Introduction: Creamed Honey DIY
If you've ever had creamed honey, you probably prefer it by a large margin to standard honey and you are probably even think its worth the extra price. But did you know that you can easily make your own and save?
In this Instructable, I'll show you the simple process of making creamed honey. If you haven't ever had creamed honey you don't know what you are missing. Creamed honey is thicker and "creamier" than standard honey. It tastes better, feels like velvet on your tongue, and won't smoosh out of your sandwich so much.
Step 1: Getting Started - Creamed Honey Facts
Contrary to popular belief, creamed honey is not whipped. It is actually crystalized. The difference between creamed honey and the nasty, gritty honey that you find in your pantry after having neglected your honey for several months is the size of the crystals. Creamed honey has tiny, silky, smooth crystals.
You can determine the size of the crystals in your honey by providing a pattern or "starter." The easiest way to get a good starter is to buy your favorite creamed honey. Once you have that, you can make endless gallons of creamed honey.
One really cool advantage of creamed honey is that it is already crystalized, so it will never get all nasty and gritty, even if you loose it in your pantry for a few years.
For those who prefer visual explanations, you can see the process in this video.
Step 2: Prepare the Honey
You will need to make sure that your stock honey has no crystals in it. If your honey is fresh out of the comb, you should be fine. If it is fresh from Costco, you still might be okay. If you see any crystals in the honey or on the sides of the container, you will want to heat it untill all the crystals have melted. A good way to do this is by placing the container in a pot of about 200 degreee farenheit water until it is nice and runny. Make sure to let the honey cool back to room temerature before proceeding.
Step 3: Add the Starter
Add about 5-10% creamed honey to your stock honey and mix well.
Step 4: Chill and Wait
Store the mixed honey in a cool place - about 50 degrees farenheit for a few days to a week. An unheated garage in Autumn works well for me.
Step 5: Enjoy
It will be easy to see when the creaming process is finished. The honey will be firm and won't flow when tipped over. If you stir it up at this point, it will flow again. If you intend to dispense the honey from a squeeze bottle, stiring is a good idea otherwise leave it as it is.
11 Comments
2 years ago
Hi, Just a added not to the about postings when making creamed honey you need about a 1/10 honey to the selected creamed honey you are mixing into the raw honey, enjoy!
3 years ago
As a beekeeper and working with other apiarists I would like you to edit your post and not refer to honey as “nasty” as you have described more than once. Honey drawn from capped comb that you buy either at a market or store shelf marked unpasteurized or raw NEVER never goes bad and therefore need not to be references as nasty because it crystallized. Common aesthetic remedy if this happens is to gently warm it up in a double broiler. There is nothing nasty about this glorious food and medicine. What’s nasty is the posterizing refining or adding corn syrup (mostly honey from overseas (billy bee is famous for) and getting away calling it honey. It’s indeed nasty liquid sugar with no heating properties whatsoever.
Thank you.
Heidi and HeidiZ BeeZ
Question 5 years ago on Step 5
if the cream honey gets hot and goes to solution will it re-cream upon cooling back
Answer 5 years ago
If all of the crystals are thoroughly melted, then you would have to start over again. If some of the "creamed" honey crystals are left, then the rest of the honey will re-"cream."
8 years ago on Introduction
200 degees is way to hot and will kill all the goodness of the honey. Bees keep honey at about 90-120 degrees all the time in the hive. So only heat your water to that temp. It may take longer but your honey will be safe.
Creamed honey is made by letting honey go to a complete crystallized stage, hard as a rock. Then you crush and pulverize it until it is smooth as powered sugar. You can then use this to make creamed honey. Longer process but its the real thing. Or you can go to your favorite health food store and get a nice organic creamed honey which I highly recommend.
13 years ago on Step 5
What came first? The creamed honey starter or the creamed honey? Where do you get creamed honey? Do you have to buy it?
Reply 8 years ago on Introduction
To get cream honey without a starter you'd have to stir fresh honey thoroughly every other day while it is naturally crystallizing. This disturbs the growth of the crystals and prevents them from becoming too big.
Depending on the water content, purity and temperature, the time it takes varies greatly. (It's a little shorter than your honey would take to completely crystallize when left untouched > months)
But Shoemakers (or rather Dyces) method is much faster and the results are on par.
Reply 13 years ago on Step 5
That's a good question. I don't know where the starter comes from. Maybe it is milled crystalized honey.
It is easy enough to go buy a couple of bucks worth of creamed honey and them make an endless ammount of creamed honey from that.
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
I hear you can make starter by grinding crystalized honey down in a mortar and pestle till it's a paste..
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
I was curious since I've never heard of creamed honey, that is exactly what you do.
http://www.masterbeekeeper.org/dyce/creamhoney.htm
Neat instructable, taught me something new, and that i never would have thought of.
13 years ago on Introduction
This is brillant. I didn't realize creamed honey wasn't whipped. I'll be trying this! Thanks!