What Makes Raw Honey RAW?

The same week that our bees moved back in to our column on the side porch, there was something going on with honey on the back porch.

Movin' on up to the East Side...

We have a beekeeper friend that keeps us well stocked with raw honey.  We use honey instead of sugar.  Honey has some great nutritive qualities, but also has that delicious sweetness that we all love. Honey is made of 70-80% sugar which makes it taste great.  It also is made up of water and minerals. It also has great antiseptic and antibacterial properties.  It is also believed that consuming raw honey can assist in battling allergies by exposing people to pollen from the local area.

Proverbs 24:13  My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

So back to the honey on the back porch.  What is going on with it?  Well, Tricia has 6 pints of good, local, raw honey sitting out in the summer sun.  Why is she doing that?  Honey crystallizes over time. In fact, the crystallization is proof that the honey is raw.  Most commercial honey is not raw.  Raw honey has not been heated and has nothing added or removed from it.  Commercial honey has been filtered and heated to remove pollen and other particles to slow down the crystallization process.

What you can do to turn crystallized honey back into a liquid state is simply heat it. Many people put it in a microwave.  BUT please don't do that because you will destroy many of the beneficial properties of honey as you'll kill the enzymes. Heating honey also degrades it and negatively affects the flavor and aroma.

So back once again to the raw honey on the back porch.  We have the jars sitting in the sun and warmness of the afternoon and that naturally heats the honey to de-crystallize it.  This ensures that it stays beneath 104 degrees Fahrenheit, ensuring that all the beneficial properties contained in this Jefferson Davis Parish honey is intact and ready to be put to use by our family.

Keep your honey raw.  Don't heat it!  Or if you must, don't super-heat it.