Honey - the embodiment of the dream of beneficial sweets for the body. It is very easy to digest and, although very high in calories, it contains a lot of micro-and macronutrients needed by man (manganese, magnesium, potassium, calcium, zinc, fluorine, iron, and many others).
This is an absolutely natural sweetness that can be consumed in a variety of ways (from banal sandwiches to meat sauce).
The substance is famous for its unpretentiousness and storage duration, but it also requires certain conditions, which we will discuss in this article.
How to store honey at home
Sweet bee product unpretentious. In order to save it for later, or even leave it for several years, you do not need special tools - it is enough to protect from the ingress of foreign substances, contact with other products and observe simple conditions.
Did you know? Honey is a great natural preservative. It is not susceptible to mildew, and also helps keep food fresh.
Where and what to store honey
Best preserved in a dark cool place (cellar, pantry). The optimal storage container - sealed cans of dark glass. 
Also fit:
- enameled containers;
- ceramics;
- plastic pots (exclusively intended for food), although this is not the most desirable option.
Never put in metal containers (to avoid oxidation). You should also not use containers in which there are chips on the enamel or there are elements of metal spraying or galvanizing.
Familiarize yourself with the beneficial properties of sunflower, white, mountainous, pygillic, cotton, black-maple, linden, buckwheat, coriander, tartanic, acacia, hawthorn, cypress, sainfoin, rapeseed, phacelia honey.
It is necessary to wash the container and dry it thoroughly before transferring the mass into it. Do not put the product in wet and / or dirty containers.
Storage conditions
Nothing special is required, the main thing is to follow a few simple rules:
- Do not overheat. From temperatures above +40 ° C, useful properties are lost.
- Do not overcool. Below -5 ° C - and the mass hardens.
- The best temperature range: from -5 ° C to +20 ° C.
- Do not allow temperature fluctuations (especially sharp drops).
- Keep away from moisture, odors and sunlight.
Important! Honey is extremely hygroscopic (absorbs moisture quickly and a lot). Even a loosely closed lid can lead to excess water and loss of consistency.
Video: how to store honey at home
Shelf life
According to GOST, the product is stored for 12 months. But, in principle, its shelf life is almost endless.
In order to preserve useful properties, it is worth maintaining the optimal conditions:
- temperature;
- low humidity;
- lack of direct sunlight;
- suitable dishes
Why honey candied during storage
Sugaring is a natural and inevitable process. The longest shelf life of the results of bee labor in liquid form is 3 years. But even very recently collected, it can quickly thicken.
We advise you to read about whether honey should be sugared and why this happens.
This is all due to the peculiarity of the composition, which includes 3 main components: water, fructose and glucose. It is the latter, as well as its quantity, that determines the speed of sugaring.The process is also affected by:
- Storage temperature (can slow down the process of freezing).
- Humidity.
- Pre-filtering or lack thereof.
- Variety (depends on the plant honey plant).
Too rapid change in structure and consistency shows:
- impurities (pollen or other small particles);
- about a very high percentage of glucose in the composition;
- about an unfair seller who mixed the collection of the current year with the old one.
There is no need to fight sugaring. It does not affect the content of nutrients, moreover, contributes to long-term storage and protects the product from fermentation.
Video: why honey crystallizes If you still want to keep the liquid form - for about a month, leave the jar at 0 ° C, and then store at +14 ° C. Or purposefully buy non-sugar varieties - acacia, clover, chestnut.
You will probably be interested to read about how to melt honey, how to treat coughing with radish, than honey in the morning on an empty stomach is useful for the body.
Why honey is not thicker (not sugared) during storage
As we have already found out, natural honey simply has to thicken. If this does not happen with your purchase, this is a reason to think.
You can speed up the process (if you wish):
- mixing the product;
- violating temperature storage;
- putting in a cold place.
Some varieties really remain liquid for a long time, but if this happens with lime or buckwheat, there is a high probability that they sold you a fake. 
Why honey foams
It happens that a white foamy substance appears on the surface of the product.
We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the best ways to check honey for naturalness.
This may be due to the following reasons:
- violation of filtration technology;
- repeated transfusions in different containers (mixing with air);
- fermentation process - the product is spoiled;
- initially poor-quality product (not mature or diluted).
If you see the foam before the purchase - refrain from it. If the foam was formed after, you should remove it (it is inedible, moreover - harmful). You can try to save the product by freezing in the refrigerator or, conversely, heat treatment (use only as an ingredient in hot dishes).
Important! If the foam appears again - throw everything away, you can easily get poisoned with such honey.
Honey exfoliated during storage
Sometimes a homogeneous mass exfoliates - a liquid layer protrudes to the surface, a thicker layer remains closer to the bottom.
It happens for various reasons:
- Excess moisture (more than 21%, i.e. more than the norm). Causes - honey immature or improperly stored. Try to taste the top layer - if it is sour, then fermentation begins, therefore, the product should be discarded. If the taste has not changed, then you can eat.
- Cases of bad faith seller: a mixture of different varieties or even a fake. In the first case, you can use, in the second - better not worth it.
Can I store honey in the refrigerator
Low temperatures worsen the consistency and make it difficult to separate the portions, but the composition and utility are not affected. If the refrigerator is not too low and the temperature is constant, then it is quite possible to keep a delicacy there. 
It is only necessary to follow a few rules:
- no neighborhood with sharp-smelling foods;
- sealed containers only;
- temperature not below +5 ° С.
Learn more about how to cook pumpkin and watermelon honey.
Honey storage in honeycombs
Storage conditions in the comb practically do not differ from those for the collected product.
There are only a few nuances:
- Temperature - from +3 to + 10 ° С (therefore - only in the refrigerator).
- Extremely tight containers (separate for each piece, so as not to stick together).
Did you know? Honey is made not only by bees, but also by some species of wasps living in South America.As you can see, storing honey is simple; it stays fresh, tasty and healthy for a very long time. So do not be afraid to buy a lot at once (even a few liters). Enjoy your meal!
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