell, such as fish, cheese, smoked meats and pickles, should be kept away from the shelves where honey is stored. Fragrant bee sweetness very quickly absorbs vapors of gasoline, turpentine, kerosene and other chemical compounds, so the "honey" place should be isolated from these odors.
At the same time, the containers used during the storage of the treats must be correctly selected and hermetically closed.The most suitable and convenient for storing a fragrant bee delicacy is glass, enamel or nickel-plated dishes. You can pay attention to other containers:
Any container containing a natural product must be tightly closed. If the dishes where the bee sweetness will be stored from glass, then it is better to choose dark jars.
Galvanized, as well as any iron dishes are not suitable for storing honey. Upon contact with these materials in a natural delicacy, not only useful properties are lost, but poisonous compounds can also form.The choice of a suitable "honey" place should be based on four components that were previously discussed - the right temperature, suitable humidity, isolation from light and strong odors. This is the basis and at the same time the answer to the question - how to store honey properly? But at the same time, it is necessary to choose a suitable corner where all these conditions will be met at the same time.
Both in the apartment and in a private house there are such places:
The question that many lovers of natural sweets ask is how to store honey at home at a high room temperature? If the apartment does not have a cool place and the honey stocks are not too large, you can store it in the refrigerator by placing it in clean jars. Humidity and temperature in this case are suitable, moreover, there are no sudden changes, which can affect the uniform texture of the bee product. The only drawback is faster crystallization, but without losing any useful properties.
At a low temperature, which is maintained in the refrigerator, the honey delicacy will not lose its beneficial properties, but this method excludes long-term storage, because the taste of the product deteriorates over time. The maximum period in this case is 1 year.
When storing bee gold in the refrigerator, the main thing is to take care of the tightness. You can use tight lids, they will help protect the product from extraneous odors. It is better if the container with honey will be located either on the side door or in the drawer for fruits and vegetables.Fresh honey in combs is the most delicious and fragrant, and most importantly, useful properties are preserved in it for a long time. Under natural conditions, it is the wax shell that preserves honey, preventing it from deteriorating. Such a product has maximum benefits for the body, because it contains pollen and propolis, known for their healing properties.
Honeycomb treats are best stored in a glass jar with an airtight lid, but other utensils will do as well. The container must be dry and clean, and the honeycomb must be cut beforehand so that it is convenient to get them out. This method will not allow bee gold to lose its useful qualities during the year.
For a longer storage of such honey, it is necessary to pour prepared jars with honeycombs with liquid honey of the same type and seal them with melted wax.
... You need to store the treat in a cool place or in the refrigerator, but in the second case, the product thickens faster. These honey jars may not deteriorate for more than 10 years.Crystallization of honey is a natural process that cannot be stopped. If a bee delicacy is sugared 1-2 months after rolling, then this indicates the naturalness and quality of the sweetness. How quickly honey gold solidifies depends on its grade and storage conditions. For example, acacia, melilot and chestnut honey remain liquid for the longest time, while sunflower honey crystallizes the fastest. A quality product cannot remain in a liquid state six months after pumping.
If you want to keep the liquid consistency longer, then you can put it in a room with a room temperature of 22-23 degrees, so the crystallization process will be delayed. But then the shelf life of the product is reduced and large volumes of honey should not be stored like this.
If liquid honey is offered on the market or at an exhibition in the winter season, then this is a fake, which, most likely, was melted, thereby changing the properties of the product for the worse.The most natural way to store honey at home is with honeycombs, carefully placed in clean jars. In this state, bee gold practically does not lose its healing power even after 5-10 years. At the same time, honey in combs remains liquid and aromatic for the longest time, thanks to bee pollen in its composition. But such a delicacy in combs is often available only to beekeepers and their families.
There are different varieties of honey product on sale, they also differ in consistency. After honeycomb, the most beneficial is fresh and ripe honey with a liquid consistency.... It gradually hardens without losing its nutrients and vitamins for many years after rolling.
If you observe the correct temperature regime, humidity level and other conditions specified above, then a delicious bee delicacy will not disappear for many years. Thus, the final shelf life of the honey product is absent and the beneficial effect on the human body will not decrease every year. On the contrary, fermentation processes enrich the delicacy and every year it matures and gets better.
But here it is important to understand the difference - at room temperature exceeding the threshold of 22-23 degrees, the honey product will deteriorate faster and should not be stored for more than a year. If you have large supplies, but there is no cool corner, then you can put a small part of the goodies in the refrigerator, and first of all, use honey from the cupboards and pantry.
Whatever honey is - in combs, liquid or crystallized, it will always complement fragrant tea, giving joy and warmth. You can cook many dishes with it, surprising guests with honey cakes or duck in sweet caramel. The main thing is to observe all of the above conditions regarding the storage of a valuable product, which will help provide your family with a fragrant and healing delicacy.
There should always be honey in the house to drink fragrant tea, prepare a duck in honey or a honey cake for a family dinner, pamper babies with honey cakes, warm milk with honey for colds or insomnia. If you follow the rules for storing honey, then its healing properties, natural taste and aroma will delight you for several years. All housewives store honey in different ways, and then they are surprised that the taste has changed and the smell is no longer the same. The fact is that under inappropriate storage conditions, honey absorbs moisture, ferments and turns sour. It's a pity if a good and expensive product goes bad ...
The container for storing honey should be perfectly clean and dry, it is unacceptable to leave the remnants of last year's honey at the bottom - such a neighborhood will lead to fermentation and deterioration of the product. It is best if the container is made of aluminum, stainless steel or glass, although our ancestors kept honey in wooden barrels. It should be borne in mind that in a container made of oak, honey darkens, aspen makes it bitter, and coniferous wood gives honey the smell of needles. It is allowed to use an enamel, clay or ceramic container for storage, and zinc, copper and lead are best kept away from them, as they become toxic from prolonged contact with these metals. An iron storage container is also not suitable as it oxidizes and spoils the taste of the honey. Never take honey from a jar with an iron spoon, and even more so do not leave a spoon inside, as iron dishes often rust and honey takes on an unpleasant aftertaste. It is allowed to keep honey in containers made of certified food grade plastic, but with one condition - the shelf life of honey in a plastic container cannot be more than a year. The fact is that after this period, honey, as a biologically active product, absorbs chemical impurities contained in plastic and becomes poisonous. And one more important point. The container for storing honey must be hermetically closed so that no foreign odors and moisture get inside.
The shelf life of honey in glass, ceramic, metal, wooden or plastic containers depends not only on the material. The ideal temperature for long-term storage of honey is from 6 to 20 degrees; at room temperature, honey is likely to quickly deteriorate and lose some of its beneficial properties. At low temperatures (at least minus 20 degrees), honey hardens, but it feels much better. For this reason, refrigeration is not a bad option if it has a dry freeze function. In ordinary refrigerators, the humidity is too high, which honey just does not like. Try not to change the air temperature too often, otherwise honey will crystallize unevenly.
Honey absorbs odors well, so it is kept away from odorous substances and products - gasoline, kerosene, salted fish, onions and garlic. Avoid keeping honey near water or salt as it concentrates moisture in the air. afraid of light, which destroys its antimicrobial properties, so if honey is in a glass jar, it is better to put it in a dark place.
In the same way, honey is stored in combs, however, it is preliminarily cut into pieces, and then placed in a container. It is better to keep honey with propolis in a cellar or a dark pantry in an opaque container, as it will quickly deteriorate in the kitchen and in the refrigerator due to high humidity.
When stored, honey becomes cloudy, darkens, thickens and crystallizes - these are normal stages of home honey maturation. If honey does not thicken, then it is not healing. In general, all types of honey thicken, except for honeydew honey, since it contains too much fructose. Store honey correctly, and then you will always have a delicious and healthy dessert at home that you do not need to cook!