Extra virgin honey

[beeeee]

Someone close by sells extra virgin honey. It doesn't look very appealing (looks granulated) however, it is evident that he or she sells quite a bit of it. Can extra virgin honey be strained? Or is straining the same thing as filtering? This stuff claims to be unprocessed and unfiltered.

[psfred]

Never heard of "extra virgin" honey -- that's usually a term applied to cold pressed olive oil, there is no direct equivalent in honey.

I assume they mean raw honey, unprocessed, meaning not heated and filtered. I strain mine through a nylon paint filter to remove wax particles and bee parts, they are rather unappetizing. Otherwise untreated.

Filtering isn't the same as straining to remove wax bits, etc. Implies removal of all fine particles, which straning does not.

Unheated and unfiltered honey will crystallize faster than heated honey due to the presence of very small crystals in the raw honey, which serve as nucleation sites of further crystallization. Most honey crystallizes sooner or later unless kept warm (100F or so) or very cold (0 F or lower). Chances are at this point what you have is early summer honey that has been sitting at room temp and gone solid.

I prefer not to heat my honey for a couple reasons - I'm not set up for it, so it's a pain, I don't like the flavor and color change, and I don't have a filtering setup. It goes through the nylon strainer just fine, I couldn't care less about the slight cloudyness, nor the ring of foam at the top of the bottles from entrained air. Eats just fine.

Peter

[Oldbee]

That's the first time I've seen raw or unprocessed honey referred to as EVH . It's a unique selling point anyway. It may get prospective customers involved in a discussion of the value of liquid honey that is bottled with the least amount of filtering, heating,.etc. [compared to comb/chunk honey which must be EEVH [extra extra virgin honey].

Extra virgin olive oil: "The method for extracting the oil is what is known as “cold pressed,” which keeps the oil from losing its flavor that can be lost when exposed to high temperatures.

Extra virgin olive oil is produced naturally, meaning that the oil is not made from any sort of chemical treatments. Virgin oil is also an indication that the oil is not refined, that they are of a higher quality and retain their natural flavor."

[cerezha]

"virgin" make sense - it is made by virgin worker bees. But I would think, that really virgin may be only honeycomb. Extracted honey was touched by non-virgin beekeeper's hands or, may be beekeeper also virgin? Than "extra-extra virgin".

[JRG13]

I've got an extra virgin bridge available, serious offers only!

[Mr.Beeman]

Extra Virgin Honey.....

I only sell extra extra virgin honey.

lol

[BMAC]

I love my EEVH

[Acebird]

Most honey crystallizes sooner or later unless kept warm (100F or so) or very cold (0 F or lower).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

Most honeys crystallize fastest between about 50 and 70 °F (10 and 21 °C).

[Jeanette]

'Extra virgin honey' sounds like a great marketing slogan. It reminds me of the 'spoon honey' label that Grant gave his honey that crystallised.

"Spoon Honey--honey you eat with a spoon." Below this large-print title was smaller type that explained this honey was a special blend of granulated honey that will not run off your bread and conveniently spreads like butter. Customers bought it...and bought my honey, exclaiming, "Why, I've never heard of spoon honey."

http://www.beesource.com/forums/show...tallized-honey