Is older honey usable?

Hi,
I have some older honey that has gotten cold and starting to seperate and harden. Is this still usable? In the past I have heated honey like this and it is quick to return to its old state. I would like to make a 1 gal batch of mead. Will I have problems with this if I use it?

Thanks in advance,
Jon

Some kinds of honey will become crystallized after a couple months. There are others that take much longer, and a type I can't remember right now that won't crystalize at all. Putting it in some warm water should melt the crystals. In the summer I set some in the sun that had crystallized and it turned to a liquid in a day or two. Don't worry about it, the honey is fine to use.

Yeah, just heat it up and it will liquify again. You'll want to heat it up to help it get runny anyway, just so it's easier to use it all.

From what I understand there is honey one of the only foods out there that will never go bad, if stored properly.

It can develop fungal infections if contaminated, but the "best by" dates are there because they are required by the government. It's been proven that 3000+ year old honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs is still edible.

http://www.sciensational.com/blog/2007/10/100-pure-honey-facts.html

honey will outlast all other foods :thumbup:

ao125 said:

. It's been proven that 3000+ year old honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs is still edible.

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There was some honey found in an ancient tomb. It was still good to eat even though there was the body of a child in the container with it. The honey was tasted before the child was found.

Cold doesn't hurt honey. I freeze the honey until use to maintain aromatics.

Some honey can go bad if it truly separates during crystalization since the higher water content allows stuff to grow. That is rare and you only need to worry if part of the honey gets runny.

kc_in_wv said:

There was some honey found in an ancient tomb. It was still good to eat even though there was the body of a child in the container with it. The honey was tasted before the child was found.

Click to expand...

Honey with a slight taste of chicken?

I was made raspberry melomel with 3 years old wild flower honey.
It turned out good without any heating. The first time I've seen that honey it was clear then it became to darker and sweeter with little bid sour.

It can be incorporated without heating it. Just sanitise a food processor, put some water in it and some of the honey and blitz the hell out of it.

As long as you know how much in weight of honey you use, then you can just add more water to whatever volume you want to make.

3lb per gallon is quite common, but you could try more. As long as you have taken a gravity measurement from the total volume i.e. once 3lb (or whatever) is mixed into the water up to a gallon, then measure it.

Apart from that, it should be fine.

I've scooped out crystalized honey with a knife and mixed it in water with a wooden spoon.

I just put the container in warm water (less than 100 degrees) for a little bit to loosen it from the walls.